Thursday 12th
Rose early to fly to Da Nang and then on to Hoi An for a 3 day relax. The plan at this stage was to leave after the 3 days for Ha Noi and then Ha Long bay - but more on that later.
Da Nang airport was a bit on the tardy side. Hadn't been cleaned for a while and someone should have connected a pipe to the bottom of the hand basins in the men's. Left the loo with very wet shoes.
Lonely Planet had warned of 'varying' taxis fares and quality, so after being growled at by a man in uniform for standing in the wrong place, we caught a Mai Ling taxi to Hoi An. After the madness of Saigon, this was much more relaxing. It was a mix of beach and rural, still lots of motorbikes, but not the sense of urgency that was Saigon. The strip from Da Namg to Hoi AN is known as China Beach and is development heaven. Gold Coast 2 will no doubt result. The area has really changed as the locals move from deriving their living off the land to now serving tourists.
We checked into the Sunflower in Hoi An, a place that Sarah, Flick & Nhoj had stayed a few months earlier. We received a very warm welcome, but the room was a bit cramped (4 single beds), the TV didn't work and there were quite a few wires sticking out of various places in the walls. Probably had more of a backpackers flavour than we had hoped. We popped next door for a drink (Ancient House - Old Grandeur) and decided that we might just stay the one night at the Sunflower. This was confirmed one bike ride later when we spied a place driving past and agreed to see if we could book it on line the next day.
Later in the day, we wandered town (shopping was there, but a little different to HCMC) and strolled back.
That night, we were able to book into the Hoi An Pacific online - a lovely pool and hardly a backpacker in sight. A cocktail or two later and we were asleep.
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