Hoi An
The Bus
This blog starts the night before I had to catch the 4 am bus to Hoi An. It was an early start and I thought I’d be good, so went to bed at 22:30/23:00, to get a few hours kip. Unluckily for me, I didn’t get much sleep…
Three Aussies brought a couple of girls back to the hostel, pissed out of their minds, and I just reach for my headphones… #NotReallySureWhatToDoInThisSituation. I turned up the volume and went to back to sleep. The rocking of the bunk bed (I was on the top bunk) was a little weird but soon enough I was fast asleep.
After an interrupted kip, I got up for the bus, only to find out it was around an hour & a half late. Great.
Hoi An
When I got to Hoi An, the weather was amazing. I took a nice wander around town and picked up some food. I spent the evening working and just chilling in my room.
Although, I did have to stop off for a beer or two on the way home as I found 3,000 dong beer! 9p beer! It’s insane. It doesn’t taste of much but who cares when it’s 9 pennies.
The Next Day
The next day (Monday) I rented a bicycle to take a longer tour of the town, the little villages and rice paddies. I then made my way to the beach and chilled for a good few hours, grabbing a late lunch on the way back.
The Beach
I must admit the beach wasn’t much cop… you can see for yourself:
It was not what I expected, it had sand but lots of sand bags stopping the water from coming up. There was a fair amount of litter but that’s Vietnam for you. However, it was nice to just chill and listen to some music. The sun was out and there was a nice relaxing ocean spray.
The Food
If you’re ever in Hoi An, there’s this awesome food place called Lo Ho Quay. I’ve eaten there 3 times now! It’s cheap. It’s fantastic. It’s probably the best beef noodle soup I’ve had in Vietnam and the Tomato & Tofu rice was excellent.
I’ve been bitten a few times by mosquitos. For those that don’t know, my mum works at a pharmacy. She said the best bug repellents are ones that are high in DEET. She picked me up a couple of bottles which was really nice of her and much appreciated. However, after reading the bottle the first sentence is “this is a natural alternative to DEET”. But it seems to be doing the trick, so it’s all good.
I’ve found people to chat too but I definitely think this is a place for couples. I’ve not seen that many backpackers. Or, maybe I’m just staying in the wrong hostel, I don’t know.
The bed is rock solid. Probably the worst bed I’ve stayed at so far in the trip. There is no cushion to the mattress at all and it’s got crumbs all over it.
Underwear Update: surprise, surprise, I’m still in the same underwear, socks and shorts.
Also, just chucking this in here in case I forget (my little fail safe)… Happy Valentines Day Bianca!
