This morning started with breakfast in the hotel, where I had a range of foods including grilled tomatoes, rice, bread, and fruit. One of the things I had was kind of like a donut, and as soon as I bit into it I could taste the oil that it was fried in. My system is going to go into shock when I get back to the United States!
We met our tour guide at 7:30, and we immediately hopped on bicycles and rode for half an hour through the city and out to an organic vegetable farm called Tra Que. We were greeted with a delicious drink of water and betel seeds, given a conical hat and a traditional shirt worn by the farmers, and handed off to someone who works at the farm so he could show us around.
About 150 families live and work on the farm, and because they grow their vegetables organically they are able to get five to six crops out of the land each year. There were herbs everywhere, and our guide took us around explaining what each was and how many days it had been growing. We even had the chance to help dig up a vegetable plot, where we then proceeded to put seaweed down as a fertilizer before planting the vegetables.
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| Tra Que, the organic vegetable farm. |
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| Just wearing the traditional clothes of a Vietnamese farmer. |
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| Daily life on the farm. |
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| Working hard to get the crops planted. |
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| Showing off my hard work. |
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| Just trying to recreate a masterpiece. |
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| Helping the farmers with the planting. |
We headed back to the main area of the farm and were each given a foot, head, and neck massage by the women who worked there. It was kind of strange to be receiving that at an organic vegetable farm, and I think if anything it shows how much tourism has impacted the village. Lunch was afterwards, where we were shown how to make banh xeo and each got to make our own. It was so good! We then sat down to eat and were given so much food, including more banh xeo, fried spring rolls, coconut rice with fish and vegetables, and tea with cookies. When lunch was finished, we biked back to the hotel and were given a few hours to do what we wanted, which consisted of me trying to get some homework done that is due while we are away.
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| My coconut rice, which the men decorated as a koala! |
At 4pm we gathered back together and hopped on bikes to head to the beach. It was a longer ride than it was to the vegetable garden, but we got see some more non-touristy areas of Hoi An, which I like so much better. We played volleyball on the beach and quit only when the ball accidentally hit a guy directly in the face. Interestingly, the chairs on the beach were free to use as long as you bought a drink. As the sun started to set, we decided to come back to the hotel and biked back.
After taking a little while to relax, we went to the tailor to do a fitting for our clothes. They were all completely made and tomorrow we will get them. I saw my shorts and am so glad I decided to get them. They fit almost perfectly, and they just have to take a little in around the waist. The color is kind of like a greenish-brown and they are almost exactly the same style as my pair of tan shorts, except I asked for them to be a little tighter around the legs. Everybody else's clothes looked fantastic, and seeing what they were able to whip out in less than 24 hours definitely made me consider ordering something else. No worries, though, I have no idea what else I would get!
I went with Cate and Tori afterwards since they were hungry, and they ended up at Ganesh Indian Restaurant. After they were done eating, we walked around the Hoi An for a little bit. We came to the backpacker part of the city, which lines the river, and there were lanterns everywhere. It was amazing! We walked, admiring the city and checking out the night market, before deciding to come back to the hotel. As usual on Loyola planned excursions, the day just wears us out!
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