Hoi An

I was sitting in the reception of my hotel in Hue. Waiting for someone to take me to the bus. I was heading south to Hoi An. It was 5 minutes past the time the bus was supposed to leave. I looked at the receptionist who had sold me the ticket. "A few minutes!" she said. Like she had been saying for the past half hour. 
A man came. "You Hoi An?" he said. I nodded. "Come come!" he said with an urgency. I picked up my stuff and went after him. After a few meters, he stopped me and asked me to wait. He went into another hotel and picked up some more people. After a few hotels I felt like I was on a kindergarden excursion to the city. A long line of packers with the "teacher" in front. Stopping traffic to get us across the street. After a 10 minute walk, we arrived at another hotel. "Wait here for the bus!" he said. "Only a few minutes". I was starting to think "african time". A few more minutes. Just a few more minutes. I wasn't going anywhere. Except the toilet. I ran in case the bus "suddenly" appeared. It didn't. We waited around half an hour before it came.
We were finally on our way. Hoi An. My final southern destination. I didn't feel like going any further south. It would take too long to backtrack up north. Except for the mandatory "meal stop", or "support the expensive restaurant we are getting kickbacks from for stopping here", as it should have been called. I had eaten a strong breakfast, so I wasn't hungry. 
In Hoi An, the bus stopped at "sponsored" hotels. After the second, I didn't want to wait anymore, so I got off the bus and started walking. A lot of motorbike drivers told me it "incredibly far" to the centre of town. Yeah right. I picked up some street names, and found I was about 400 metres from the centre... Oh, well. They're just trying to make a buck, I guess.The hotel was recommended in "the guide". I didn't care to look for something else. Especially not since I knew this was a gathering point for packers. So hotel rooms would probably be scarce. I entered a large courtyard before the hotel. The hotel itself was a two-storey building which proved to be extremely deep. Which is the "vietnamese" style for building. A narrow front, and then the area is spread out backwards. This hotel was maybe 5 metres wide, and 40-50 metres deep. 
A small, and I mean SMALL girl greeted me. Or more precisely, looked at me. "Yes?" she said. I had interrupted her watching a soap. 
"Do you have a room?"
"With or without aircon?"
"With"
"12 dollars"
"Can I see?"
She took me to the room. It wasn't too bad. If they had cleaned it before I came. The sheets were clean. The floor not. Neither was the bathroom. Or the walls. They could maybe have removed the webs... But I didn't care. I am not too picky. And I wasn't in the mood for looking around for something better.

"Pass, please!"
I gave her my passport and went out into the town. It was truly a packer town. People from all over the world had landed on this little place, where restaurants, bars and street vendors where trying their best to lure the tourists into their nests.
"Please, sa. Buy from me!", "Buy something!", "We have cold beer!", "Best pissa in town!"
I found a small restaurant that was not in the guide. I am an adventurous guy... I ordered a noodle soup with chicken. Or "phö gà" as it is called here. This is actually the only name I have managed to learn in vietnamese. Which is a shame. Since there are so many brilliant dishes here. But I just dont know how to order them unless I see them.
After the meal, I went on a small walking tour around the town, taking lots of pictures. It is a pictoresque little town. And it was the most quiet place I had been to so far. That was probably due to the fact that most motorbikes where banned from the centre. Only electric ones were allowed. I addition to the xich lo's. I liked the town. It had a nice feeling to it. Relaxed and laid back.
I have included some photos. Again not the best, but I hope they give you a certain sence of what it was like. Enjoy!