I knew we had a tour today but for the life of me I couldn’t remember what, where or why but, as is so often is the case, they turn out to be the best days.  

We were met by An, our guide for Hoi An (Hoi An An 😀) and whisked away in the hotels finest limo…

and dropped off at our trusty steeds for the day.

I’ve ridden two pedal bikes in the last twenty years and both of them were in the last 5 days. 

We rode through the local countryside, passing buffalo…

…rice fields and shrimp farms to visit an organic farm, taking in the scenery along the way.

Two words sum up the ride.

‘Sore’ and ‘Buttocks’.

But apart from discomfort due to inadequate padding de mon derrière it was a really lovely ride. 

The local community farm we visited  has a number of farmers who each cultivate their own plots.  

It’s the typical communist collective farm that we were taught about in school where they all pool resources to feed themselves and the community. 

They grow a wide variety of crops, mainly the myriad of fragrant herbs that flavour Vietnamese cooking. Lemon grass, different varieties of mint, basil, turmeric amongst others. Sweet potatoes and even loofahs. 

It’s all organic and they are taught how to apply natural pest control such as infusing ginger or garlic or chillies in alcohol which they let mature, dilute with water and spray on their crops as natural pesticides. 

I’m definitely going to try this on my Slug problem back home and, even if my lettuces still get eaten, Brigitte will have garlic and wine infused snails ready for the barbecue.

An incredible lady called Mrs Sáu ( 6 ) Miễn who is well into her seventies and works the farm every day was the farmer who proudly showed us around her farm which is her livelihood. 

I asked An about her name and apparently she was a sixth child and it’s common to be called by that number. 

Be careful what you wish for

If you remember the fruit quiz on day 3, it was a Betal fruit and I mentioned it’s used for chewing and believed to be good for weight loss so this is a note for you Lynn as you asked me to bring some back for you.

It’s chewed as a natural toothpaste. They sprinkle some finely ground clamshell onto a leaf …..

… then it’s cleverly folded up into a tiny parcel using the leaf stalk to hold it all together…

….add a slice of the Betal fruit and chew it.

After doing this for many years, you end up with a fine set of teeth like Mrs Sáu ( 6 ) Miễn.

We thought she had really bad teeth but, if you look closely, she has really good teeth, no dental decay whatsoever, but chewing the betal fruit has dyed them black.

I’m sending a kilo to you now Lynn, let us know how you get on!

After our visit we all climbed into a traditional basket boat

and the incredible Mrs Sáu ( 6 ) Miễn, then single-handedly rowed us at least a kilometre down the river, against the current, to a local restaurant.

The basket boats (we call them coracles. Remember the one at Shrewsbury town’s football ground that was used to get the ball out of the river in the ’70’s? Look it up) were introduced as a tax avoidance scheme.

When the French invaded in the 1850’s they imposed a tax on boats. To get around it the enterprising Vietnamese started making small round boats but insisted that they were just large bamboo baskets and therefore not liable for tax – and it worked!

At the restaurant we had a cooking demonstration so we are now fully qualified in Vietnamese cuisine.

Then, four foot massages later, we were on our way back to the hotel. 

I must say thank you to An, our amazing guide today and also hello, or ‘Xin chào An’, as she is the first Vietnamese subscriber to my blog.

Firstly, I am appointing her as the blog’s official fruit ambassador as she showed us so many unusual fruits that I have to call our travel agent to extend the holiday so I can fit them all in the fruit quiz.

Secondly, An dispelled more of my unfounded prejudices about Vietnam and communism. I had assumed, (because of my British education) that Vietnamese women were subservient, male dominated and restricted, with fewer opportunities than men.

An assured me that I am wrong, and she is a prime example. A single mother by choice, she started and runs her own business, and is obviously a very intelligent and determined independent lady. She says that women in general are treated equally here and there is no limit to how successful they can become if they have ambition.

I have to admit my anti-communist preconceptions are taking a bit of a beating as far as Vietnam is concerned. 

Having worked on the farm I thought I’d try my hands at a bit of street selling last night

I bought some fruit from the lady and this morning I was eating some when Brigitte woke up. She asked what I was eating. I said “Rambutan” she looked horrified. She thought I’d said Orangutan 🤣

Fruit quiz

No winners, so I keep the points today. It was a rose apple. Very nutritious and you can also eat the leaves and bark. Chew-Woof! Chew-Woof!

Today’s mystery fruit courtesy of An, our new fruit ambassador…

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Hoi An 19th November 2024