DaysInOz

Ikväll var det fullmåne så det var lite extra fest i stan. Restaurangerna vid floden hade inga lampor tända utan bara ljus och det var en massa ljuslyktor i vattnet, det var jättevackert! Det var även musik och olika föreställningar här och var, allt var gratis. Det som var extra trevligt var att det var fullt med vietnameser som firade så det kändes mer äkta. Det var jättemysigt.

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Today was our last day here in Hoi An. We have had a great time and Hoi An is definitely a new favourite holiday destination for us. The beach is beautiful, the town is really nice, the people are nice, there are lots of little shops full of nice things and it's cheap. You can get handmade shoes and clothes at a very reasonable price. Food and drinks are also very cheap and nice.

Tonight it was a full moon so it was a bit extra festive in town. None of the restaurants by the river had their lights on, just candles and there were lots of lanterns floating down the river. It was so beautiful!

There was also a lot of music and different shows here and there in town and it was all free. What made it extra nice was that it wasn't just tourists there, it was actually more Vietnamese people which made it feel a lot more real and nice. It was so nice!

Ruinerna är jättevackra, synd bara att dom har blivit förstörda så mycket av amerikanerna och fransmännen. Amerikanerna bombade ju stället och sen kom franska "arkeologer" och stal en massa saker. Jag tyckte nästan synd om de amerikanska turisterna för våran guide dolde inte var dom tyckte om amerikanerna och han berättade även att hans pappa var viet cong. Som sagt jag tyckte NÄSTAN synd om dom, men dom var idioter, shit va amerikanerna på våran tur va jobbiga och pinsamma.

Men men som sagt ruinerna va jätte vackra och förutom att det var så fruktansvärt varmt så va det en bra förmiddag. Om jag skulle göra om det så skulle jag nog hellre åka på soluppgång turen, lite svalare då :)

På eftermiddagen så va det tillbaka in till stan och första besöket va min skräddare Miss Forget Me Not och där provade jag min klänning, en skjorta och ett par byxor. Klänningen behövdes sy in lite och byxorna hade dom glömt fixa. Sen råkade jag beställa 2 par byxor till! Sen vidare till skomakaren och hämta mina sandaler, Andrews skor va inte klara så dom hämtade vi idag.

Sen blev det lite spa, typ, vi fick fotskrubb och hon skrapade fötterna, med en sån där kniv dom brukade använda att raka folk förr i tiden! Sen ville hon plocka mina ögonbryn med bomullstråd. Min mamma hade varnat mig för detta men det kostade ju bara 20 kr. Shit va ont det gjorde! Och hur mycket fjun har man egentligen där uppe!? Det gjorde så ont att tårarna rann.

På kvällen gick vi till vår andra skräddare Kimmy, Andrews kostym skulle fixas lite och även min kavaj. På vägen dit råkade jag även se en annan skräddare och beställde en till klänning! Och Andrew hittade en skomakare och fick ett par skitsnygga dojor gjorda. Det är lätt att shoppa ihjäl sig här.

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Yesterday we went on a little trip, to the My Son (pronounced Me Son) ruins. Our guide was hilarious! The bus ride took about an hour but it was quite entertaining. Then we were in My Son for approx 2 hours, it was 35 degrees hot and I had forgotten to bring sunscreen, hat and my fan, but luckily I did remember the camera and water :)

The ruins were really nice but it's such a shame that the Americans and French had ruined them so much. The Americans bombed the place and placed lots of land mines and then French "archaeologists" came and stole a lot.

I almost felt a bit sorry for the American tourists on our tour, I mean America has a lot to answer to here in Vietnam, but the Americans on the tour were a bunch of annoying tossers so I didn't really feel sorry for them, I just wished they would shut up.

Anyway as I said, the ruins were beautiful, the tour was entertaining and interesting and even though it was so hot it was a really good morning.

In the afternoon we went in to town, first stop was my tailor Miss Forget Me Not and I tried on my dress, a shirt and trousers. The dress needed to be altered and so did the trousers but the shirt was really nice. Andrew also had a shirt made which was really good.

Next stop was the shoe maker, my sandals were done and fit like a glove but Andrews shoes needed a bit more work so we picked those up today.

Then it was time for some "pampering", still in the market. We had a foot scrub and she scraped our feet with one of those razors they used to shave people in the old days! Then a woman wanted to pluck my eyebrows with some cotton thread. My mom had warned me about this but it only cost 2 pounds so I thought ok, but holy moly it hurt! It hurt so much I cried!

In the evening we went to our second tailor Kimmy where Andrew had his first fitting for his suit and I tried on my blazer, both of them needed some work done and we had our second fitting today.

On our way to Kimmys I managed to find another tailor (shocking, they are everywhere) and I happened to order another dress! Then Andrew managed to find a shoe maker and happended to order a pair of really nice hand made leather boots.

I think that saying "shop til you drop" is very appropriate here, there are so many nice quality things and it doesn't cost a lot!

Staden är jättevacker, det är så fint längst med floden och alla små hus är så fina.

Hoi An har även ca 1000 skräddare, så igår gick vi till en av dom, svårt att välja vilken men jag tror vi hittade en bra. Jag har en lista på lite saker jag skulle vilja ha uppsydda men jag valde bara 3 plagg, så får vi se hur bra det går. Om dom blir bra så beställer jag mer. Ska gå på min första provning idag.

Det var väldigt mulet igår när vi var inne i stan vilket va bra eftersom det ändå var rätt varmt. När vi var klara hos skräddaren hade solen gått fram. Då gick vi till stranden, den var mycket finare än vi hade föreställt oss. Det var röd flagg så man fick passa sig om man simmade men det gjorde vi ändå inte. Vi bara låg och njöt av värmen.

På kvällen gick vi in till stan igen och åt en god middag, Andrew drack en San Miguel öl, en flaska på 650 ml kostade 6 kr!

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We are now in Hoi An, it's a lot nicer than Hanoi. Not as much traffic, it's a lot nicer and warmer and has a beach!

The town is so beautiful, it's really nice down by the river and the houses are so nice.

Hoi An has approx 1000 tailors, so yesterday we went to one of them. It's a bit hard to pick which one to go to but we had done some research and I think we picked a good one. I have a list of clothes I'd like to have done but I started off with 3 items, then if they do a good job I'll order more. I'm going for my first fitting today.

It was very cloudy in the morning yesterday which was fine since we were running around in town, but when we had finished at the tailor the sun had come out so we went to the beach. It was a lot nicer than we had expected. The red flags were up so if you got in the water you had to be very careful since the currents were really strong. We didn't swim though, we just chilled out and enjoyed the weather.

In the evening we had dinner down by the river. Andrew had a San Miguel beer, 650 ml which only cost 60 pence!

Vädret va lite pissigt, det var dimmigt och mycket kallare än dagen innan då vi hade 25 grader, nu va det bara 12! Ingen av oss hade packat speciellt varma kläder, jag hade ju tom med mig min bikini!

Men men det gick bra ändå. Vi började med välkomstdrink (varmt te) och sen fick vi nycklarna till våra hytter, det hade blivit lite fel och det var 4 par som hade bokat dubbelhytt men det fanns bara 3, men jag och Andrew "offrade" oss och tog ett tvillingrum, vi spenderar tillräckligt med tid tillsammans :) Vi fick faktiskt en flaska vin och lite bananer som tack från vår guide :)

Sen blev det lunch, det var rätt mycket skaldjur och sånt men vi fick även lite annat och jag provade faktiskt allt och det mesta var gott!

Sen åkte vi till Sung Sot Cave, det var jättehäftigt. Grottan va så stor och det var så mäktigt.

Vi skulle även paddla kajak men det hade börjat regna och blåsa lite så ingen va direkt sugen så vi åkte tillbaka till båten.

Sen satt vi mest och drack och snackade med lite folk från Kanada, Melbourne och Skottland. Middagen va skitgod, mina favoriter va de vietnamesiska vårrullarna.

Vi skippade karaoken, det var mycket roligare att snacka en massa skit :) Tror vi gick och la oss runt kl 3, sen upp igen kl 7 då det var dags för frukost.

Gjorde inte så mycket idag, vi var alla rätt trötta.

När vi kom tillbaka till hamnen så åkte vi och åt lite lunch, den var ingen höjdare tyckte jag. Sen va det 3 timmar med buss tillbaka till Hanoi. Det blev jeans och jacka när vi skulle ut och käka middag. Det är så skumt, det var ju 25 grader häromdagen och nu är det bara 12! Hoppas det blir varmare nu.

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We had an early start yesterday, got picked up really early to go to Halong Bay where we would go on an overnight cruise.

The weather was a bit crappy, a bit foggy and cold! It was 25 the day before and now it was 12! No one on the cruise was really prepared for that and no one had packed very warm clothes.

When we got on the boat we got a welcome drink (hot tea) and then we got the keys to our cabins. There had been a mistake or something, there were 4 couples who had booked double rooms but there we only 3 double rooms and one twin, but Andrew and I said we could take the twin room, we spend enough time together as it is :) Plus that turned out to be a good move, we actually got a bottle of wine and some bananas as a thank you.

Lunch was nice, quite a lot of seafood but I tried it all (except the squid) and a lot of it was nice.

Then we went to Sung Sot Cave which was pretty amazing. It's a massive cave up in a mountain. It was huge and so beautiful!

We were supposed to do kayaking after that but it had started to rain so no one really felt like it so we went back to the boat. We didn't really want to do the karaoke either but instead we had some vodka and had a great time with some Canadians, Scots, French and some guys from Melbourne. I think we went to bed around 3 and then we got up again at 7 when it was time for breakfast. Needless to say we were pretty tired today but that was fine, we didn't have anything planned anyway.

When we got back to the harbour we went for lunch, but it wasn't that nice to be honest. Then there was the 3 hour bus ride back to Hanoi.

I had to wear jeans and a jacket when we went for dinner, I can't believe it got so cold, it was hot one day and then cold the next! Lets hope it gets a bit warmer now.