Explore Smarter, Not Hotter
By Lauren Gerzina & Justin Hayes
Duck Pho, Fruit Salads, and Lantern Boats
Today started off a bit later than normal – we decided to sleep in after our crazy night out on the town.
We checked out a new breakfast place called Dingo Deli since they had GF bread! Lauren ordered a quiche Lorraine and Justin ordered the big breakfast with GF toast! The restaurant also had a mini convenience store in the front which sold “staples” from the western world. We saw Bundaberg (5 different flavors!), Hidden Valley ranch dressing, Red Hot, Heinz ketchup, Hint of Lime tortilla chips, etc. I’m sure this store is a haven for expats. We ran into an older Aussie man who seems to like striking up conversations with strangers who started telling us all kinds of strange stories and asking about our lives. We were both relieved when he got distracted and hustled away.
After eating, we worked on the blog a bit and then decided we needed to check out the ancient temples, pagodas, etc.
We walked to old town in the heat, and we were both getting completely overheated so we stopped by a cute coffee/tea shop and ordered some iced fruit oolong teas which were both delicious. We are really loving all the fruit options here in Vietnam and the way they use them in teas, salads, etc. The teas always have small chunks of the fruit which are so delicious to snack on while cooling off. It reminds us a lot of bubble tea, but a bit healthier.
After getting back to a normal temperature, we ventured off in search of the largest temple with the best reviews. When we got there, they told us we would have to go to a ticket center in order to get in, and the only instruction we got was “on the corner” with a hand gesture to send us in the correct direction. Apparently “on the corner” was not the next intersection corner, or even the one after that. After about four more corners, we finally found a place where we could buy the tickets which gave us entrance to 5 buildings of our choosing in old town.
So back we went to the temple. Again, the heat was BRUTAL. We finally managed to get into the temple and expected some info to read about the history of it. But we got nothing, saw no information signs, nothing. Wonderful. Well at least we saw a beautiful building with lots of beautiful statues, ornamental architecture, and incense.
We heard a lady giving the last three minutes of a tour of the building with people thanking her for her time, so Lauren decided to stop her and try to figure out where we could get a tour. Turns out she is a guide on a free walking tour through Guru Walk – which we quickly booked for the next day.
Lauren was dying from the heat, so we decided to grab lunch somewhere that had nice fans and WiFi. We found a nearby coffee shop she had looked up (Phin Coffee and Restaurant) and decided to order the Duck Pho. The duck was smoked so it gave the soup a very different flavor from the others we have been eating – of course Justin loved it. We were finally able to cool off but thought it would be best to go inside for a bit to avoid the heat of the early afternoon. We booked Grab motorbikes back to our Airbnb to sit in the A/C. And then Lauren got the great idea “So how ‘bout another massage?”
We went back to the spa we went to yesterday and Lauren ordered a foot massage as expected, while Justin ordered a head/neck/shoulder massage. They brought us both into a private room and asked us to strip again for a foot and head massage??? We both laughed hysterically as we wondered why we needed to get down to our underwear for a foot and head massage. Maybe they do it different here? Nope – normal head and back massage. Weird.
After the massage it was pouring so we semi-ran back to our Airbnb. We regrouped and decided to go for our last clothes fitting. Everything was now perfect. Now how to get it all home? We told our tailor (Rose) that we wanted to ship the clothes, new leather shoes, and all our other souvenirs back to the US. She told us she would arrange for someone to come to the shop the next day (when we had all our stuff) so they could ship it.
We walked into old town and went to a restaurant recommended by our Airbnb host called Nu Eatery. Justin ordered lemongrass pork with jasmine rice and vegetables (including one piece of okra!), and Lauren got a fruit salad (again) – this one was Beets and Persimmon with balsamic vinaigrette, mint, and passionfruit. This one blew the others out of the water. We keep wondering why salads like this aren’t sold anywhere in the US? They are all SO good and very healthy – with a fruit base instead of green lettuce base. Justin may need to find some recipes for this to make at home. :-)
We had also been eyeing some beautiful paintings made by a local artist and decided to purchase two – one of Hoi An old town and one of lanterns. They are both the same style and size, so they will be hung together somewhere in the house to remind us of this amazing little town we loved. We dropped these paintings back off at the Airbnb and headed into the very touristy canal section of Hoi An. We decided it was high time we have our mini-Tangled moment. Cue “At Last I See The Light”.
We spoke to a nice lady who sold us the tickets to get on a boat and four colored floating lanterns to use while on board. We boarded our boat and were immediately told to put on life jackets . . . buzz kill. But the lanterns surrounding us on other boats, in the water, and hanging around the town were absolutely breathtaking. We spent the vast majority of this ride taking tons of pictures and just trying to take it all in.
At some point, the person rowing the boat lit the candles in our lanterns and told us to individually place them in the water while she took pictures. We made a wish with each lantern and sent them off into the water. Such a special experience. Unfortunately, there were lots of (mostly empty) bars pumping club music loudly into the canal area, so it wasn’t as peaceful as desired. The other fun part of riding on this boat was that the water level was high, so we had to almost lay down in the boat in order to get under the main bridge. It made for quite a few laughs. Overall, this was a magical experience and would recommend it to anyone (even though it is VERY touristy).
To the end the night, Lauren got a banana pancake with Nutella on our way back to the Airbnb.
