Jan 20, Friday- Hoi An Bike Tour!

Today we did something very unique for us – a bicycle tour!  I really wanted to enjoy the countryside vs busy town, some guests suggested this tour and Dirk agreed to it!

We booked it after breakfast and made haste to grab what we needed and get a taxi to the location with the bikes. I guess we started around 10am and 5 hours later were ready for a rest! This tour from Buffalo Adventures is called “Countryside and Island Discovery”. We biked carefully on a few busy streets until our guide took us down roads with less traffic, farm paths, bridges and even a few dirt roads. 

Besides the scenic biking we also stopped to see a rice wine making enterprise (we had a few sips of strong wine), how Vietnamese sleeping mats are made (and tried it myself) and how to make rice noodle wraps (we both did that and they are so tasty!)

I mentioned mats…”Vietnamese sleeping mats are made with reeds which are grown in the family’s land and then dried in the sunshine and dyed various colors. The reeds are then intricately woven. “ Hoc told us that many people in the island community still make these. They collect the reeds and dry them in the house rafters and work on them in the off season. They are used instead of mattresses by the locals.

Making rice noodles starts with streaming rice batter to make a solid wrap. That is then used for various rice dishes. Our efforts were both rewarding and delicious. I want to try it at home!!