The breakfast bar at our hotel in Hoi An – the Ha An hotel - http://www.haanhotel.com/home/
Food on sale in the market
Local food stalls along the river
Three dishes we ate :
My Son is the major site in Vietnam from the ancient Champa Kingdom which flourished between the 2nd and 15th centuries. Descendants of the Champa civilisation still live along the coast of Vietnam though they are now fully integrated in Vietnamese society.
The Kingdom at My Son dates back to the 4th century and remained fully occupied through until the 13th century which makes it the longest occupied of all the major monuments of SE Asia. It served as a religious and intellectual centre where Champa kings were crowned and buried. In 1999 it was named a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Pam & I caught a bus from our hotel to My Son. We took the option of Bus + Boat which means we went on the bus on the way to My Son and then on the way back we caught a boat about 1/2 way back and idled down the river for 90 minutes.
Cost : 6 USD per person + 60,000 VND for ticket when you get to My Son
For a UNESCO World Heritage site we thought that it was pretty overgrown and not that well looked after. It looks like a lot of the buildings are still visible under the grass all around and a lot are covered in grass.
The complex at My Son was bombed by the American's during the Vietnam war and as a result a lot of the buildings were severally damaged.
Some of the buildings have covers over them where they appear to be working on them although there did not appear to be anyone doing anything when we were there.
So far both hotels we have stayed in:
Both have free Internet in Reception, free WIFI in the rooms, and the rooms include a laptop for you to use!
Pity the rest of the world doesn’t catch on with service!
Today our last full day in Hanoi we booked into the Hidden Hanoi Cooking School (http://www.hiddenhanoi.com.vn/cookingclasses)
We caught a taxi from our hotel which is near the Hoan Kiem Lake to the cooking scroll which is close to West Lake. We paid 40,000 VND for the taxi fare there with Tourist Hanoi taxis.
We did not do the market tour so the cost of the cooking course was $40 USD each ($10 USD more for market tour) – we paid 1,680,000 VND for the two of us to do the course.
Getting setup we all wear aprons – mine hardly fits!
Today we are doing Vietnamese Street Food
Hard at work!
Little flowers we made from the skin of a Tomato
Outside to BBQ our Meat Balls + Pork Belly
Yum
Our table of food – looks and smells lovely
Sitting down and eating our meal – it was very nice
This is called Coconut Caramel – we used it to marinate the meat balls + Pork Belly
Top Left
Chicken Pho
Top Right
Beef Pho
Bottom
Omelette
All free included in the breakfast spread.
Top Left
Bun Cha – Main Course – $5.70 USD
Fresh rice vermicelli noodles and grilled chopped pork served with fish sauce and herbs
Top Right
Nem hanoi – Appetizer – $3.90 USD
Veggie, Pork, Eggs rolled in rice paper then deep fried & served with fresh chilli, garlic & fish sauce
Bottom
Grilled Bamboo Beef – Main Course – $7.50 USD
Beef mixed with condiments, stuffed in a bamboo pipe, then grilled and served with steamed rice.
