Saigon to Da Nang to Hoi An

Taxi this morning from Miss Loi's to the airport and despite the traffic we got there in no time. On the plane I was seated next to a couple of retired Aussie guys who were going to Hoi An too and we agree to split the huge taxi fair from Da Nang airport. Luckily one of the guys was pretty good at the ole' bargaining and got us a good price with the taxi guys after we landed. Da Nang didn't look particularly nice and it was mostly scrub and some beach (with under construction resorts) along the way. Out here the traffic was a lot thinner than in the city so the taxi driver, along with a lot of other cars, spent long stretches on the wrong side of the road. Arrived in Hoi An after about 40 minutes and got dumped on a scorching street where I made my way along one of the hotel streets and found there was no room at the first four places I walked past. Not wishing to die of dehydration I cut my losses and ended up sharing a big room with a Chinese lady travelling south from Hanoi. Wandered around in the midday sun. First impressions - Hoi An is really nice. Had lunch down by the river and the local noodles were delish. Sat next to me was a rather large Welsh gentleman who was pittstopping in Hoi An for a couple of days before going on to Laos. He had a nightmare story of a 20+ hour bus journey, a passenger with the runs, and broken air conditioning. He was desperately trying to renegotiate his ticket for the onward leg. More wandering around and taking snaps, stopped for my second bowl of noodles which I was enjoying just as much as the first until a found a big fat grub slowly crawling its way out of my bowl. I helped it along with my chopsticks but left rest. I hope I didn't eat any of his friends before noticing. Hoi An is full of tailors, and pretty good quality ones at that. One of them who managed to nab me befor I escaped and explained I'd just missed a festival in the town the previous day, and oh by the way please don't go to the tailor mentioned by your hotel as they're just trying to rip you off. She seemed nice and her shop was full of fine silks but I was't going to be buying anything anywhere.