May 10, 2013 - Hoi An

Vietnam 2 I have been waiting to sample pho in Vietnam and have resisted taking much of an interest in it in Australia despite the strong possibility that it is just as good in Victoria St as here. We have had several bowls now and we love it! It has been our breakfast so far. It is a bowl of either beef or chicken soup with rice noodles and some meat. To that you add according to preference: chilli, coriander,Vietnamese mint, other unidentified greens,chilli sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce,fried onions and lime. With lots of fresh green herbs...

Jan 29, 2013 - Cycling and Beach Day at Cua Dai Beach

We woke up to a grey day:( It rained while we had breakfast so we spent the morning reading up on things. Just loving the iPad & WiFi since it makes travelling so much easier! So much information at your finger tips! We rented bikes for the day - $1.50 and rode along the river and back canals coming to a dead end. We were on a small island. We got to see the local's homes & gardens. Some of the homes were very big & beautiful with ceramic floors & elaborate detailing on the walls. We met school children who were on their way home for lunch....

Jan 28, 2013 - Hoi An

Hoi An Monday, January 28, 2013 Day 19 of G We are up at 4:30 for our pickup for the sunrise photography class at 5. Sharon and Greg are joining us. $35@ for 4 1/2 hours, the taxi ride, 2 ferry rides, tea or coffee(twice), breakfast, a bike ride and a photo lesson. We are picked up by the taxi and Pieter right on time. Andy has made sure that the night time security fence in front of the hotel is unlocked so that we can get out this early in the morning. He left us a note that he slipped under our door in the middle of the night that said...

Jan 28, 2013 - The Morning Market & Vietnamese Cooking Lesson

After our great breakfast on a patio overlooking the river, we went to our Vietnamese Cooking class at the Morning Glory Restaurant at 8:20. First we were taken to the morning market to learn about the fresh herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables used. We got to taste lots of things. We crushed many of the herbs in our hands to guess what they were. We were taken to the meat/fish area of the market. Very smelly! And noisy! I posted 3 video clips of this on Facebook! The locals bring their goods 5 am. A women will shop twice a day to make sure...

Jan 27, 2013 - Off to Hoi An, Vietnam

Up by 7 am. A great breakfast provided by the hotel. Skyped with Baby Elizabeth and shortly after with Cyndie. Packed up and on a bus to Hoi An. It's raining while we are on the bus. It's the first rain. We had to go through another Hai Van mountain pass with winding roads. The highway followed the shoreline. There were many more rice paddies. It looks like they get more rain in this area. The ground is quite wet. We went through the Hai Van tunnel that cuts through a mountain for 6 1/2 km saving us 20 km of twisting roads! It is the...

Jan 27, 2013 - Hoi An

Hoi An Sunday, January 27, 2013 Day 18 of G From the 16th to the 18th century Hoi An was the most important trading port in Vietnam, particularly for ceramics from China.The water eventually silted in so much that now it is no longer a port city but is located about 4 km from the ocean. Hoi An is on the banks of the Perfume River and  is a quaint, picturesque village with 844 protected historic buildings. It is a Unesco site. The architecture here was heavily influenced by the Vietnamese, Chinese and French. It's current raison d'être...

Jan 26, 2013 - Hue and the road to Hoi An

Hue and the road to Hoi An Saturday January 26, 2013 Day 17 of G Another hotel buffet breakfast. It was included today. Yesterday it was 105,000 dong. I took my malaria pill and a half of a 5 mg pred because of all of the insect bites I got last night. We met Von and were on the road at 8 to the Imperial Palace and the Citadel. I'm too tired to write the dry Wikipedia type description of the  2 places. Hopefully this will make whatever readers I have happy.  The Citadel is a walled (2 meter thick walls) area where the...

Jan 16, 2013 - Hoi An

Last full day in Hoi An. No hurry this morning, nowhere to be, nowhere to go! Beautiful weather again! After a leisurely breakfast we walked into town. Even though we had promised ourselves not to spend so much, we ended making a purchase for which we got an “early morning discount.” We took our time and just watched people go about their daily lives. We crossed the river to the closest island, had a fruit lassi at a riverside restaurant and watched the old city from the “other side” and the life on the river – very relaxing! We explored a...

Jan 16, 2013 - Hoi An

Today we have to be in town early for a cooking class. This starts with a tour of the local markets being introduced to all the wonderful herbs and fresh produce that we will be using later on. The class is run by the same people who opened the first restaurant and now have 5 restaurants including the newly opened Marketplace restaurant that includes demonstration areas and cooking class areas upstairs. We make 5 delicious dishes that we eat for lunch. We were given recipes along with a great cooking knife and we bought some slicing and...

Jan 15, 2013 - Hoi An

Today is a free day and I start off early as there is lots to do. First I take my laundry to the address I was directed to and discover it is also motorbike repair shop and cycle rental shop but there was no one there. A man on the street rings someone, seeks a scrap of newspaper from the shop next door and gets me to write my name. He then takes my bag and puts it on the back of a bike in the shop and says OK. I am uncertain if I’d ever see my clothes again but when I return in the evening there is a 10 year old girl in the shop feeding a...

Jan 15, 2013 - Hoi An

No rush this morning to pack – just getting ourselves ready for breakfast and then the bike ride at 9 am. The weather is beautiful, sunny and warm – up to 25 degrees Celsius (it feels hotter). Eight of us biked through town with cars and motor bikes zooming around us. It is not as busy here as in Hanoi and although there are no separate bike lanes, it flows and it works. Kom led us away from the busy streets onto quiet back streets along the river and into the villages on the islands. At one point we stopped to see lots of shrimp spread out...

Jan 14, 2013 - Hoi An

We travelled over and under the mountains today first over a mountain pass and then through an 8km tunnel through to Da Nang as it was still too hazy to be able to see anything from the alternative route over the top but the views along the way were spectacular. Da Nang has existed as a port for centuries and is strategically placed with mountains or sea all around making it easy to defend. Now in peace time China, Korea and others are funding the building of road networks throughout the region but in typical Vietnamese fashion they have...