I heart Hoi An

We wrapped up our morning in Hanoi by visiting the Dong Xuan Market. The guidebooks recommended to cut the offered price by 50% and then settle at 70% of the original offer. But, for some reason the vendors in Hanoi  weren't so interested in battling it out like I've seen at markets all over the world. In which case, they won at the end because I bought what I wanted without using much of my negotiation skills.

And....off to Hoi An! Our hotel, which is a homestay, is divine. My room is a one bedroom bungalow, with a kitchen, living room and an outside shower! Shout out to The Shahs for an awesome recommendation! Service here (and in Vietnam in general) has been outstanding.

Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (seems like everything is these days!) and caters to tourists since they have been flocking here over the past 10 or so years. With colonial architecture, the buildings and shops are breathtaking. So glad we made it here even though its a bit out of the way but totally worth it.

We đid our part as tourists and ordered some custom made shoes! Dinner at Miss Ly's amazing restaurant - food was on point - White Rose  (dumpling with shrimp/meat in a light sauce) and Fried Wontons were delicious, in fact we may go back again for our last meal here. :)

Fried Wonton w/chicken and shrimp

The next day we took our bikes (regular for me and motorbike for Het) and pedaled/zoomed off to the daily Central Market. Visiting local markets are my favorite part of any trip because you get to see what the town is all about - and the pictures always come out nicely due to the environment.

For lunch, we tried the town's famous Cau Lau noodles at Morning Glory. Have to say, it wasn't my favorite. I think my heart was stolen by Hanoi's fresh rice noodles. Bun bo, yum.

Adventure #2 (of the trip): On the way back to the hotel, Het asked me to wait on the corner but for some reason that didn't register...so I pedaled off. The hotel's about 15 minutes from town so I expected to get there last. After about 10 minutes of waiting and worrying,  I started feeling bad about not waiting to see if everything was ok before i bolted. Back down to town and found each other at the starting point. Turns out that we were both looking for each other...for 45 minutes. Relieved, we headed back and changed for dinner and our cooking class.

We hit up the shoe store before and realized that our class was on the other side of tơwn and it was time to book it! And course, we got lost and it started to raining and the brakes on my bike don't work so well... Adventure #3! We finally found the place and even though the place is Red Bridge's cooking school, classes are held at the Cafe around the corner from the shoe store! So yeah...we laughed it off, took some pictures of the red bridge and head back to the hotel. Lost each other again along the way, 5 minute recovery this time. Dropped our bikes and took a taxi into town for a non-Vietnamese meal at Cargo, overlooking the river on the rooftop balcony.

Quite a day! And happy to say that we got through it in good spirits despite the miscommunication and worries. Planning to check out the beautiful Hoi An beaches tomorrow and pick up our shoes from town.