Another late some start (We are getting good at those). After our free hotel breakfast we walked our packs into town for safekeeping at the open tour offices. V’s mission for the day was shopping ! I have to admit that V is never really keen on shopping but when she’s in the mood, she’s a force to be reckoned with. We spent the morning trawling up and down the streets of the historical centre along the river. It is a beautiful little area – very quaint and full of French touches. The cyclos, taxis, shop owners, hawkers and touts don’t miss an opportunity to stop you but they were generally polite and gave up after at few attempts at persuasion. 

Along with dozens of clothing stores we popped into a model ship shop. Some beautifully detailed wooden models up to 2m long. We considered buying one ($ 150 incl shipping to SA) but we were not convinced on their accuracy – 3 models of the Cutty Sark looked nothing like each other. V found a stunning shell and silver pendant in the ‘Fair Trade’ shop along with a couple more T shirts. She now has 9. Remember we started with 3 🙂     

The sights are limited (like the Japanese Covered Bridge) but the ambiance is in the streets, the cafes and watching the world zoot by on motorcycles and bicycles. It didn’t take long for the heat to wear us out (me first). By the time we got on the 12 hour bus to Nha Trang we were sweaty and exhausted. The bus was almost empty so we were surprised that it left on time. I was lucky to get the bunk above the back door and toilet – it is very long and flat. Thankful for the aircon we settled in for another rough night ! Tomorrow we hit the beaches.  

[Pictures: Ship model and more old buildings]
    

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi