Lucky Break in Hoi An

Hue, the city I was in before this one was good - managed to buy a second hand (but very new camera) from a photographer there, and did a ton of sight seeing.. was very tired.

It was also a big money city- spent so much because ever tomb, every temple was 55,000 dong, then they didn't tell us we'd have to get motor bikes to the tombs from the boat tour I went on, or that we'd have to supplement the lunch they gave us.

I also had to buy contact lens solution, which cost me a whopping USD$10!! And then there was the camera, film, processing etc etc. It fel like the spending of dong would never stop. Also you were constantly hassled to buy stuff in a much more agro way than I had experienced in Hanoi, Sapa or Ha Long Bay..

Hoi An has been great.. am still here after 3 days, and may not leave for another 2, depending on what I decide to do. One of the options out of here is a 12 hour night bus, which sounds ghastly.

I can get back to Danang and catch the train for $16, but getting back to Danag will cost me $7 by private car.. great if I could share it.. for a 50 minute ride, or else $3 for the public bus, which is 2 hours. This means spending just as much time as the bus to get somewhere.. will have to make a decision soon.

However I bumped into some Danish girls I'd met in Hue, and they told me about this guy called Mr Phong, who was a South Vietnamese soldier (ARVN) and he takes you out to his village and you get to experience something that is not on the major tourist trail. So I managed to find him tonight, with much difficulty, and so tomorrow I'm heading out with him and 3 English people, so it should be really great! Can't wait to hear all of his stories of the war from a different angle to the official version.