The next day I headed into town early, but none of my purchases were ready to be collected, so I headed back to the hotel for a bite to eat and then it was off down the road with Caroline and Diane as we had booked a full body massage. Wow those girls have the strongest thumbs, and they managed to find every one of my trigger points, but what an incredible massage. Started with the back, then the legs and feet and then the arms and fingers, finishing off with the face and scalp. Wow, I am going to treat myself to one of those regularly at home.

We got picked up at 5pm to be taken on a boat trip on the river – Double whammy celebration here in Hoi An tonight – the Full Moon Celebration but it is also Budha’s birthday, so a very special night. The trip down the river was lovely, we watched the moon come up as we cruised along, and then headed back to the town. A quick trip around the shops to pick up my purchases. My suit and shirt were ready but the dress needed some alteration, one pair of shoes was ready, but the wee boots needed stretching and altering, and the pant suit was ready. Phew, what a lot of shopping that was and I am thrilled with it all so far.

A real carnival atmosphere in the old town – lanterns everywhere and each shop had set up a shrine and was burning incense and were turning out the electricity and just working in the lantern light. Street performers were all over the place and the locals were out in full force. We headed to Cargo Club for dinner, another of Miss Vy’s restaurants and again the food was sensational. An incredibly busy restaurant with both locals and tourists and from the balcony restaurant we watched the parade of floats on the other side of the river – dragons and lotus flowers and other assorted designs.

After dinner (I had a grilled chicken salad with an icecream sundae for dessert) we headed out to each light a candle and send it off down the river. Apparently this is a cleansing ritual ( a little like going to confession) Candles, lanterns, people everywhere, music and the full moon casting amazing light across the river – what a magical night.

And at 10pm we made it back to the bus for the ride back to the hotel. What a privilege to have been able to witness all that. This truly is a magical place – the people are so lovely, and I think that Hoi An has been the highlight for me. Everywhere in this country the people have been gentle and friendly and helpful, but here in Hoi An they have been truly amazing. Even though the shopkeepers are there to take your money, they are so friendly and you leave their shop feeling as if you have just made a new friend. They want to know all about you, your life, your family. They seem to crave information about the visitors to their country and they are happy to talk about themselves. Their English is really good and they love talking to you.

I have just loved it here and would love to come back again really soon. Roxy – start saving – you and I could have a ball here