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Hoi An
There are 400 Taylor shops in Hoi An. There must be similar numbers of French cafes (fab cheese cake), Chinese lamp shops (bought one), art galleries and restaurants. The old part of town is closed to traffic from the early evening making it a wonderful place to stroll and browse in the shops. Like luang Prabang, it has a really nice relaxed atmosphere and is the sort of place that you could easily spend more time.
We took another cooking class, once again having a tour of the market to help us to identify our exotic ingredients. Then a boat ride down river to the school where we're learned to make four Vietnamese dishes and had a fabulous lunch. On the way back to town Susan got to steer the boat and, apart from hitting another boat got us back safely.
That evening we joined some of the others for drinks and pool. For a long shot I got out the rest and a shout went up in the bar. The manager brought me a shot of snake wine and invited me to drink it for daring to use the poofter stick. Snake wine actually contains a snake in the bottle. It is popular locally because local gentlemen believe that it is an aid in certain departments. It tasted foul and didn't even work.
On our final day we hired bicycles and rode to the beach. It was a grand day out. We took an indirect route along the river then through paddy fields, fishing villages and the delta area. It was great cycling countryside. The golden beach went on for many miles. We were adopted by a beach side restuarent shown to our front row sunbeds and shades and brought food and drink all day. The sun came out at last, the South China Sea was warm and we had a great time bouncing about in the breaking waves.
Susan availed herself of the tailoring services and was measured up for two "Miss Saigon" silk tops on International Woman's Day. They were made in a day and look stunning.
One of the things that might tempt us back to Hoi An is the street kids project (Streets). A restuarent has been set up as a training school in hospitality, cooking and waiting for street kids. It has been going for 5 years and all of its graduates have found work in the rapidly growing tourist industry. All of the kids have to learn to speak English to a high standard and the school might be a good place to apply our latest TEFL qualifications.
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Hazel Sharon passed me details of your blog. It's amazing! I've just read a few bits so far but plan to catch up as soon as possible. Hope you continue to enjoy your wonderful adventure.