Hoi An

Now on day 7 of this 31 day tour. Hard to believe we have covered so much ground, seen and done so many things, and still have 3 full weeks to go. OMG!

And yes, I am carrying a bottle of wine. Don’t judge me…we all were!

Yesterday, 2/11, was a very long travel day. We left beautiful Pu Luong first thing, drove almost 5 hours back to Hanoi to catch a flight to Da Nang, then arrived to Hoi An about 6:30. Had a great dinner at a local restaurant, drinks on the hotel terrace, and a good nights sleep to rest up for the jam packed day today.

Still in good spirits after a long travel day…After dinner drinks on our hotel terrace

And today was terrific! We started with a walking tour of the old town this morning. Hoi An is situated along a river, and has a long history as a trading port. We passed through a huge market as we meandered down the Main Street towards town. There are lanterns strung everywhere, and many flowers. Boats of all sorts line the river. And the buildings range from wooden trading posts to Chinese pagodas. Such a pretty town.

Hoi An is also known for quick turnaround, high quality, reasonably priced custom clothing. So of course I had to partake. I was measured today for a new suit and dress, am scheduled for a first fitting tomorrow afternoon, and will have the finished product tomorrow night. I was able to pick the fabric (wool/cashmere in a dark gray) and specify everything from coat length to number of buttons to neckline and cuff width. The quality of their work looks great and I am excited to see what I get tomorrow! Here is a snap of the work room. They employ more than 100 locals who specialize in particular aspects of the work.

All this before 10:30, when we started a cooking class to make our 5-course lunch!

The lunch started with chicken Pho, with broth made from scratch, poached chicken breast, and amazingly fresh herbs and spices.

We also made a salad of julienned papaya, cucumber, carrot and jicama with shredded chicken, peanuts, and fried shallots served in a banana flower, pork and vegetable spring rolls, and red snapper and vegetables barbecued in a banana leaf wrapper. And desert was sticky rice with mango. All amazingly good! We eat well on this trip, even when we need to make it!

After lunch, we all opted in for a golf cart tour through the more rural areas around Hoi An, including the organic gardens that supply the town with beautiful fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers.

We also stopped by a local family’s rice wine making set up, and sampled the wares.

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Then we headed back to the river to have a snack (as if we needed it!) and catch a ride in a basket down the river. This was so fun!

And finally, a sunset cruise back to the hotel. While the “dock” gave me pause, the boat and the views and the company were spectacular.

I decided to lie low tonight, and am hoping for a good nights rest before another jam packed day of mangrove kayaking, biking, suit fittings, and more exploring tomorrow. This has been wonderful so far, and I am so excited to see what the next 21 days have in store. Thanks for coming along!