Hoi An

We jumped on the train at 7:00 pm and arrived in DaNang today just after lunch. As we got off the train we were mobbed by cab drivers wanting to give us a ride to Hoi An. We eventually settled on a ride for the 30-km trip to Hoi An, where we had booked a hotel for just one night. They didn't have space for the following night so we took a chance and just booked for one night.

We jumped in the hotel pool, which was very refreshing and then got cleaned up and headed out to find another hotel for the rest of the week. We were quite fortunate because we were on a street with many small hotels so we just kept asking who had a room and then settled on one that was right next door. We were quite happy because it was a nice hotel, it had a pool, breakfast was included, they had Internet access from the room (this hotel doesn't), and all of that for the bargain price of $32 per night! I'm so cheap!

Once we had the hotel settled, we decided to go for a walk in Hoi An. It is a fairly small little town that is full of tourist shops, restaurants, and many tailors. We saw a shop where they made leather sandals and couldn't resist. Yasmin was in need of slip-on shoes because her old Crocs had started to fall apart. So both girls got measured up for some sandals. They even got to pick their own colours. We pick them up tomorrow afternoon.

We had really been looking for bathing suits for the girls because the elastic was going on their suits. We walked by shop after shop, but nobody seemed to sell them. As we were heading back to the hotel we stopped at a shop with women's suits on the mannequins, but it turned out they were a tailor who made swim suits as well as many more things. So the girls got measured up and are very excited to see how they turn out. We can pick them up tomorrow afternoon. I'm pretty curious too. Roya is always hard to fit into the off-the-rack suites because she is so slim. We'll see how this goes.

We found a little restaurant on the same street as the hotel. The food was great and unbelievably inexpensive. A whole family can dine for about ten dollars! After dinner, the girls had fun counting the little lizards that were on the outer wall eating bugs. At one point they had five different ones in sight! I guess you can't say you did that in a restaurant back home! The lizards are really harmless and they do keep the bugs down, so they are actually a welcome sight and didn't bother us at all.

We're now settling in for the night and the girls have gone off to bed. Sleep on the train is often interrupted and so I think we can all use an early night.

CM