Day 58 15/11/2014

We decided to borrow bikes from the hotel today and after breakfast headed off for a cycle around the surrounding countryside.  We went east to the coast initially which was the same distance from our hotel as it is back into town. The road out is basically on extension of the suburbs of Hoi An all the way to Cua Dai beach, dotted with paddy fields, water buffalo and birds.  We then headed along the coast to An Bang for a walk on the beach, after negotiating to leave our bikes at the bike parking area for 10,000 dong (30p!), and then stopped for refreshments at a cool little beach bar, Soul Cafe.  On the beach we saw lots of the local fisherman's boats, which looked very similar to the ones the ancient Celts used in pre-Roman Britain, which we think were called Coracles. They were very well made with bamboo tree leaves intricately woven but we wouldn't like to be out at sea, especially with the large local swells they have here, in one of those!  With the exception of a downpour after breakfast the weather was much improved and it was thirsty work even at the very low speeds we were going on our bikes.  The sea was extremely inviting with huge breakers which we couldn't resist.  Unfortunately Diane hadn't taken her contact lens case and decided it was too risky to go in but nothing could stop Simon who must have spent a good 30 minutes driving through the breakers like a little kid (how old is he?).  Spot his hand and head in the photos below as well as the 'I've survived' photo too!  Simon certainly thought Thomas and Eve (and Roger too) would have loved been in there (and not cold at all like the Firth of Forth!). We had a bite to eat and chilled out for a couple of hours before heading back through town on our bikes.  It definitely has felt like a holiday today.  In the evening we went to a restaurant nearby and despite Simon's fish being undercooked initially, had a nice local meal.  We decided we should try out the local red wine and bought a bottle on the way back to our hotel for 80,000 dong (less than £3 and significantly cheaper than imported wine).  It was surprisingly good (must be one of the few good things the French did when they were here!) and certainly a vast improvement on the Great Wall wine that we'd tried in China. We drank it on our veranda locating the areas on our bodies that were either bitten or burnt as the sunscreen clearly hadn't been applied all over - Diane won on both counts!

Local fishing boats

An Bang beach

Recognise the hand?

And the head?

Survived!