Vietnam – Hoi An
Like we mentioned in the previous post - our trip from Hanoi to Hoi An involved an overnight train from Hanoi to Da Nang - which departed at about 7pm, and arrived at about 11:30am the next morning. We bought the most expensive tickets we could, which put us in a 4-person soft sleeper depicted below.
Now, Carly and I have discovered that we may be on the "uppity" side of the "backpacker" clan. The soft-sleeper was not exactly what we considered enjoyable, but it only ended up costing us about S$45 each to get 1/2 way down the country. That being said, once we arrived in Hoi An, we changed our plans, cancelled our train from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon) - and booked plane tickets instead. It was a pretty easy choice. Either $US50 each for the plane ride (55 minutes) - or about US$38 for a 22 hour train ride.
But the noodles were alright.
This is a shot out of the train somewhere between Hue and Da Nang - likely around 10am.
Carly and I were both surprised at the amount of Christmas stuff. Christmas was EVERYWHERE. We thought, being a communist country and all - that the government would be keeping all this under control a bit - but no - there was Christmas to be had everywhere we went (just wait for the entry on Saigon).
Hoi An was probably our favorite place in Vietnam. A really quaint town, easy to walk everywhere, amazing food, and super-relaxing vibe.
It was also packed with tailors. Shops everywhere. Shoes, suits, pants, jeans, shorts, whatever you wanted, they'd measure you and make it by tomorrow. For cheap. Carly and I took advantage of the situation. I got a suit made, Carly got a 3-piece suit, 2-piece suit, a jacket and 3 pairs of shoes made. Not too shabby for about US$200.
As you can see - they're short in Vietnam - this lady had to stand on a chair to measure Carly. Believe me, traveling around Asia with a beautiful girl standing 185 centimeters tall is a REALLY funny time.
We stayed at this place - Green Field Hotel - which was about a 10 minute walk outside the town center, which was good, we needed the walking time after all our eating 
This is a shot that we took outside our hotel balcony.
Vietnam is officially the home of the best French Baguettes I have ever had the pleasure of eating in my entire life. We loved them.
And did I forget to mention the coffee. The Vietnamese know how to do coffee right. A good dollop of sweetened condensed milk with a nice drip of extremely, extremely strong coffee on top. Stir that bad boy up - and you're in coffee-heaven.
One of the days we were in Hoi An, we took a cooking class. Carly and I love cooking, so we always look for a cooking class when we're hitting up another country. Prior to the class we got a walk through with a guide at the Hoi An market.
Before entering the market, we received some friendly advice for our guide to not use the word "Yum" while walking through the market, even if things happened to look particularly yummy. Apparently in Vietnamese, "Yum" means "horny".
Carly got a shot of these conical-hatted-ladies while we were on a boat heading down the river to the restaurant where our cooking course was being held.
The day before we had to leave Hoi An, we rented some bicycles and took a ride to the beach (about 2.5 KM from our hotel) - we went for a nice walk, and then proceeded to ride around town to pick up all of our clothing.
I think when we get back to Canada, I might have to pick myself up a sweet bike like this with a nice big basket.
The French influence (at least with pastries) is alive and strong in Vietnam. Carly and I visited a particular restaurant (The Cargo Club) a number of times - one of the reasons being the chocolate and almond-pear tarts you see below.
One of the main attractions in Hoi An architecturally is the Japanese Covered Bridge, which I believe was built some time in the 1500s, pictured below.
We had an awesome time in Hoi An - and if I'm ever back in Vietnam, we would definitely be stopping here again.
