Hoi An- Hue

(Harriet) 

So the sleeper bus was running 4 hours late and after having been told we would meet up with it in 4 hours it was past 1am before there was any sign of this bus and our driver was at this point asleep... However once we were abord it was wonderful and we got to hoi an at the expected time. 

The first day we went to the beach for breakfast and spent some time trying to find somewhere that didn't sell only seafood. Afterwards we went straight to business getting our dresses made and ended up going to a stall in the indoor market owned by a lady who had kindly given me some ice as I had stupidly tripped up and whacked my toe! We showed them photos and drawings of what we wanted and the woman claimed 'yes I've made it before' when I showed her mine. Excited, we wandered around town and had a lovely lunch and walked over the Japanese bridge which is pretty cool although looks slightly worse for wear. 

Hoi an is a beautiful city, very yellow and bustling with beautiful shops selling food, clothing and handicrafts. We decided to find the park on our map and after having walked past what looks like a pile of rubble numerous times concluded that it no longer exists. After we went to a cultural performance which involved music and dancing and I found it highly entertaining, the highlights being a  piece where a man with face paint which reminded me of rafiki (lion king) who jumped around like a mad man, pointing at thin air and stroking his beard and unsettlingly long side burns.. The performance ended with aud lang syne in Vietnamese which puzzled us as last time I checked that was a Scottish thing! 

The next day we got up early for our cycling tour to the village which was quite interesting and I learnt a few plants including morning glory (that is the actual name) and waxy pumpkin. The guide assured us that there were in fact 1 million people living in the village, which area wise is about a quarter of my village at home...I don't think she got her digits right. Next we went in search of some ancient Japanese tombs and once we found them were underwhelmed by the crumbling stone and massive weeds/daisies. A random man appeared however and presented us with rice fresh from the paddy and lotus flowers, I was so grateful- what more could a girl want? 

We went back to the tailors and to be honest were both disappointed with what we were presented however were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as they assured us they could change them to what we wanted. We then headed back to the hostel for a beautiful swim in the pool before heading out again for the night! We had a fun evening and met some interesting people at the why not? Bar. 

For our final day we went back to the tailors I was over the moon with my dress and Amy liked hers more however is still not convinced (I think it's gorgeous though). We then went back for a swim and booking session before we split up and I went to meet my friend from home whilst the others went on a cooking course which I hear was great and I can testify that the food was delicious! During this however a monsoon struck and the street became a river for about an hour! 

In the evening we wandered around, the town is lit up by lanterns and we witnessed some local games which involved smashing pots blindfolded and also bingo which seemed to be sung and involved flags when you scored a row or something... Bit hard to follow. 

Today however was incredible as we did our easy rider experience to hue. We hit the road early and went first to the marble mountain which had pagodas and caves galore, plus plenty of marble. When then went through the mountain pass (the bit they did on top gear) and the views were just breathtaking. The colours were so vibrant and it just went on and on and on. We also stumbled upon a wedding shoot which was pretty cool! We then went to the elephant waterfall (no elephants) and a fishing village before arriving at the bus station. The whole day the views were stunning, the guides were lovely and it felt so fun to be travelling Vietnam the way the locals do! I loved it and was really sad for it to be over. I think we will all remember this part of the journey the most as it was incredible.