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...

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...

While planning our route through Vietnam one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting was Hoi An. Many travellers we had talked to had absolutely raved about the place. However, our two-week long stay in Hoi An, Vietnam became a love-hate relationship. I found the people to be incredibly grumpy, which is contrary to what we had experienced in other parts of Vietnam. But then there w...

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...

Hoi An is an old town down the Thu Bon River, on the coastal plain of Quang Nam Province, about 30 km south of Danang City. Hoi An used to be known on the international market with many different names such as Lam Ap, Faifo, Hoai Pho and Hoi An. Hoai river What is so special about Hoi An is that this little port town is in an incredible state of preservation. It offers some of the most den...