AND onto Hoi An...

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After our wonderful trip on HaLong Bay and one more night in Hanoi, we were off to Hoi An. We flew into Danang airport, about an hour flight from Hanoi and took a car about 45 minutes to a great hotel right on the beach. Hoi An is a really cool little town that was once the main trading post due to it's ideal river location. They have restored a lot of Old Town and it is truly a tourist trap....but a charming one at that.

There is a tailor shop about every 2 stores. In 24 hours Jeff had a suit and four shirts made for $150 and I had 4 pairs of shoes made for $80. Pretty amazing stuff I tell ya'. The food was delicious and we even got to try our hand at making some spring rolls at Red Bridge Cooking School! Thanks John and Col!

Jeff loved Hoi An b/c he could rent a moped and drive us around. It was pretty cool to have our own wheels and not as scary as I thought it would be. It's a pretty sleepy town so traffic is light. We had a great time chilling on the beach in the mornings and then driving around town in the afternoon.

We bought so much stuff here that we had to send a 14 kg package home to LA. Our two options were to send it by sea for $60 and wait....uhhh....4 months for it arrive or spend $175 (we bargained down from $200 by the way. Yes. You can even haggle at the post office in Vietnam) for airmail and hopefully it will show up within two weeks. What are the odds that the box will show up at all?

We were in Hoi An from 1/1/11 to 1/5 before flying off to Siem Reap, Cambodia to check out the temples of Angkor.

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Photos

Hotel Shot
A shot of the hotel where we stayed

Beaches of Hoi An!
Serenity!

Old Hoi An Town
All of these buildings were in disrepair until the 90's when they started being restored. The town is now bustling with shops, art galleries and some great restaurants.

Jeff on Moped
Look at the grin

Sunset first night
We had a great dinner at Lighthouse restaurant and got to watch the sunset over the river

Pho for breakfast
My first bowl of pho for breakfast. It was quite delicious actually.

Check out those nails
Color selection was a bit lacking at the spa. My nails are a brilliant shade of fluorescent orange. They shimmer too.

Fancy street food
We were scared to take the plunge and eat off the street but we found a fancy restaurant who specialized in street food...off the street. I'm getting a lesson on how to make my rice paper taco.

Hoi An River Shot
Check out this cool shot of the river that Jeff took

Jeff Enjoying Lunch on the River
We had a lovely lunch of spring rolls (no meal in Vietnam is complete without spring rolls) and another staple....Saigon beer!

Moped in the Market
Yes. You can even ride the moped in the market.

Red Bridge Cooking School
We got to take a cooking class too. Can't wait to try out our skills at home

Jeff Working Hard
Chopping away at cooking school

Comments

[Dad]

Food and Nails
I'm definitely jealous seeing all of that awesome looking food. The nails are definitely cool and Jeff looks very happy on the moped. His Mom and I did mopeds around the island of Freeport in the Bahamas, a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing your wonderful days.............Luv..........Dad