Highlight of our trip was the Farm to Fishing tour with Jack Tran Hoi An Eco Tour.
The kids loved fishing, going on the boats, riding a water buffalo, biking through countryside etc.
It takes 5-6 hours and lunch on the boat is included.
Anantara Hoi An is in a perfect location to walk everywhere in the city.
They have free bikes for use.
We did lantern making through the hotel.
First three nights we went to a beach location in Lang Co.
Angsana was PERFECT for families!
Restaurants we loved:
Two Kid friendly (both western and eastern)
Before and Now
51 Le Loi
Tel 05103 910599
www.before-andnow.net
Cargo Club
Two best-flavors restaurants we adults loved:
Mango Mango
Nu Eatery (NYC restaurant chef originally from Vietnam and returned)
We had a LOT of clothes sewn at YALY. We picked Yaly b/c it had a lot of choices for fabrics.
It's important to pick a location that is near a hotel b/c we were there every day for fittings and changes and adding more orders.
SIGHTSEEING:
We went to My Son and thought it was fabulous, like a mini Angkor Wat.
We were debating NOT to go b/c of distance but we are glad we did.
We signed up for a photography tour with a French guy but had to cancel b/c of rain.
Looked amazing!
https://www.facebook.com/Hoianphototour
Someone on SEW recommended a foodie tour.
http://tasteofhoian.com
RESTAURANT recommendations I got from SEW but didn't try:
Hoi An Hai San (seafood platter is excellent)
Mai Fish
Morning Glory - inexpensive and delicious
Cargo Club
Streets (charity restaurant)
My Ly Cafeteria (artsy)
Seedlings (training young people restaurant)
A SEW woman / writer:
http://www.expatliving.sg/travel/asia/Hoi-An-Vietnam-How-to-shop-what-to-eat-and-where-to-stay-in-the-stunning-heritage-town-57049.ece
Spencer
- Central Vietnam is fantastic. Amongst the Vietnamese, there is perpetual debate regarding which city is best--Saigon or Hanoi, though before long both Northerners and Southerners will openly admit that the conversation is pointless because everyone knows that the middle is best :)
- Hue is actually the one major desintation in Vietnam we decided to pass on, as we were running out of time. From what we've heard and read, the citadel area is pretty cool, but there isn't a ton on offer beyond that and Hoi An's got a better vibe.
- We LOVED Hoi An: The old city has a great feeling--the old city has a nice, consistent feel with lots of restored trading warehouses that east Asian traders used hundreds of years ago. They've got a special lantern celebration every full moon, which we unfortunately missed out on but if you look up pictures of Hoi An you'll almost certainly see shots of that event.
- Hoi An also specializes in tailor-made everything. jeans, shirts, jackets, shoes, bags--everything can be made to order. The shirts can be of somewhat dubious quality, but I had a bunch of stuff made out there (including a bunch of pants, a leather briefcase, etc) and I've been quite happy with it all. I had a bunch of places do different stuff for me so I could get a read on who the winners are; I'd be happy to point you in their direction if it interests you
- We stayed at Hoi An Beach Resort and I think it would be great for families. close of the beach, a couple pools, good atmosphere, nice restaurants in-house.
- Both Hoi An and Da Nang have pretty solid beaches. Since Hoi An is a slow 25 minute drive south of Da Nang, they're pretty similar beach-wise, though I'd say Da Nang honestly doesn't have much to offer beyond it's beaches whereas Hoi An does.
- We also went to the Green Bamboo cooking school in Hoi An; it was fantastic. The lady there does a fantastic job explaining things and we made some great food. You can learn to make all kinds of dishes; some very simple and some somewhat more difficult
- Also in Central Vietnam and worth a trip is Phong Nha-Ke Bang. It's a bit of a hike--no way to fly in, though you can get about an hour's drive away (city called Dong Hoi) (private drivers are relatively easy to secure) if you take the train from Hue (for a lot of routes, Vietnam actually has some pretty good train accommodations). PNKB has some beautiful nature, and is most famous for its caves. It's got 2 of the world's top 3 biggest ,and some of the world's most spectacular as well. The monster ones are really tough to get to and wouldn't be family friendly (the biggest cave in the world, for example, is in PNKB, but it wasn't discovered until 5 years ago because it's so difficult to get to). Some of the spectacular caves, though, are quite easy to get to (paved walkways and boat rides). The big caveat I'd give you on PNKB is that it totally lacks family-friendly accommodations--it's got 4 person hotel rooms, but is on the whole pretty bare boned. There are some cool houses you could rent about 30 min out of town, including this one a friend me met stayed in, or you could take a swing at Dong Hoi, which again is 45-60 min drive away. I think if you just hit the highlights, you could see PNKB reasonably well in a day, but when adding travel times out from Hue, it would be best to budget a couple days.
As for the tailors, a few things to take into account:
- Based on the conversations I had with shopkeepers over my time there, it became clear that just because you order clothes from a particular shop doesn't mean that you'll have your clothes made at a single, particular place. Most of the businesses are family-run, with the English-savvy family member running the shop and then other family members running the backend where the clothes are made. If your order doesn't fit their family parameters--either you need it done at a volume or speed they can't handle, or it's a style they're not familiar with, they've got affiliates they'll hand things off to. Therefore, if you do an order of a variety of different clothing types, especially at high speed, you'll likely notice subtle differences among what you get back :). It's actually kind of cool to watch how the system works--they get your order then immediately hop on the phone issuing orders. Scooters roll up and take sheets and fabric samples, heading in different directions. If it's a tight enough timeline, you'll see the same thing when they return with the finished products. In my experience, the best way to make sure you get what you want it to bring clothes you've had tailored that you really like and have those duplicated in a different color or material, and with an adjustment or two ("I want it just like this but a little looser in the torso", "I want you to move the pockets up and make them smaller", etc). It avoids a lot of confusion because it prevents them from doing things wrong if any of the communication the footsoldiers get is at all ambiguous. The shopkeepers are all very satisfaction focused because they want your referrals--if anything is wrong, don't hesitate to let them know and they'll bend over backwards to make you happy.
- Make sure you try all of the clothes on when they're ready and give them a really good look through. If any details are off and you need to get them altered in Hoi An it's free. If you get alterations in Singapore, they may cost more than you paid for the item itself :)
- The three shops we bought from in Hoi An were:
- Bebe (everyone knows the address) -- These guys are the most "premium" in town; you'll pay $30+ for a shirt. They had a pretty good selection of fabrics, though truth be told they actually made more mistakes than the discount shop I went to
- Fai Foo (54 Tran Hung Dao Street) -- These guys were more "discount" than Bebe, charging $18 flat for a shirt. There was even a greater price difference on things like chinos, jeans, skirts, and dresses. I felt they did a really good job for us. If you tell them the super tall Spencer from Singapore who came in with the Chinese family around New Years, they'll probably remember
- No Ny (20 Tran Phu Steet) - These guys did great leather work for us, and are more than a shop front--they clearly knew their stuff.
Channing information about CAVES
Sarah,
Always wonderful to have the chance to have a proper visit with you too! I've just finished browsing the adventures book and have so many new ideas! Thank you!
The Mulu Caves looks amazing! We've added that to our (long) weekend trip bucket list. This is the cave we're going to try and trek during our time in Vietnam this Christmas: http://www.nytimes.
We've done Komodo and LOVED it! The dragons were amazing, but so was the scuba--best we've ever seen in terms of the color and vibrancy of the reefs. They also have the super huge mantas and sometimes even orcas! The other thing we loved about Komodo is that when we were there (2 years ago) there weren't any chain stores or hotels yet--not even Indonesia ones.
The Belize trip we did was magical. Here's the overview my mom wrote up:
- arrive in Belize City and go straight inland to the heart of the beautiful jungle for a couple of days
- we'll stay in rustic cabanas in Ron Castagnera's ecolodge on the Macal River in the Tapir Nature Reserve with canoes, tubing and hammocks at hand plus an in-house cook
- with permission from the Belize Department of Archeology, we have secured a local guide to take us into some ancient Mayan ceremonial caves--the adventure involves trekking across rivers and swimming into the caves. Trip advisor here: http://www.tripadvisor.
com/Attraction_Review-g291969- d300696-Reviews-Actun_ Tunichil_Muknal-Cayo.html - then we'll shift gears and head to the shores of beautiful Ambergris Caye to stay in a beachfront house with pool, tennis courts, kayaks...
- the one thing planned while at the Caye is a boat ride to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark/Stingray Alley for the best snorkeling--Belize boasts the longest reef in the Western Hemisphere--second in size only to the Great Barrier Reef
- options: howler monkey sanctuary, drumming with Garifunga people, Caribbean music hangouts, cavetubing, water sports, trying local lobster, etc.
Belize is easy to travel to as the lingua franca is English, but it's still feels enough off the beaten path that you don't feel touristed the entire time, not as resort driven as the rest of the Caribbean. In addition to the caves, we really enjoyed Ambergris Caye--no cars were allowed on the island, so you'd walk/bike or take a boat to the restaurants along the beach each night.
Another year my family went to Tulum, about 1.5 hour drive outside of Cancun. We really enjoyed this trip as well. Tulum has the only Mayan ruins on the beach and amazing cenotes that you can dive/swim in plus fun beach/snorkeling/jungle/arts scene.
