2019 Christmas in Vietnam Day 2

25 Dec 2019 Hoi An

 

Frankly speaking, Vietnamese food is not as tastety as expected, but I always like their steam rice rolls (Banh Cuon), similar with Chee Cheong Fun. Some of these rice rolls are filled, some of them are plain and can be eated together with cold dishes. They are quite oily, so be mindful on the servings.

About 7km from Hoi An Ancient town, Cam Thanh village was where we experienced our first ride in a basket. At first glance, a basket boat might appear unstable but that is certainly not the case. The boats’ spherical shape distributes weight evenly.

After boarding at the river bank, the guide took us on a 45-60-minute ride on the Cua Dai River, meandering through its at times maze-like network of channels, canals, and coconut palms. There are stops along the way for photos and a staged, though entertaining, demonstration of speed and balance by a local boat skipper.

Hoi An is known as the city of lanterns and getting to see the beautiful Hoi An lanterns all over the city is a real treat for any traveller. It is a unique experience making a lantern ourselves as souvenir. The lanterns are made with bamboo, silk, wood, wire, a lot of glue. Once we have finished the lantern it can be folded up into a convenient tube to pack away safely while we traveled.

The tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh took 11 years to complete. His enduring unpopularity is due in part to his heavy taxation on peasants to finance the construction of this edifice. Khai Dinh ordered a tomb that had heavy French elements within its design

In the evening, we pampered ourselves with hot stone massage to relax our muscles after a long day of walking. We were even pampered more when we were treated like emperor and empresses for the evening with traditional live music during our royal style dinner at NHÀ HÀNG CUNG ĐÌNH HUẾ. The musicians were dressed up in a costume and the food was the best throughout the entire trip, apart from the buffet lunch we had in Bana Hill.

It was Christmas and I wanted a unique christmas celebration with my mother. I brought my mother for a drink, As told by our tour guide, there were many bars around our hotel. Indeed, the streets were very happening with busy bars.

My mother ordered beer, but I ordered fruit juice. We chose this bar because of the oldies played by the live band.