Another day in our beautiful Hoi An paradise.

This morning we decided to make the most of the hotel, chilling by the pool side catching up with a podcast or two mainly to do with Englands victory at the Euros the night before. After some hard fought hours on the sun lounger and more reading and relaxing, we made plans for an evening in old Hoi An.

We’ve mentioned it before, but the hotel staff are truly magnificent and have helped us with our various day trip plans (we have a walking tour tomorrow and a half day in My Son the day after) and we intend to book a day in the Cham Islands with them too.

We headed into town at 6pm in search of a good restaurant, as well as some gifts for our daughter.

We made a bee-line to a restaurant on the river front which had a good view of the boats bobbing up and down festooned with lanterns.

It’s peak season in Hoi An and the town has a real hustle & bustle feel, with lots of Vietnamese, South Korean and European tourists filling the streets and restaurants. It’s good to see it thriving, although we’ve been recommended to come early morning, around 7am to see its famed yellow coloured buildings when there are less crowds and you can truly see the town at its best and appreciate its beauty and the nature.

Hoi An is famed for its tailors, as well as its ability to mimic established brands and recreate at a tenth of the cost. Our daughter made her order for a Patagonia fleece jacket and we found one that Michelle then tried for size. It’s a good likeness and should work well in the cold of Loughborough’s winter!

We also checked out a few craft stores for authentic Vietnamese goods that we could easily store in our bags, however am unsure if shot-glasses will stand the test of time!

Despite being a long way from Disney, we managed to bump into Mickey Mouse…..

The best way to get around Hoi An is by scooter and we saw this family of three young boys measuring up the bike for size.

After another pleasant evening meandering around the streets of Hoi An taking in the sights and sounds, we started our walk back to the pickup point where the minivan meets to drive us back to our hotel.

We got chatting to an Australian couple from Melbourne staying in our hotel, who like us are retired and are so enjoying their stay in Hoi An so much that they extended it by another week. It’s that kind of place, so welcoming and easy going. Also it got us thinking….

After todays ‘lazy’ day, we intend to do a walking tour of the old town tomorrow afternoon and follow it up with an evenings boat trip along the river to marvel at the sea of lanterns from the water.

Well that’s about it, today has been a low key affair we admit, but one where we made a few decisions.

The first was to stay for a further week in Hoi An, at the lovely Little Oasis (a must place to stay if you get the chance to visit the area). Secondly we have formulated our plans for our first few days in Beijing, China in August and a few day trips before our Intrepid tour starts.

Third and finally meeting up again with Amelia in early September with a possible family meet up in Singapore and on to Eastern Malaysia where we have yet to visit.