Cooking

Sunday 28 September 2008
Hué to Hoi An

So in the morning we caught a bus from Hué to Hoi An. It was raining and though we stopped off at a couple of places there wasn't much to see. We drove through Da Nang (which looked like a pretty boring commercial city) and stopped at China Beach, which is apparently famous and pretty long, but without any sunshine it was nothing special. The rain also meant that we couldn't go up a mountain pass (a range that splits north Vietnam from the south, and a tropical climate from sub-tropical) and get a "Kodak moment" as Hung said, which was a shame.

When we arrived in Hoi An the weather had cleared up a bit and we took a walk through the streets with our guide. The place is mainly full of shops doing bespoke clothes etc. and a huge market. We bought a couple of bits and pieces, including a tshirt of the Vietnam flag - a large yellow star on a red background (the communists, or rather pretend socialists, know how to do their branding).

The afternoon was spent updating the blog and chilling out before we went to a Vietnamese cooking class: stuffed white snapper, spring rolls, squid, won ton with sweet and sour sauce and probably something else that I don't remember. Of course we ate it afterwards and it tasted fantastic!

After that we decamped to a local pool bar and the good Doctor and I watched the Singapore grand prix which was awesome. The FIA actually made a correct decision, which was a miracle. Williams did really well, which was good to see, and Hamilton extended his lead in the championship. McLaren also took the lead in the constructor's by a point, and that old dog Alonso won of course!

A few games of pool and a chat with some other tourists on trips round Vietnam ended the night.