Snake Wine Survivors

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From Nha Trang we took the overnight sleeper train (11 hours) up the coast to Hoi An. A beautiful, quaint town. Lot's of french and chinese architecture that has been well preserved. Feels like there is a lot of tourists but that's probably just because it is quite small. We have met many interesting backpackers over the last few days and some very colourful local characters.

We sat up till late on the first night talking to a couple of local street vendors (Tay and Day)who spoke little english but we managed to communicate through mimes and drawings. Funny night.

The second night we took a cooking class with a bunch of other travellers which was quite interesting. Guess we'll see if we remember any of by the time we get back..we have remembered that you shouldn't say your food is 'yummy' in Vietnam as this means you are horny! A couple of guys sitting our table started talking about the local snake wine so of course Jon had to try. This wine was worse than any we have seen before - actually had a dead bird in the jar along with a dozen snakes that had been preserved in the rice wine for about 10 years. Jon tried and survived so the next day I worked up the courage. It didn't stay down more than half a second - I was all class throwing up on the street outside!

Hoi An is famous for it's nearly 300 tailor shops and beautiful silk fabrics. I decided I simply must have some clothes made but don't know what I was thinking when I chose my fabric. I now have a pair of bright red silk pants that I'm sure I'll never wear😊

We are leaving here today on the bus for a three hour trip up the coast again the the city of Hue.

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