Loving Hoi An....

No plans today so we didn't have to get up early although we still woke up at 7.30....and considering I didn't get to sleep till about 2am (damn you mega strong vietnamese iced coffee) it was way too early. Anyway we decided that we would just ride around and see what we could find. Tanya wanted to get her nails cut so we stopped at a little beauty place and splashed out $3 for her manicure. We rode all over the place and stopped several times for drinks and food. The sun finally came out today and even though I put sunscreen on I still got burnt, so now I have a stupid t-shirt line on my arms and red knees and feet. We came across a very colourful cemetary in the middle of a rice field and saw a few water buffalo wallowing in a waterway next to it which was really cool. I have to say that getting the moped was the best thing we did and it has provided us with plenty of OMG moments. Here is my Guide to Motorbike Riding in Vietnam 101: 1: When you come to a red light you can A: Go straight through it. B: Go around the corner on the footpath or C: Stop. 2: Beeping of your horn is compulsary for A: I'm overtaking you so move over. B: Even though you are over I am letting you know I am overtaking you or C: Look at me I'm on a moped/car/truck/bus. 3: Talking on your phone or texting while riding is quite acceptable. 4: When you need to cross the road into another street, riding up the wrong side for 50 metres before hand is normal. 5: Actually, riding on the wrong side in general is even normal. 6: Towing trailers and carrying things twice the size of your bike is A OK. 7: Having 3, 4 & in extreme cases 5 people on your bike saves 2 trips. 8: Riding 3 abreast having a chat is also normal. 9: Pedestrian crossings mean absolutley nothing........ And I am wondering if it is a "shame job" if I get overtaken on the moped by a girl on a pushbike????? So I hope this helps for anyone planning on a trip here or has given a laugh as you can so relate to this to anyone who has already been here....... Another OMG moment was when I went to an ATM to get money out it is a little telephone box like room and it is air conditioned...LOL..... When we went home for a rest we got talking to Jason's house mate Kong and he invited us to come along to a wine tasting tonight. Now a wine tasing in Vietnam is something we never even considered so of course we had to say yes. Kong firstly took us to have dinner which was beautiful chicken and rice and then we headed to the bottleshop for the wine tasting. I have to say we were very impressed with the wine selection and even more so when he told us the tasting was sparkling wine from 5 countries. And wouldn't you know it, Australian wine was on top of the list. I have to say for the $8 each it was well worth it. We had such a great night and met some really nice people.....even the Mayor of the Hoi An district was there. When we finished we headed home with Kong and as Jason had returned from his trip to Denang he was up for a game of Poker. Now we are no poker players but with a few scotch and cokes and lots of prompting I have to say I kicked arse and beat everyone....lol...much to the boys disgust. We will be sad to leave Hoi An as we really like it here but new adventures await us.....Till tommorrow. Alvo xoxox