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...

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...