Saigon and Hoi An
February 17th, 2024
We have been in Vietnam for one month, and our time has flown by! Our primary goals for this trip were to see family, have my mom enjoy new sights and experiences, and revisit places very dear to her and us. In our first two weeks, we visited four cities and enjoyed a variety of tours to take in the culture, natural and man-made beauties, and– of course – a variety of dishes. Texas to Saigon The flight to Saigon took 28 hours…from DFW airport. A 5-hour layover at LAX gave us ample time for one more American meal – PF Changs! – and a homeschool session before our long flight. Prior to the first big family trip last year, I envisioned international flights as time for card games and reading, among other engaging activities. I have since succumbed to the fact that as long as the kids sleep and eat onboard, they can watch more movies than they usually do in a few weeks, and it's still a win. They love traveling as much for the inflight movie consumption as they do anything else!
Saigon and the Mekong Delta Another lesson learned from last year was that we should have low ambitions and few plans the first 72 hours after landing to account for jet lag and to let the kids settle into our new routine. We generally do not homeschool on travel days and, during transitions, we take it very lightly. I have learned but still need to be reminded (usually by myself) that homeschooling when stressed, short on time, or tired is beneficial to no one – and especially not the kids. That said, while in Saigon, we enjoyed some great dishes and went on a day tour of the Mekong Delta as planned. I warned the kids starting about a month prior that the outing would be "horrible" as we would have a 2am wakeup and a 16-hour tour including transit. I did the same for our transpacific flight, and this tactic has worked well. With them expecting an awful day, expectations were greatly exceeded! We all enjoyed the morning floating market, with coffee and noodles on board, followed by a visit to a noodle factory, a historic house, and a walk through a local village to a restaurant deep within the island.
Hoi An From Saigon, we flew to the central region of Vietnam to visit the Ancient Town of Hoi An, a not-so-hidden gem. Though full of tourists and shopping and restaurants geared towards the same, Hoi An will always have a special place in the heart of most visitors to Vietnam, and I consider it one of the must-see cities. The town center has classic yellow-hued buildings, pedestrian-oriented streets, and a river that cuts through it. On the river, hundreds of lanterns light up the fishing boats at night. A few miles from Ancient Town lies beautiful An Bang Beach with its soft rolling waves. I first visited Hoi An in 2012 on a solo trip before Drew and I were married. During that time, I participated in the Original Taste of Hoi An Food Tour and the Red Bridge Cooking School. This year, I was thankful to bring the family with me. Both were as memorable (and filling!) as the first time.
We walked Hoi An's local market and streets during the food tour before ending in their tasting room, finally sampling over 40 dishes and hearing as many stories and pearls about the Vietnamese culture. The history of the Original Taste of Hoi An Food Tour is special. The tour was opened by an Australian man – Neville – and his wife Colleen. Neville had visited Vietnam for business and fell in love with the country. After about five years, he convinced Colleen to move here. When I took the tour in 2012, it was their first year in business. On that tour, I met a Vietnamese lady, Sen, that Neville hired to help traverse the market and speak with the locals. He stated she would someday help take over the business. When she wasn't working with him, she sold jewelry out of a basket on the beach. Though Neville has since passed, his wife has continued their legacy, and they have remained true to their plan. Colleen and four local ladies, including Sen, help run the business, doing one tour a day, seven days a week. Colleen considers them all family, and the ladies think of them as parents. The Original Taste of Hoi An Food Tour also gives regularly to outlying villages and victims of Agent Orange as part of their business model. Neville is sorely missed by the many he has touched here.
For the Red Bridge cooking school, we took a boat across the river to the school's beautiful grounds. We walked through their herb garden before beginning our class in the outdoor kitchen. Over 3 hours, we made and feasted on spring rolls, crepes, a soup from the region – Mi Quang – and more. The kids enjoyed the cooking class, and we look forward to doing more in the future. Oh I must give a shout out to Drew for the best veggie decor!
When we left Hoi An, we had many good meals behind us. The Vietnamese palate amazingly combines sweet and salty, bitter and savory, crunchy and soft through various soups, meats, seafood, and cooked and raw vegetables. These combinations are not just on every table but often on every plate or bowl. Some of our favorites were grilled meat rolled with lettuce, herbs and rice paper, homemade wonton soup, a whole fried snapper purchased fresh from the market that morning, and a not-so-Vietnamese but pretty authentic Italian pizza place. From Hoi An, we went on to Da Nang – only 30 minutes away from Hoi An – and then Nha Trang – a little further South - for a few nights each. But I'll save that for a future post!