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Published: December 12th 2011
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Hi Home,
This is the final message on here from me as I will be flying back to Heathrow in 4 sleeps.
As promised, I wanted to tell you all about Hoi An and see if we can beat our record of 132 views for one post! We would like to know who these people are that are reading this!
We arrived in Hoi An last Monday night after deciding that we wanted to spend quite a few days here as we had heard great things about it from other travellers along the way. We certainly weren't disappointed. It is a very attractive and peaceful city on the edge of the river that has colourful lanterns hanging from every tree, building and bridge. It is most famous for its tailors that dominate the shopping streets and promise you clothing in less than 24 hours. We wanted to give them as much time as possible so used our hotel's tailors on Tuesday and both decided to have the same tweed jacket made, but with different coloured silk lining. Jenny then had some pj bottoms made and a green duffel coat. I chose a full length ball gown and some
pj bottoms for Andy. In order to get his measurements we had a to use other boys that were passing through the shop so hopefully they will fit! We went back everyday to have small alterations made to the clothing but overall were really happy with what they produced.
On Thursday we tried a Vietnamese cookery school for the day which was great fun and started with a visit to the market to buy all our produce. We then took a 30 minute boat ride to Thuan Tinh Island where only 11 families live and had been completely flooded only 20 days before. As they are so far from the market, the families are completely self-sufficient so they had impressive vegetable patches. After a ride on a little motorised canoe through the water coconuts we started our lesson. After a demonstration from the chefs we made fresh prawn rolls, coconut crepes with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts, a beef salad and a rice noodle soup with beef. The best part of the experience was the unlimited passionfruit juice we were drinking and being able to eat all of our creations. We were so full by the end of the
trip that we didn't have supper that night!
On Friday we visited My Son which is an hour away from Hoi An and is very similar to Ankor Wat but a lot older and smaller thanks to excessive American bombing. We had a great tour guide called Dung (!) who made everything very interesting, despite the horrific weather, and even went as far as telling us that Shiva is a ladyboy...! The temples are located in groups and a lot are still having work done on them but one of the facts we learnt is that nobody knows how they are held together as mortar was not used but compared to the bricks that were used 25 years ago to help restore some of them which are now turning green, the original bricks are still in an impressive state despite being erected around the 4th century. Most people who were visiting the ancient temple ruins had realised that the heavy rain meant walking boots and raincoats were essential but to our amusement two women insisted on doing the entire tour in heels! Afterwards, we went back to Hoi An for the final night and discovered that the road that
we wanted to walk along to get to a recommended restaurant had been completely flooded!
On Saturday we caught the train north to Hue and had decided not to take the bus as the coastal train was meant to be stunning. Sadly the bad weather has been following us and we could barely see out of the windows as the cloud was so low but occasionally passed a waterfall on one side and the aggressive ocean on the other.
Since arriving here, we have quickly learnt why this is used as a stop-over destination compared to our 4 night visit..there isn't much to do! However, today we did visit the old palace of the emperor which was very interesting. Arguably even more fascinating was seeing Vietnam's tallest flagpole, which is actually the top attraction to visit here according to The Lonely Planet!
We are here until Wednesday morning and then are both flying back to Hanoi. Jenny then will leave that evening to fly to Atlanta..via South Korea! I will then entertain myself in Hanoi on Thursday and will start the long journey home on Friday.
Thanks to everyone for reading our blog and sending us
messages. We have had such a great time and when discussing it yesterday (over watered down mojitos) we could not pick our top three favourite experiences- we have loved it all.
Looking forward to seeing you all when I'm home.
Lots of love
Izzie xxxx
P.S. Once again the pictures are failing to upload so I will try again tomorrow but here are a few to wet your appetite!
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Dad
non-member comment
Watered Down Mojito's?!!
Are you two going soft in your old age - am assuming it was the barman that watered them down rather then you. Anyway, last leg of this trip, so both stay safe, and both travel onwards safely. Love you both, Dadxx