Hoi An

We arrived very early and very hungover in Hoi An so did not venture out until lunchtime, but what a fantastic lunch we had! We ate at Secret Garden, a leafy and shady terrace and garden down a narrow side street in the old part of Hoi An (a UNESCO world heritage site), and had some delicious rice flour rolls - a nice alternative to the spring rolls we have been having with almost every meal! We also had fish in clay pot (a local speciality) and lemongrass fish soup for our mains. All of the dishes were very tasty and used a delicious combination of Asian spices.

We bumped into Lisa, Jess and Paula from work while we were wandering around the market, and so went for a drink and a catch up, and from the balcony spotted Tola, Fiyin and Carole! We arranged to meet up for dinner later and took the shuttle back to our hotel, which is nice but annoyingly far from town (this is the last time I let Ben choose the accommodation!). I had the Cau Lau - a local dish made with noodles that must be cooked in the water from the local well - but found it to be very disappointing and almost flavourless.

Ben and I had decided to rent a motorbike after the fun we had in Da Lat, so the following day, we rented three bikes and after a brief (read: prolonged) expedition to the tailor for dresses, Tola, Fiyin, Carole, Ben and I set off on our bikes to explore the area around Hoi An, heading first for Marble Mountain, China beach, Cao Dai beach and the small island in the southern part of Hoi An. We saw lots of beautiful scenery and river activity on our journey, and due to the fact that at least one of the bikes seemed to be a little possessed, there were a lot of comedy moments, including Fi's bike bursting ahead at the traffic lights... largely without her! I am really taken by the motorbikes and am considering getting a licence when I get back to the UK.... easy rider!
On our final morning in Hoi An, Ben and I took a cooking class at Red Bridge, and had a fantastic (if competitive) time making our own rice paper, rolling spring rolls, banh xeo and aubergine in a clay pot - all of which were very tasty. We took an interesting walk through the local market and then a 25 minute boat ride to the cookery school itself, which was set in a beautiful leafy garden. Definitely recommended!
In the afternoon, we flew to Hanoi to begin the Halong Bay trip with Kangaroo Cafe.... Oh - our dresses all turned out fantastically, leaving Ben wishing he had got a suit made!