Vietnam: Hoi An (4-Days of rest!!)

Mon 4/30

We got up refreshed and ready to do a little more exploring before heading to Hoi An.  We checked out the markets, spoke with some locals, snacked on some local food before grabbing a cab and catching our next 4.5-hour bus ride to the beaches of Vietnam.

I don’t think Shelley mentioned enough just how bad the highway and road infrastructure is here.  They could use some German engineered roads.

We walked the 3.5 kilometers to Cua Dai beach after we arrived and had dinner right next to the beach for $6!!

Tue 5/1

Met up at with some friends we made in Halong Bay at An Bang Beach, where the locals hang out.  Enjoyed great conversation, swimming, fruit drinks and watching the locals set up along the beach for dinner service.

Alice in Wonderland Tea Cups?? Nope, local fishing boats (nice guess though!?)

Shelley striking a pose (like so many tourists seem to do here) prior to our 5-km walk to An Bang

We changed and headed to the downtown for dinner with the girls from Austria we befriended.  It was a nice relaxing day after a few weeks of sightseeing.

Wed 5/2

Cua Dai beach today.  More sun, swimming, walking the beach and reading.  We figure 4-days to relax before sightseeing again would be good for us…can you blame us?

Late afternoon, local "resstaurants" set up on the beach surrounding us...interesting?!

Thur 5/3

New hotel, much cheaper and it shows.  But hey, we are not here for the accommodations.  We are here to relax and sit at the beach and pool.  This hotel doesn’t have a shuttle to the beach, so Shelley and I rent $1 bikes and you can say they are probably worth less than that.  But Shelley feels great about biking even though she rides a professional carbon fiber bike at home.  One speed for us, but the hair dryer temp breeze in our hair and sweat on our skin, we spend another great day at the beach.

What a cute bed...turns out it was a smoking room and not even ours.  Hey we enjoyed the luxury and smell for 5-minutes at least.  Look at Shelley's smile!

Our hotel came with a "state-of-the-art" gym... yeah right?!?!  No chance of us working out anyway

The sign says "No swimming if you have had diarrhea in the last three days".  No swimming for us, again...yeah right?!?!!!

Fri 5/4

Much the same the next day, with biking to the beach, then back to the hotel for our pool swim aka “shower” before our drive to Da Nang and then our flight to Ho Chi Minh.

Loving the beautiful beaches in Vietnam, who knew??

Easy flight, so much better/safer than the bus (and not much more expensive) we arrive in the bustling metropolis.  We figure out which taxi will screw us over the least and had him take us to the Old Quarter.  It is a bustling area.  City sightseeing and museums, here we come after the four day break.