One of the things we love to do whilst travelling is interacting with local people, hearing their stories and getting to know their way of life. Sometimes though it can feel hard to break down the barriers of culture, language and suspicion that can prevent us from really getting below the surface of a country or region. Taking a Hoi An Tour was the perfect way to gain access to people and stories...

Hoi An attracts millions of visitors every year to its centuries-old relics, nights that are magically lit up by hand-made lanterns, and gentle activities like cruising on the Hoai River that flows through it. This old town in the central province of Quang Nam is also known for its people's honesty and hospitality. But Hoi An's attractiveness also lies in its vast cuisine with foods that are ch...

In this post, I will discuss the Vietnam War from various perspectives. I will also be showing pictures where battles have taken place. As I mentioned in the first post about Vietnam, please do not read this post, if you feel this will cause any type of ill feeling. Mark and I, as well as the kids, learned a great deal during this tour; I hope all of our readers learn something as well... We ha...

If you haven’t heard of Hoi An, you’re not the only one. This is one of Southeast Asia’s best kept sort-of-secrets. Those who have had the pleasure of visiting are bound to brag about this little gem, with its’ exceptionally well-preserved Old Town and streets lined with colourful lanterns. If you find yourself on a tiki tour of S. E. Asia, you’re gonna want to put th...

During a recent holiday in Hoi An, we joined a farming and fishing tour in Hoi An’s beautiful surrounding countryside. Everybody told us we were crazy taking our 2-year old and 4-year old out on a 6-hour day tour in the full-on Vietnamese heat, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. We had a blast, and it was an incredible experience for the kids, who loved every minute. We kicked ...

In my previous post, I talked about the first "agritourism" or "ecotour" tour we did during out recent, month-long trip through Vietnam (thanks to Vietnam Central Coastal Tourism!): Wet Rice Farming with Water Buffalo, and how awesome it was! The second one, also with Jack Tran's Ecotours, was Fishing and 'Palm Paradise', and it was great fun, as well! Elisse casts her fishing net! As...

A foreign tourist walks a water buffalo through a paddy field in Cam Thanh Commune, Hoi An TownIn December 2011, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg created a buzz in both local and international media outlets with a photo showing him riding a buffalo in Vietnam's famous resort town of Sa Pa. He was reported to have hired nine buffalos from a local family so he and his friends could ride them a...