Hoi An, Vietnam

Friday 17th July

Cooking class this morning. An early start: 8.30 – 1pm. Was great. More later. Check out the photos.

The Red Bridge Cooking Class and tour was on our agenda this morning. This started with a walk through the local wet markets where our guide/chef, Phi, pointed out some of the more interesting food items. From the markets we walked back along the river and boarded a boat. We travelled east towards the coast for about 20 minutes, taking in all of the local sights, until we reached the open air cooking school. Phi showed around their herb garden and then, following a welcome drink, we assembled in the outdoor cooking area. Another chef, didn’t get his name, took us through the cooking demonstrations. We were given copies of recipes, he demonstrated a few and, after each demo, we would then get up and prepare the same dish. We would then sample our cooking. Most of us struggled with the cucumber and tomato decorating though. Our last dish was a vegetable clay pot dish we took up to their open air restaurant area to sample. Some other dishes and drinks were also on offer as we sat back and chatted to the other guests on the tour. It was a wonderful way to spend a morning in Hoi An.

We decided against a boat trip back to Hoi An and opted for the taxi option back to our hotel. It was a hot sunny day and we wanted to get down to the beach.

Later that day we caught the 6pm shuttle in to town so as to collect Mark’s pants and to go for dinner. We went to a great little resturant, Hoa Vang, located at 104 Bach Dang St, right on the river. The food and view were great and this is one place we would definitely come back to. If only we had mre time! We have really come to enjoy our time staying at Hoi An and wish we had a couple of more days relaxing and exploring.