Vietnam, Part 5, Hoi An

After an all-day motorcycle tour from Hue, I arrived in Hoi An. I took a little wander around town and then crashed. My room was adorable; I could have moved in. I was excited to explore the next day and stay the rest of my break here.

A cozy spot for the week

Hoi An is a beautiful town, which is well-known for its windy streets, river canals and tailors. It has a European touch to it and I loved all the coffee shops and restaurants with al fresco dining options. Its lantern festivals are also famous. It just so happened I would get to experience one of these magical evenings during my week here! If you can adjust your travel plans to be in Hoi An for a lantern festival, I would recommend you do so!

Colorful lanterns on a Hoi An street

Sampling coffee and deciding what to bring back!

Downtown Hoi An is car and motorbike free, but there are a lot of bicycles. I rented one for a day and enjoyed cruising around. 

Hoi An Canal

Panorama of the main canal

Historic Brid

Banana flower salad... did you know that bananas have flowers? And, that you can eat them?

A sample of what a local tailor can do...

Dusk in downtown

Most of the teachers travel away from Yangon when we have school breaks. I love living in Yangon, but I also love getting out when we have a chunk of time off of school. As it turns out a friend and colleague, K, was also traveling through Vietnam at this time. I met up with her, and her visiting parents, for dinner and the lantern festival.

The four of us ate at a restaurant near the water as the sun set. After finishing our meal, we made our way towards the canals. Hoi An limits electric light on these special nights (the 14th day of each lunar month) and with just the flicker of lanterns, the town takes on a magical glow. It was easy to purchase paper lanterns and hop in a boat. Our captain rowed us out, where we released our lanterns, watching them as they drifted out until they mingled with the rest. 

Selfie from our rowboat

My lantern on its way out

Moon over the canal

Lanterns on the water

I ended my time in Hoi An by picking up a few new custom-made items from tailors and relaxing at the beach. The beach is absolutely lovely; it has enough development to be comfortable (beach bars, ice cream stands, seafood restaurants), but not enough to take away the calm and charm of the place. 

Beach near Hoi An

We've made it to the end of my Vietnam saga! I am sorry that my posts lag so far behind my adventures.

I am going to continue on my Tuesday publication schedule until the holiday break...so keep reading! Hopefully, this will let me catch you up on my goings and goings (if that is even possible - I have been in Yangon 1 out of the last 5 weekends...).

Favorite sweet treat:

A friend make these gluten free vegan cookie dough balls for a recent potluck and they disappeared FAST! I haven't tried the recipe yet, but it looks pretty easy and not too unhealthy.

Podcast Recommendation:

I don't follow many podcasts, but I have become hooked on Tea with BVP. It focuses on second language acquisition and it has been shaping how I think about what I do in the classroom.

Another Blog Recommendation:

One of my former students is studying abroad in Spain this year. Follow her journey and live vicariously through her adventures with El Mundo Loco.

Ha ha, this is what my backpack looked like when I got home! I took carry-on only for my two weeks in Vietnam!

Vietnam, Part 4: On the Road

So, how would I get to Hoi An, my next destination??? Train? Plane? Bus? Private transfer? A fellow traveler tipped me off onto an even better option! The people you meet, the conversations you have and the tips that you get from fellow travelers are some of my favorite things about traveling.

And so I found the motorcycle tour company, Le Family Riders, that would not only drive me there, but stop to see sights along the way. They were friendly, organized and experienced. I strongly recommend that you use them if you visit the area!

I was picked up at my hotel early in the morning. We drove out of town, stopping for pictures and eventually for coffee. It was a cloudy day, but I was glad for the overcast skies because I was worried about burning since I knew I'd be outside most of the day.

A deceiving photo... I never actually drove this thing. ;)

At a traditional Vietnamese breakfast spot, I met up with other travelers in my group. We went on to visit a local fishing village.

Cloudy and windy, but not cold!

After the second stop we turned off of the main road, for a detour and another stop, curving up to a secret swimming spot. Most of the visitors were Vietnamese and they hung out under shelter, socializing and drinking beer. We decided that we had to take a dip in the water and try out the natural water slide.

A stop at natural pools and waterslides

After our dip in the pools, it was time to head towards lunch, which would be on a floating restaurant. 

A view back at the town towards the floating restaurant where we had a seafood lunch feast.

Next, it was time to go up and over the mountains, pass through Da Nang and arrive in Hoi An. Here is a video of us cruising up the hill! Mom, please note that helmets were worn the entire time. 

I guess this road is a famous twisty and turny uphill climb and has been featured in shows like Top Gear. It's a popular spot for locals to come and take photos. We saw several wedding photo shoots taking place as we climbed upwards. 

Cheese!

Looking back through the mist from the top.

These teens were playing in the wind and taking selfies - too cute!

View of the coast - the sun did begin to peek out.

Selfie on the back of my ride

Our last stop was the temple on top of Marble Mountain. A lot of the marble used to make decorations and religious statues comes from this mountain and there is a beautiful temple on the top. We left our drivers and bikes below as we whizzed to the top of the mountain in a glass elevator. From there we had some time so we explored the many nooks and caves, took pictures of the coastal views around (it is near Da Nang) and then descended via the stairs.

Winding around the different prayer spots

Garden and Buddha

Steps leading to the very tippy top of the mountain

And the view from the top!

Hi Mom! These marble statues look like Tarzi! ;)

Eventually a very long day ended at my hotel in Hoi An. Stay tuned for the last chapter in my series on Vietnam! (It probably won't be next week... we are on fall break and I will be in Thailand, where blogger doesn't work.)

I just finished reading:

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood - I think this is her newest novel and it is the first Atwood I have read. I liked it. It did get weirder than I thought it would at first, but it was pretty engrossing and definitely creative. I'm looking forward to discussing it at book club later this month.

Human Dark with Sugar by Brenda Shaughnessy - I don't read a lot of poetry, but Y recommended this book to me and Shaughnessy is amazing. It's definitely a book of poems that I will go back to.

And what I am really excited to listen to:

One of my favorite artists, Conor Oberst, is releasing a new record. You can hear it and read an article from NPR here.