Hoi An is a coastal town of about 80 000 people in Central Vietnam that is known for its seafood, silk and tailors. The main town is on the Thu Bon River about 3km from the sea, and is filled restaurants, tailors and lantern shops. It was World Heritage listed in 1999 as it’s ‘an exceptionally well-preserved example of South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th Century’. Today it’s a pretty, relaxed, holiday town.
It’s not just the language and toilets that have the potential to take me out of my comfort zone in Vietnam – today was the biggest challenge of all… the cooking class!
This morning we joined a group of 12 at ‘LanternTown Restaurant’ to whip up something for lunch. We started by taking a tour of the markets to understand the local produce – fantastic to see the offerings through a chef’s eyes, and a great introduction to the class.
Our menu for the day…
– meat (don’t know, don’t ask!) & vegetable net spring rolls
– tuna in banana leaf
– green papaya salad
– pork & shrimp omelette
The girls really enjoyed it – Emma was always first up to have a go, although the size of the knife made Alex a little nervous! I’m not sure how we’ll go with getting some of the ingredients at home, but living close to Brisbane’s Vietnamese community should make it easier for my personal chef 😉
Our other major activity in Hoi An was to make the most of the tailors. The tailors here whip up suits overnight, and were highly recommended by many of the people we spoke to before leaving Australia. After selecting our fabrics and styles yesterday (suits for me, dresses for the girls), we returned this evening for our first fitting – these guys are amazing… so quick and professional. A couple more fittings and we’ll have a fair bit more luggage…
Tonight we enjoyed wandering the streets around Hoi An surrounded by lanterns in stores, in restaurants and on the river. We ate in a lovely spot over looking the river, and set a new record… $12.25 for a fantastic dinner, including a huge beer and French wine – crazy!
Tomorrow we’re off on a cycling tour of Hoi An with Hang. Should be a great way to start to work off some of the excess spring rolls!
Love M & TheBunch xx
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