Hoi An

Went for a really early breakfast with the Chinese room share lady, and she beeing made of stronger stock was all for sitting down at a street side Pho place across the river and away from the tourists, a few levels dirtier than I would have tried by myself. But it was fine and absolutely dirt cheap and we got plenty of free tea too. In order to see Hoi An's restored old houses and its most famous attraction the "Japanese Covered Bridge" (as featured on Hairy Bikers Cookbook) you have to pay a whopping 70000 dong. I'm not exactly sure how much that is but it FELT too much so I skipped out on visiting them and instead wandered around some more, stopping for my first sugar cane drink out of a sandwich bag (strange taste) and some local fruit from the chaotic market. The market seems to be designed for 80 year old Vietnamese ladies and thus its canopy is only about 4ft off the ground. I got completely stuck as ancient leathery faces beneath conical hats moved around me at waist height selling squid and various organs. In the afternoon, rented a bicycle and cycled the few kilometers out to the first beach of my travels, called Cua Dai. Every bit the tropical beach I imagined, after being shoo'd away from some deck chairs owned by a particular hotel resort, I got my revenge by going into said hotel, buying a coke and pretending to be a guest. Thus for the rest of the day I lounged by their pool and availed of their showers and clean facilities, all for the price of my coke. Met up with the Aussie guys from the previous day for dinner and the four of us had a fine meal of freezing red wine and local noodles without grubs.