Just Another Day in Paradise

One of the many tailor shops in Hoi An

The past couple of days have been filled with cruising about Hoi An trying to finish up our clothing shopping to get things shipped off to Seoul. If you put your mind to buying a new wardrobe, it's a bit exhausting. 

In addition to the custom clothes, Molly and I found a tiny shop near the hotel where we picked up some light sweaters and cardigans as well as a pair of jeans for her. There's no way I'd fit in a pair of skinny jeans in Asia. The largest size in the store was 29, and 29 here is not a 29 at home!!! 

Between shopping outings we always managed to find a good meal. The one at a chic riverside restaurant was probably my favourite. We had simple local sandwiches, Hoi An's special Cao Lao noodles with pork, veggies and herbs, Pho, plus fresh mint and strawberry tea. We topped it of with freshly made ice cream and tempura fried bananas. YUM. It was our second visit here, and we were all very happy to have gone back. 

Bahn My & Cao Lao

The food in Vietnam has been fantastic. It's fresh, full of flavour, has ample spice without being overwhelming, and the portions are reasonable to prevent us from packing on traveller's pounds. I think it would be fair to say it's a nice cross between Chinese and Thai food.

freshly made vanilla ice cream with banana fritters

In addition to eating and shopping the bike riding has continued. The loop through the rice fields gets greener every day thanks to a good combination of rain and sunshine. Today Barry and I left the kids at the hotel to plan a scavenger hunt as their instructional writing assignment while the adults enjoyed a bike cruise at a pleasant pace with no unpleasant frowns followings us. Win Win!

Lorry, Ted and Connor - look how green the fields are now

We are loving the pool at the hotel. It's big, fairly warm and usually empty. It would be fun if it was full of kids for George and Molly to play with, but we haven't seen a lot of other families travelling here. We mostly encounter young backpackers or young seniors. 

I'm happy to say today was also nice enough to have our final afternoon in Hoi An at the beach. Meow, the server at the restaurant, was delighted to see us again. We also met a fantastic Australian couple who shared some of their travel adventures and listened enthusiastically to Barry talk about ours. The kids enjoyed the water, and I was delighted that there were no big waves and riptide fears today - the water was beautifully calm.

The little circular fishing boats came in and out amongst the swimmers. Tourism and real life seem to work well side-by-side in Hoi An. I'll miss this city when we leave for Hanoi tomorrow.