16/02/2020 – Week off in Hoi An

They couldn’t have picked a hotel further away from the airport. When I eventually got there I took my bike straight up in the lift, got into the room and gave them a big hug.

I hadn’t seen anyone I knew since I left in October so it was great to spend some time catching up. We were all pretty tired so we got a takeaway delivered and then headed to bed.

The hotel had shuttle busses to the old town of Hoi an which was great as we went there most days to walk around and have some food.

The plan for the week was to see some of the sights around Hoi an, take some time off at the beach and the hotel pool and to catch up on everything that had happened to us in the last couple of months.

One of those was slightly hindered by the fact that both Josh and Karel got sunburnt on the first day. They were up by the rooftop pool and didn’t put on any cream as it was cloudy. Unfortunately for them the sun was still really strong.

For the first few days we spent the mornings by the pool and the afternoons and evenings in Hoi an. We’d found a couple of really good vegetarian restaurants which went down a treat.

We also went to visit on of my friends from rugby back home. He’s set up a barbers and tattoo shop in Hoi an. Having not seen him in over a year I had to go and visit and get a trim.

I hadn’t had a haircut since I dyed my hair blonde in Nepal so it was a bit of a mess.

We took a day trip to visit Hue and the surrounding areas. The old city was really cool and whilst it was really hot, was definitely worth a walk round in the sun.

On the way back to Hoi an we visited the abandoned water park which was strange to walk around. There were also 2 Mausoleums which were really impressive.

The next day was spent at the beach, we managed to get some sun lounges under a an umbrella to save our skin from any more sunburn.

The sea was as warm as a heated swimming pool. It was a little windy so the waves were huge and it was good fun to mess around in them.

The next trip in store was to a resort on top of the mountains. There was a 5km long fable car to get up there and the view was spectacular.

The main attraction were 2 hands coming into if the mountain forming a bridge.

Near it was a bizarre faux French town. There were little parks, restaurants and amusement areas. It didn’t seem right that this was there and had us a bit confused. It seemed quite fake but they’d clearly put a lot of money into it. After reading into it there is a bit of history behind why it’s there. Somethings still not quite right about it though.

Before leaving I managed to catch up with some family friends who were also in Hoi an. It was great to see them as I hadn’t caught up with them in a couple of years. They were also travelling down the coast of Vietnam however in slightly more comfortable circumstances. We went for a fantastic dinner with some of the best tofu I have ever tasted.

It was finally time for the boys to leave and fly home. It had been a fantastic week and I was sad to see them go. On Sunday morning they got an early taxi to the airport and headed back for London to then go straight to work Monday morning.

I, however, headed south in search of Nhatrang, another beach town where I planned to stay a day or two before heading west towards Saigon, and Cambodia.