Hoi An part I

On Friday, Mike took the day off from work and we headed to Hoi An. Hoi An is a city about 30 km (about 12 miles) from Danang that is where most of the tourists go. It's much smaller than Danang and has more of the traditional buildings, rice paddies and other things people think of when they think of Vietnam. We started out by breakfasting on banh mi op la, which was a baguette full of veggies and topped with a sunny side up egg. We took them back to the beach and headed off to Hoi An. I rode on the back of Mike's scooter, and I think that my back has never been the same since. Owwwww.

The banh mi shop also had things like Laughing Cow cheese and juice boxes, which seemed so out of place. These were serious luxury items here.

And then there were some pastries shaped like pigs's heads.

Some of the traditional fishing boats. This was one of the circular ones.

Risa with the banh mi op la.

Hoi An also had some cool sculptures. This was a phoenix.

This bridge was located in the center of the shopping area. 

This is known as the Japanese covered bridge.

We headed off to the beach. Mike and Risa knew of a beach that wasn't one of the public ones. It was next to a hotel and supposed to be for the guests's use, but if you bought a drink from the bar, they'd let you hang out on the cabana platforms. We ordered mango smoothies and relaxed in comfort.

There's a group of islands called the Cham islands. A boat ride out there takes a few hours, but there's supposedly some great diving and sights out there.

Cabanas and one of the fishing boats up close.

Life is hard.

Risa had arranged for her and me to take a Vietnamese cooking class so we headed back to town. Mike took off to relax by the beach some more and Risa and I headed to the restaurant. The class consisted of us, 2 Germans and a woman from Trinidad and Tobago. Our guide led us through the wet market and showed us around before we got on a boat and headed down the river.

Rambutan, one of my favourite fruits. I was sad we got back too late to buy some.

I feel bad, but I've totally forgotten what our guide's name was. She was very cute and about 7 months pregnant.

The bright pink is dragon fruit and the giant green in the back are pomelos.

Tea leaves

Sugar cane, tomatoes and papaya

Limes, cucumbers, and lemongrass

Clams

Ginger

This is how they sell meat at the market. It's scary dirty, and the meat sits out for most of the day. The later in the day, the cheaper the price becomes.

Tofu

Lemongrass

This was the pork sausage/pate stuff that we had at the barbecued pork place.

Bundles of dried noodles

This was a noodle called cao lau

I think this was jellyfish

Tiger prawns

This was a Vietnamese peeler/knife that I totally wish I had bought before I left.

Next up: ride down the river, cooking, Hoi An at night, and shopping, shopping, shopping.