Hoi An

Going back to last night. We had a wonderful meal in a family home. They cooked us a feast of caramel prawns, chicken in lemongrass, whole white snapper, spring rolls and vegetables. We dropped off our laundry to them as well, so not only did they cook for us, they did our washing as well. We paid for both, but the welcome received from everyone here is wonderful. People seem genuinely delighted to see us and involve us in their lives.

Hoi An is a lovely town. I really liked it and would like to return for a longer visit. The river is full of activity with little ferry boats going about the place, and the town is full of great shops and restaurants.

Hoi An is most well known for it's tailors and many of the group, including Niall, for clothing made. We went to one of the tailors on the first evening so that items could be ordered and then collected the next day. Niall chose a suit and was measured up with an appointment to return at 5pm the next day. I'll spare you the full saga, but it ended up that Niall was in the tailor's at midnight. It was entertaining in a strange way. We had a big group meal and throughout the evening people were coming and going for fittings.

Niall may have gone for the bespoke option, but I made up for it in the normal shops. Niall put up with me and two of the other girls doing some impressive shopping. We celebrated our success with sweet dumplings and cocktails over looking the river. A really fun afternoon.

At midnight we (not Niall) were still in the restaurant paying our bill, which was odd in itself. But all the staff and us went out onto the balcony with rockets and sparklers and there was a few minutes of excitement. That was about it though; very different to Scotland.