Spending all my money in Hoi An

The bus to Hoi An was not as comfortable as the previous one, but it could have been worse. Behind me and Kate at the back of the bus were five beds/seats, right beside each other, with three backpackers on them. We got chatting to them and laughing how it was a good thing they knew each other cause it was pretty intimate. Then at the last stop the bus filled up and the two remaining seats along side them were filled by a fat, smelly, snoring German couple. Eek!

Turned out we were all staying in the same place, in the Sunflower Hotel. Even though it was only a two star hotel, it was still amazing, we had buffet breakfast and swimming pool. And it was cheap as hell.

Everyone I'd met who'd been to Hoi An had loved it and it wasn't hard to see why. Trees lined the streets, there was less traffic, which meant less beeping. It was a perfect place to rent bicycles and cycled through the town, by the river, surrounding countryside and to the beach. The weather was pleasantly warm at 27 degrees. The place is also famous for its tailors, which really were everywhere. Every second shop was a tailors, offering to make whatever you desired. Luckily I'd already been recommended a good tailor in town, thanks to the Irish couple in Nha Thrang. I had come prepared with photographs from a trip to Venice, where I was taunted with beautiful designer wear I could not afford. I got my dream winter jacket and silk dress made overnight. Amazing.

Besides shopping, the next best thing to do in Hoi An was eat. It seemed impossible to get a bad meal here. Everything was amazing, even the street food. The local specialty was Cau Lao Another delicious noodle soup rivaling Pho Bo of the south.
On our second night we found the most amazing restaurant conveniently located right beside our hotel. The food was simply amazing. Me and Karola (the Austrian from the bus) decided to do the cooking class here. Almost every restaurant in Hoi An offered them, but this place was far to perfect to resist.

The next day our class started with a trip to the local market where are lovely teacher walked us through pointing out exotic fruit and veg most of which I'd never seen before, and informing us what they were and how to go about eating them. In the markets the meat is displayed in the open air which seemed terribly unhygienic to my western eyes. Our teacher explained that to customers in Vietnam it is seen as a sign of freshness, and at the end of everyday the meat left over is thrown away. Before cooking, the meat is always soaked in salt water. I suppose this process must be efficient as I am yet to get sick from food in Vietnam.
Getting back to the restaurant, we started cooking. The four meals we made were fresh steamed pork and shrimp spring rolls, chicken lemon grass, Vietnamese beef curry and fish (shark!) hotpot. It was all delicious and pretty fast to prepare it was a morning well spent, and at the end we were given little packs with some if the ingredients we might find hard to find at home.

After three days in Hoi An, I'd done an impressive amount of shopping and eating. I thought it best to get out while I still had some sort of budget to speak of!