Hoi An

Finally, we have found the Viet Nam we were looking for. Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is beautiful. It's an eclectic mix of French and Chinese architecture and is a nice blend of Asia meets west.  The surrounding area is full of agriculture and rice paddies.

We have a day visiting all the listed buildings of the Old Town which are free today as it is New Year - Hurrah. Many purchases are made (including a Vietnamese hat for Norman the Gnome) - we're not great at the haggling but we're happy. In one of the Chinese Assembly Halls we visit there are huge spirals of incence hanging from the ceiling and people are paying to light them, presumably this is like lighting a candle in a church.

We meet up with Barry & Lynsey for beers, picture buying, a lantern exhibition and dinner - it's all go here!  Dinner is an exceptionally delicious Indian - yes I know we're in Viet Nam but they were Indian!

We decide we need another motorbike day so we can get around see what's out there.  We are heading to My Son where there are ruins of temples from the 4th Century.  It's 50km and we very quickly remember that these seats aren't made for big fat western bums! We travel through lots of towns, the road is very busy and Adrian is very adept at riding to the 'no rules' method used here in Viet Nam.  The temples are very different to the Temples of Angkor in construction but similar to look at. It's very peaceful here and lovely and warm. There's a little pool with some frogs in who are no more than 4 inches high and they sound they make is amazing, it's so loud, like they're all plugged in to little amplifiers.

On the way back to town we call in at a ship restaurant and conference centre, it's fabulous - levels of opulence we haven't seen here at all.  It is obviously where all the tours come for lunch and we're there as the staff are clearing up. We think it was built insitu rather than sailed there. We're offered crystalised ginger on board which is the hottest ginger I have every tasted. All the staff wish us Happy New Year and we are left to tour the ship at leisure.

We drive back to Hoi An and carry on to Cai Dao (China Beach), yes the sand is white and the sea is blue. The get to the sea you have to walk through all the little kitchens on the top of the beach with their little BBQs going, the smells are fantastic.  I paddle in the edge of the South China Sea whilst Adrian keeps his distance he has a strange phobia about sand on his feet - very odd.

We walk along the beach for perhaps a kilometre and then go into one of the very swish hotels that have their own private beach, it's lovely.  Cheapest room is £130 per night. From here we take the bike to the end of the road (literally) and it's beautiful so quiet. We sit on the beach and have a beer and watch the boats go by - this could be paradise.

Beer and dinner this evening is preceeded by lantern buying which is quite fraught as we're not sure what colour we want and can't remember how high our bedroom ceiling is.  It's a hard life!