By: Seb and Charlotte
We started off the day with a scenic bike ride in the sunny, but humid, weather of Hoi An. Riding through the busy city streets to the peaceful countryside was fun and challenging at times. Hoi An is still suffering the effects of the recent typhoon and some of us got a bit muddy cycling through the streets. We eventually stopped at a restaurant that had views right onto the beach. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to swim but the food made up for it. A very cheap meal with such good quality food makes me appreciate how lucky we are to taste these amazing flavours. After our chill time at the beach – playing cards or relaxing, we headed back to the hotel in our very own Tour De Vietnam – riding down the streets of Hoi An until the occasional traffic lights slowed us down. The prize of glory got all the students thirsty for the win, but Beau managed to pull up to curb before the rest of us making him the winner. After our fun on the bikes, we cooled off in the pool with some more competitive games. Throwing the ball, playing Marlo Polo and generally relaxing made this a great start to the day.
After a fun afternoon in the pool, we headed back into Hoi An for more adventures. Our first stop was the tailors where we tried on our dresses, suits and shirts we had ordered the previous day. We were amazed at how quickly they were able to put together our custom order! We then had some time to explore the markets and beautiful streets of Hoi An. With rumbling tummies, we gathered together to head off to Miss Vy’s cooking school. Although some of us cook at home, we are hopeful that many parents will get some more help in the kitchen at home from our newfound culinary skills! We made a delicious chicken skewer, pork spring rolls and green papaya salad. The food we prepared was amazing and we were all delighted by the fresh flavours. Some more night time shopping followed dinner, but amazingly, some students have been shopped out and opted to return to the hotel to catch up on some journey doc writing.
So many of us have commented that Hoi An has been our favourite city so far. We have loved learning about the 400 year old town and are very thankful that this is one of very few cities in
Vietnam that was spared of bombs and fighting during the Vietnamese war. It’s so beautiful and historic.
Tomorrow will be another big day in Hoi An full of city tours, tailors, shopping, abseiling and of course eating!!!
