We flew out of HCMC (which looked stunning from the air) and landed in Da Nang.  From the airport we went in search for the bus station but could not find it for the life of us. In the end we caught a minibus down to Hoi An, which was 10 times more expensive than the bus (but still pretty cheap). 

​

45 minutes later we reached Hoi An, and it was cold. That's right, cold. We needed a jacket, which was a first on this trip. We arrived at night and became lost while looking for accommodation. We ended up walking around in circles, and 20 minutes later we found a hotel right across the road from where we were originally dropped off.

​

Hoi An is beautiful. It's a charming, little, French-influenced village that wasn't ruined in the war. All the buildings are old and most are in need of a facelift but that adds to the charm. Nearly every shop displayed colourful lanterns out the front. Hoi An is famous for custom made clothes and 9 out of every 10 shops offered this.  After trying on a thousand outfits in a thousand stores, we selected a few styles and materials, were measured up and handed over a ridiculously small amount of cash.

​

We ate dinner in a second storey restaurant, where they served amazing spring rolls and bo Loc Lac (a peppery beef stir fry). We tried Vietnamese (Dalat) wine - the white was actually drinkable, but the red weak. At $2 a glass we couldn't complain.