Hello Hoi An!

This morning wasn't particularly exciting, after checking out of the hotel I was collected by a private driver and taken to the airport for my flight to Da Nang. As we left the city behind and headed to the airport I watched as bustling streets gave way to field of crops, water buffalo and some heavy rain (and moped rivers wearing bizarre moped ponchos)! A typhoon had hit the south of the country earlier in the week so the unsettled weather wasn't unexpected.

Hanoi is quite an interesting place but I'm not sure I would return. As a gateway to Halong Bay it's a natural place for most tourists to transit but a little too busy for my liking.

The one thing about Hanoi that was a little hairy to begin with was the sheer volume of moped which don't pay any attention to road signals - makes crossing the road a little scary but you've got to just pick a point and walk at a steady pace to it and they will move round you.

Arriving in Da Nang, I was collected by another private driver and driven to Hoi An.

Along the way I gazed as numerous fancy hotels along the South China Sea coastline in envy - I could happily set up in one of those for a few days of beach, sea and sun! At least I have the sun in Hoi An - a glorious cloudless sky.

Hoi An is much more my kind of place - a nice riverside/seaside town which was a little quieter despite the cycling peddlers trying to make me buy their wares or visit their shop.

After taking a wander to the old town for some lunch I headed back to the hotel for a swim and relaxing time by the pool. I bumped into some Kiwi ladies who recommended a tailor so went to check them out and ordered 2 suits for work. Then back to the hotel for more swimming, lazy dinner with a movie in my air con room! Just what the doctor ordered :-)