Hoian

Our train ride from Dong Hoi to Da Nang was surprisingly good. We were dropped off by our farmstay driver and got our tickets no problem. I had reserved soft seats and we were in coach #3. The train arrived and we soon realized half the coach seats face one direction and the other half the opposite direction. Our seats happened to be facing backwards in relation to the direction the train was travelling, not good. The next thing we realized was there was not a lot of room between the seats if the person in front reclined their seat. Guess what, Bill could not even get into his seat. Luckily the train was not full so we just moved one row back, but travelling backwards was not working well for me. Bill went to look in the coach #2 as it did not appear there were many people in there. He came back smiling as he had found seats facing the other direction with a table and everything. We grabbed our bags and moved. If we got asked we would just play dumb. Lol.

 We were able to stay in these seats all the way which made the trip quite enjoyable. The scenery was beautiful and as long as the train was moving we had A/C. We had been told not to eat the food on the train so had brought some snacks which was a good thing as the food carts did not look appealing at all.








6 hours on a train through Vietnam was a good experience but we both agreed flying between cities was a much better way to travel. We like sleeping in a stationary bed not one that is moving.

 We arrived at our Airbnb about 2:30 after a very interesting transport from the airport. Our new home for the next four days was located on the river just across the bridge from Ancient City on Can Nam island. It was about a 10 minute walk into the market where all the shops and restaurants were located, but far enough away that is was quite quiet. 

We decided to get to know the area by taking a walking food tour again, so I went online and booked one off trip adviser.

 A couple of hours later we were walking through Hoian with 11 other participants tasting all the street food of Hoian.

 We started with one of our favorites Banh Mi. This yummy sub sandwich was created in Hoian and we were at one of the best Banh Mi restaurants in town. It had also been recommended by our host. Next we went into the market and had Vietnamese pancakes which were a baked rice pancake with shrimp and vegetables which you then rolled in a second rice paper and dipped in peanut sauce.





Next we had a white rose dumpling and a wonton. The wonton was quite different than what we get at home. The wonton wrapper is deep fried flat and then a filling of shrimp,carrots, pineapple and a sweet and sour sauce is placed on top. Very tasty.  We them stopped at a street stall and had a dish called chicken rice. Desert was a husband/wife cake  which was a mung bean covered in a sweet jelly. Not our favorite but we tried it.

We finished off with a beer along the water. We were quite surprised they did not include Cau Lau which is also a Hanoi signature dish which you can only get in Hanoi. But we were quite sure we would be able to find it on our own. After our tour we were both wiped so headed back to our hotel for the night. Hoian was spectacular by night but we had 3 more nights to enjoy it. 

The next morning we enjoyed coffee on our deck before we headed across the bridge in search of a tailor. As we were walking down the street we were approached by a lady who said she had a shop. She seemed friendly so off we went. Her shop was one of many located in a stall within the market. Her sister was running the stall and we sat down to have a chat. By the end of our chat we had been measured up, picked our fabrics and had ordered 5 shirts and 3 pairs of shorts for Bill and 2 dresses for me as well as getting a bathing suit top altered. What an experience. If Nim didn’t have the fabric you liked she simply took you to another stall to choose from. There were so many it was overwhelming, but fun. We left by 11:30 and were to be back for our first fitting by 5pm that night. 

We then headed back to our Bahn Mi restaurant to try the chicken version. We both liked this one better than the pork and we had our first iced Vietnamese coffee. To die for, they are the best coffee ever, especially on a hot afternoon. It was finally warming up. Yay!

We wondered around the market and all the shops and then decided to grab some cold beer and relax on our deck for a couple of hours before our fitting.  While we relaxed I did some research on cooking classes. As I found out these are very popular and fill up quickly. We were lucky and the Red River cooking class added an evening class for Friday so we booked in for 1:30-8:00 pm.







 Ang, our host has told us if we wanted a massage she could book them and the girls would come to our room to do them. We thought we would see if they were available and to our surprise they could be there in an hour. We had just enough time before our fitting so had them come. It was a very relaxing massage in the comfort of your room for $15.00 each.  

After our massage we had our first fitting. These guys are amazing in 6 hours they had all 5 of Bill’s shirts done as well as his shorts and my two dresses. His shorts needed to be made smaller and they had to tweak my dresses a bit so we made arrangements to come back the next morning.   For dinner we found the Morning Glory restaurant that had been recommended by Ang  and enjoyed another great meal. I’ve even been able to order imported wine which makes me very happy!

Friday morning we were able to book a cooking class from 1:30 - 8:00pm with the Red Bridge cooking class. So excited!  Before we went we had to go for another fitting, Bill’s shorts were perfect this time and my dresses as well. Nim talked me into purchasing another little black dress I had my eye on so we had to come back tomorrow for more fittings.   We wondered around the market and headed to the restaurant where we were to meet for our cooking class. We were about 1 hour early so sat and enjoyed another iced coffee. 

There was only 4 of us in our cooking class. Nadia and Hamlisch, a couple from London. Our first stop on the tour was a huge local herb garden that was run by 200 local families. It was irrigated but all the planting etc was done by hand. It was amazing. Each morning they harvested the herbs and sold them in the fresh market starting at 4am.

We had a lovely fruit drink and then headed to the market to pick up the vegetables we were going to cook with.  Sung our tour guide was very informative and we were able to purchase a few unique cooking tools, herb seeds, and dried lemon grass.

Then we jumped in a san pan boat and cruised down the river. We arrived at this beautiful location with a pool and everything, too bad it was too cold to swim. Drinks were included in our tour so we all had a beer before beginning to cook.

Our cook was a lively lady who handed us each an apron and we started with a banana flower salad. We each grated a different vegetable with the best little grater I’ve ever used. (One of my new tools).

 Once this was done we started the Pho stock. They began by searing the beef bone on the BBQ and then rinsing it it hot water and then into the stock pot with onion, ginger, salt,pepper and sugar. This stock would normally cook over night. We then went onto making shrimp in a banana leaf and fish in a clay pot. All four dishes were amazing. We received copies of the recipes however finding some of the ingredients will be a challenge when we get home. We ended the evening with fresh fruit and a glass of wine and we were taken back to town by vehicle.

It was al lovely evening and we now have a travel contact in London who has an Airbnb in the south of Italy. Nadia had boots delivered while we were there so I got the ladies business card and may get my custom tote made tomorrow if we have time. 

Our last day in Hoian was spent ordering my new red leather tote, having my final fitting for my little black dress and then picking them up at then end of the day. During our down time Bill actually agreed to renting peddle bikes to ride around Can Am island where we were staying and then ride back into town for my fittings and pick ups.

 While we were walking around in the afternoon we stumbled across this great little back ally restaurant that served Cau Lau noodles. Yay we were going to be able to try them. They did not disappoint, they were delish and so was everything else we tried.   So much so that we decided to go back for dinner. The only challenge was that we were on bikes and it was dark. After a few wrong turns and a near miss I was able to spot the alleyway. Dinner was just as good as lunch and we were able to find our way home without incident and get the bikes back on time. We even timed our stops so we were not caught in the afternoon down pour. 

Hoian was quite touristy but quant at the same time. The city is very beautiful at night when all the latturns are lit up and the canal is set up for the evening. We are off to Saigon tomorrow morning which should be quite different from here.