Hoi An

So we had been in Nha Trang longer than planned to avoid the storm from the Philippines. That had hit Vietnam 2 days ago and we thought we were safe to head north.... What we weren't told is that 60% of our next destination was under water.....!

As we waited for our bus in Nha Trang, a brief but heavy down pour fills the streets with ankle deep water in a matter of 15minutes...

Nevertheless our bus still left at 7pm as scheduled. All appeared fine! The bus was meant to take 12 hours - a sleeper bus so one would assume when you wake up at 6am the next day in the daylight you have almost reached your destination..... WRONG. Instead we had been parked up on the side of a road since 3am and there was no sign of moving......

The drivers spoke as much English and we spoke Vietnamese and didn't try to communicate what was happening..... all we could do was wait! There were rumours between different buses as to what was happening.... the most likely being that we were stuck between two flooded rivers - and the buses wouldn't try to go through the water until it lowered to below waist height - it was now chest height! The rumour also was now that Hoi An was 60% flooded and many Hostels closed due to this.

After 12 hours at the side of the road... suddenly at 6pm we started to move... very slowly through the flooded roads and villages..

travelling in the dark through a meter of water..

We finally arrived in Hoi An at 1.30am ( 31hours in all). Instead of the usual pestering by taxi and hotel staff as soon as you step off the bus.... it was ghost town. 3 bus loads of tourists were left to wander the streets all looking for accommodation for the night in a town where everything appeared closed! After being refused by 2 hostels we finally found a hotel with a spare room.... we finally got into bed around 3am.... phew!

Next morning we moved to a cheaper hotel and decided to explore as much of Hoi An as we could get to.
We hired bikes to sight see the places than weren't under water!

Flooding blocking off major roads and closing shops...

The Vietnamese dot miss a money making opportunity - Charging Tourists for boat rides...!

Japanese covered bridge

Washed up debris on the beach..

The riverside

Terry found a new girlfriend...

Because of the floods tours and trips had been one the whole cancelled... so we looked around and decided to part take in a cooking course. The cooking lesson was $30 but you got taken to the local markets to purchase the ingredients first, then got on a rowing boat through the water coconut trees to an island where we learnt how to cook 4 different typical Vietnamese dishes before eating them!

First a trip to the local markets.... where our 16yr old guide talked us through what we were buying and how to tell if the produce was fresh and good quality... from here we brought all the meat, prawns, vegetables and herbs..

Then we got on a rowing boat and were rowed by an old lady to the Island... rowing through the water coconut trees..

The Island.

Terry helping to prepare the Rice Milk..

W were each giving a cooking station...

Each dish was demonstrated to us by our guide 'Mo'. And then it was our turn!!!!

Fresh spring rolls (fresh salad, prawns and pork wrapped in rice paper). With a tangy peanut sauce.
Becs turned out not too bad..

Terry's didn't last long!

Vietnamese sizzlingly crepes ( rice milk, meat, shrimp , bean sprouts served with salad..
Becs looking the part...

Terry's excellent pancake (before being devoured in 3 bites)!!

Beef Vermicelli salad with a delicious sauce
Becs

Terry's

And last of all the famous Pho (beef noodle soup)

With extremely full tummies we headed back to our hotel. The cooking class was a great way to learn about Vietnamese culture, and it was really suprising how simple and easy some of the sauces were to make. Might need some practice before we cook for friends at home though!!

With the water levels still a threat to the roads, we decided not to chance getting caught in the floods again and booked a flight to Hanoi - our next stop!