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Published: December 23rd 2011
Firstly I want to say that we are so sorry that no photos have been put up. We are finding it hard to find hotels that allow you or have the right software to upload photos.
Tuesday morning we took it very easy since the weather was being very unkind before taking our transfer to Nha Trang Airport. We lifted off at 12pm, not before loosing our drink bottle under the plane and the flight attendants running under the plane to retrieve it. After an hour in a little Turboprop plane with a little turbulence we arrived in Da Nang, where we jumped into a taxi with an Australian couple to Hoi An.
When we arrived at our hotel we were shown our grand room with a bed that would fit a small African village (it was literally the next size up from a king size bed). After settling in we decided to brave the onslaught of over 200 tailor shops only to hear a constant "Miss you come see my shop, I make you many things, many sizes, many colours, many styles". After finally settling on a tailor we have the arduous task of picking a style, colour and being measured. We then decided it was probably about time to grab something to eat so we found a lovely restaurant that looked out onto the already flooded river where we tried some local delicacies, including rice pancakes, cao lao, fried wonton and white rose (this was over 2 visits to the restaurant because the food was so amazing). Later that night we walked through the lantern- lined streets, truly majestic.
The next day we decided to visit the many historical sites in the 'old' town. These sites included the Japanese Covered Bridge, House of Phung Hung, Phuc Kien Assembly Hall , Quan Cong Pagoda, Museum of Trading Ceramics and the Hoi An Artcraft Manufacturing Workshop. The misty rain made the sites all the more eerie and all the more charming. It was particularly interesting to learn that the House of Phung Hung flooded upto 3 meters inside each year and each time they moved all the furniture upstairs through a small hole in the ceiling to the second storey. Surprisingly Rach didn't have to duck while in this building. The old town brought a completely different experience to everything else that we have experienced so far in Vietnam. No bikes or cars are allowed in this area so we finally had a rest from the constant honking! The buildings are all French colonial with temples and pagodas scattered in between - a very interesting mix, but it created a great atmosphere!
In the afternoon we scheduled a private cooking class which included a tour of the local markets to see the local produce and to finally understand what those CRAZY looking fruits and vegetables that we had been served to us during the last week. After taking in the smells and noises we were then taken back to the family restaurant where we were taught how to make Hoi An specialties of Rice Pancake, Spring Rolls and Grilled Fish in Banana Leaf...YUM!!!
After stuffing our faces, it was finally time to pick up the clothes we had ordered from the tailors. Unfortunately our first tailor was a very dishonest lady who didn't make the order despite only having to copy a skirt on the mannequin (very disappointing!). After a heated argument, we decided to cut our loses (the deposit of $6) and run to our next tailor. Luckily our next tailor (a very memorable shop called Tony) was beyond a success. The clothes were a perfect fit and exactly what we had pictured and so we were firmly told by the old lady who ran the shop that we had to recommend her on TripAdvisor (which of course we will do). On our way back to our hotel we stopped at our final tailor who had also made great clothes, so in the end we ended up being happy.
Next its on to Hue, one of the most significant cultural and historical centres of Vietnam.
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Malcolm Cook
non-member comment
Sounds great
More description of the mud baths please Katie.My daughter and her partner Jason are heading south from Hanoi and were supposed to go snorkling today 31-dec but are going to hot baths instead. I wonder if it is the same place that you went to ? They have been picking veges and planting rice and push bike riding. Cheers for Now and HAPPY NEW YEAR..