Didn’t go for a walk this morning as we went on the Taste of Hoi An Food Tour with Neville Dean an Aussie who has retired in Vietnam. He is 50+15 yo and he and his wife Colleen have lived in Hoi An for 5 years. We were picked up at 7.15am and joined 13 others on the tour. We started our walking tour visiting the colorful local Tan An Markets where we met and chatted with stall holders about their food. Our walk then continued along both high streets and back streets, discovering out-of-the-way producers and street vendors making and selling a wide variety of exotic foods. Our first sit-down stop was at 74 Pho Bo where we were served Beef Noodle soup. Kevin decided to add a little of the chili mix to his and ended up with burning lips for hours. We then stopped at White Sail Café where we tried a variety of tasting plate dishes. I had stressed no chili but 2 of the dishes had chili in them. Neville was very apologetic. Our final destination was The Ancient House of Gia Dinh – Family Restaurant where we headed upstairs to a dedicated room and Colleen, Neville’s wife was here greeting us with refreshments. We continued to taste a wide selection of the local delicacies that had been bought directly from the vendors – most of whom we saw or met on the tour. We tried 42 different dishes throughout the tour. The purpose of the tour is to give visitors a safe opportunity to try the foods of the local Hoi An people – and we were assured the food is handled hygienically. The tour was a little pricey at $60 a head but Neville assures us the benefits go back to the vendors as he buys directly from them and also to a local Agent Orange organisation that supports people in the local 28 proviences that have been affected since the Vietnam war. Neville indicated that they donate approx $1,000 each month. Kevin chatted at length to him and even managed to get a copy of Neville’s book, autographed for free. We got back to the hotel at 2pm and Jackie was just leaving. We said our goodbyes and wished her happy travels. A lazy avo included a swim in the pool where we met other newcomers Abby and Michael from Melb. Abby was from NZ and a teacher and Michael in an engineer at Holdens. We visited the tailor late avo and my 3 dresses needed minor alterations – had to be let out!!!. From here we went to Cam Nam Island to visit Dong at his house / coffee shop and have a chat. He took us to see his block of land next to his grandfather’s house and it had some good views along the river and across to the Ancient Town. We didn’t need any other food for the day so on returning to the hotel we sat with the staff and had a couple of drinks before retiring.
Sorry about the delay. I was hacked and had to ask worldnomads to retrieve my journal from the server. I had a moment of panic as I dont want ot lose this.
