By Marie and Carien
Today started off with a great roof top breakfast buffet full of pancakes, various bread and fruits. This was a good way to kick off the first full day in Hoi An. After breakfast some headed off to see about some jewellery for loved ones and themselves. We soon discovered on arrival to the jeweller that they can literally make any design you want. We placed our orders and then headed off to explore Hoi An on some vintage bikes. The bike ride might have been long and exhausting but it was all worth it when we saw the beautiful beach got fresh juices. We were even lucky enough to run into another Australian who we could all enjoy an easy conversation with in English. We embraced the view of the sea for about an hour before making our way back to the hotel.
Once back at the hotel we were keen to jump in the pool as we were feeling hot and sweaty. But, this couldn’t happen until our journal pages were up to date. Once completed the smiles on people’s faces as they headed towards the pool to jump in was extraordinary. After some time in the hotel to relax, we walked to explore the heritage listed city of Hoi An. In groups of three we made our way up and down through the streets of the UNESCO Heritage listed town of Hoi An practising our bargaining skills. There were still some rookie bargainers in the group (some paying significantly more for the same item than others…). Let’s just say we are learning to bargain hard as some have not budgeted as well as others. A few of us also had to pop back into the tailor shop to get fitted again and suggest any alterations to be made to our orders.
Meeting at 5:30pm at the Japanese bridge, created 300 years ago, we took off to go to a stunning restaurant where we learnt from the best about how to cook Vietnamese dishes that we were able to enjoy afterwards (parents do not expect anything spectacular when we get home). We cooked two dishes, spring rolls and skewers with marinated chicken. Our cooking instructor also showed us how to make a quick and fresh green papaya salad, even providing a utensil to peel the papaya with as a gift to each of us. Everyone did an amazing job and it was a well deserved dinner. Bellies full, we headed back to the hotel to go for a night swim before getting into bed.
Sending our love to everyone back at home and missing you all very much xx
Marie & Carien