Every shopper's dream come true! Tuesday 15th April

Anne and I went to try on and collect our tailor made items this morning. We were very excited to see how our outfits looked. We were both very pleased. The tailors and dressmakers work very fast here. I imagine that they must work through the night to meet the demands of tourists, who only stay for a couple of days.

Later that morning, we hired bikes and cycled to the beach. It was such a scenic and enjoyable bike ride! When we reached the beach, some Vietnamese ladies designated parking spots for our bikes. It was a clever little system! The beach was beautiful and we enjoyed the sea and sand.

My fellow tour group members all had clothing, shoes or glasses made, so we all excitedly talked about our purchases over dinner. We enjoyed traditional marketplace style restaurant food, where you can see your food being made. A walk around the market and some healthy haggling meant that a market vendor was chasing Mike for the last price for a set of chopsticks! It was great to watch!

What a wonderful couple of days in Hoi An. Everyone in the tour group really loved it and vowed to return back. We packed our things ready to fly to Ho Chi Minh city tomorrow!

Vietnamese cooking class: Monday 14th April

Hoi An is such a gorgeous little town, very artistic and picturesque. This morning, I walked around the town browsing all the clothes on display everywhere. I saw a dress I fell in love with so had a fitting for it and was asked to return the next day to try it on. It was so easy to get tailor made clothes here. Shoes and bags were also easy and wide ranges and materials were available for all tastes. I didn't really intend to get anything made but once I saw the talent of dressmakers and tailors I would have been a fool not to! I have several occasions this summer anyway.

I also admired the artwork in the galleries. It was absolutely boiling and the sun was so strong so I had to stay indoors for the afternoon. Later in the day, I caught up with my roommate, Anne, about our mornings. Anne had been on an adrenalin adventure morning, so it was great to hear about that.

Late afternoon, four of us had our Vietnamese cooking class. It was something we had all been looking forward to, especially since we really enjoyed our last one- the Thai cooking class. We were picked up from our hotel and taken to the local food market. Our cooking teacher pointed out all the important ingredients to us and gave us tips on how to pick them. There were all sorts of new vegetables we were shown. It was a great experience! Next comes the cooking part. We were each given an apron and chef's hat and guided through step by step on how to make four different Vietnamese dishes: fresh vegetable spring rolls, vegetable curry for me and fish wrapped in banana leaf for others, Vietnamese pancakes and grilled aubergine. It was fascinating we picked up many new tricks. The food we had learnt to make was served to us for dinner, which we a enjoyed very much. At the end of the class, our cooking instructor have us a recipe book and some cooking chopsticks. It was great to learn about new cuisine and foods.

Scorcher days are here, en route to Hoi An- Sunday 13th April

What a bright morning! It was scorching hot today. We had a group tour to see the citadel in Hue. It was huge! We struggled a bit with walking in the heat and the general energy level in the group was pretty low. Amazing what heat can do to sap a personality or two!

After cooking off, we were on the road again. We were going by private bus to Hoi An today. It was a very scenic route along beaches, very beautiful. When we arrived, us ladies couldn't take our eyes away from all the gorgeous clothes shops. They were everywhere! Hoi An was famous for its tailoring and we were advised to wait until now to purchase our tailor made clothes.

After check in at the hotel, our tour guide, Huen took us on a walking tour around the town. We were under strict instructions to be allured and walk off into a clothes shop! There would be plenty of time for shopping over the next three days. It was stunning here, gorgeous bridges and lanterns everywhere. We were all in love with the place.

For dinner we all excitedly discussed what we had set our eyes on. Everyone was eager to explore more the next day!