In the absence of a honking horn, it was much easier to sleep on the train than the bus, although we were roused somewhat by a crazed Vietnamese guy who burst into our compartment shouting incoherently and waving his arms! We still don’t know what that was all about…

We arrived in Hoi An about 5 am and asked one of the many clamouring taxi drivers to take us to a hotel, any hotel that was open would do. After a bit of haggling we ended up in a superb 3-star hotel. All the hotels throughout Vietnam have been great value but this one took the biscuit; it had a swimming pool, free internet, a buffet breakfast and each room was opulently decorated, complete with a fridge, TV and air-con – all for 8 pounds a night!

Hoi An is such a picturesque little town. All of the buildings are painted a pale shade of yellow with dark oak window and door frames and each street is festooned with hanging oriental lanterns which light the town by night, their refelections dancing in the inky river which disects it.

There’s little to do other than soak up the ambient surroundings and imbibe the local cuisine, but we did go on an hour-long boat trip up the river and a quick bike ride to a nearby beach. Its also the tailoring capital of Vietnam, so Amy had a maxi dress made to measure (when in Rome, she says…!)

We got a bit too used to the luxurious trappings of our hotel and temporarily forgot we were on a budget when we booked the luxury sleeper train to Hanoi. This turned out to be a rip-off (Livitrains – don’t use them!), and was just a slightly cleaner carriage bolted onto the normal train. But we didn’t have the in-flight entertainment of the crazy Vietnamese guy. The scenery was spectacular though as we hurtled up the coast to Hanoi.