Hoi An is a vibrant town – the array of coloured lanterns a typical feature. It is a real foodie place too – offering cooking classes in many of the eateries, as in Minn Hien Vegetarian restaurant. Here we drank local ‘fresh beer’ – a rare find now in Vietnam apparently, 2% alcohol and pure and ‘fresh’ tasting. We also ate tofu with chilli and tasty eggplant – the secret being (as informed by the waitress) ‘sweet and sour sauce’!
The Herbs & Spices Cooking School certainly has fresh and natural ingredients and was a more upmarket experience. We had grilled sea bass on banana leaf and sauteed mackerel – very delicious.
Streets restaurant was also a really lovely place to eat – down one of the back streets – and ethical too. As the name suggests it was founded in helping those from poor backgrounds get training and work in its restaurant.
Cycling around Hoi An is fairly easy, once you get used to the beeping of motorbikes. It is more aggressive than Bangkok but still everyone is really friendly.
Apart from the 20 minute cycle to the beach where we swam in the cool sea, my favourite bike ride was around the countryside, where we sped past beautiful green rice fields and children cycling home from school saying ‘hello, hello’ and on occasion ‘bye, bye’ (giggle) and ‘what’s your name?’ In Vietnam there are opportunities for many, even in state schools, to learn English.
It was such a joy to cycle breathing the fresh, cool air along lanes and wide roads, seeing women wearing the iconic ‘leaf hat’ (conical in shape), young people on motorbikes or making things: wooden stilts or wooden structures. Not a mobile phone in site!
Singapore living 