Nha Trang and Hoi An

I took a windy bus ride to Nha Trang where rain was the name of the game. There was a half day of clouds where I fit in a boat ride and snorkel with a few other travelers. The boat ride was alright and the snorkeling was pretty mediocre (there was a trash bag on the reef and minimal visibility) but the company was good.
My second day in town was spent catching the hour of sun that appeared and avoiding the rain for the rest of the day. I took an overnight bus (yes, another crowded 5 to a bed bus - and it was raining and I was under a leak - fun) to Hoi An. As I was getting off the bus I noticed that Katia, a girl I had grabbed coffee with in Saigon, had been on the same bus. We set off to explore the town, made our way through the bustling daily market and walked along the river admiring the old, french style buildings. We found a cute little restaurant for brunch with a table looking out at the river - very picturesque. Katia and I hung out for a few days, tried some amazing regional specialty dishes, had fittings for a tailor-made suit, and enjoyed the holiday weekend in a town of lanterns and candles floating on the river. Katia had a flight back to Australia but I got stuck in Hoi An because all forms of travel were booked up for the holiday weekend. Luckily I met Laura who was staying in the same hotel and had been in Hoi An for a few months. We had a blast hanging out and were even invited to an amazing local lunch by our tailor and her sister (they were awesome and it was a great way to learn about about the 'real' Vietnam).
Laura was dating the star of the regional soccer team so we got second row seats for one of the big games. The stadium was packed but the game was a draw which was too bad but very exciting. We went out for drinks after but didn't stay long because there were rats crawling all around the restaurant - we had to keep banging chairs so they didn't run under our feet.
The next day I finally found a way out of town and took a bus from Hoi An to Hue. I explored the town, went to a market and hopped a plane to Hanoi the next day.