I am competing in the 12th annual VTV9 Binh Dien Cup hosted in Tam Ky, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam with a team put together by my agency, Bring It Promotions. We are the first team to represent the United States in volleyball in Vietnam!
With two wins in the books, we got a full day off! The afternoon was scheduled for Hoi An, so Rachel and I took the morning to hit the beach. About a 15 minute taxi ride from our hotel, we headed there around 9 to beat the heat. Immediately once we arrived at Tam Than (the beach), two women came up to the cab and ushered us with them. Radio, our Vietnamese guide for the whole trip, had come with us so we trusted where she told us to go. We followed the women to a covered section and paid about 20,000 (basically $1) for a covered beach chair for the day. The beach was clean and beautiful. Parked on the beach were Vietnamese fishing boats and other umbrellas for the different resorts. Since it was so early and the middle of the week, we had essentially the entire resort to ourselves.
Even in the early morning, I had to make sure I was covered in sunscreen. The UV index here (a scale of 1-10) is usually close to 11. Rachel, a California native, and a naturally tan human, is a little bit more adjusted to the sun than I am. So she laid out while I stayed covered in the shade. After a while we made our way into the perfectly cool ocean. The waves and scenery were completely relaxing. Radio is so naturally outgoing that by the time we came back to our covered chairs she had made friends with some of the workers and fishermen. She also had gotten a bag a quail eggs (apparently a normal snack?) and he biggest crackers I’ve ever seen. After a couple hours at the beach, we headed back to meet up with the team at the hotel to head to Hoi An.
Hoi An is best known for its Ancient Town in the center, preserving traditions of the Southeast Asian trading port from the 15th to 19th century. It has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It’s also one of the cutest places I’ve ever been! Erin Leaser and Joe Trinsey, our trip organizer and coach, had previously spent two weeks in Hoi An scouting out the best locations. Mixed in with Vietnamese, French, Chinese, and Japanese architecture are thousands of lanterns. Bright paint, lanterns, colors, foods and smell split up by several rivers and canals make up the city. There are hidden gems everywhere.
We started off at the Faifo Coffee shop, which has one of the highest rooftops in Hoi An. We ordered traditional.html Vietnamese iced coffee and enjoyed the magnificent view.
The next stop was more exploring and another coffee shop stop, Cocobox Farm Shop Cafe. This time, Maggie, Rachel and I ordered coconut coffee ice cream and Julia just grabbed some ice cream. It was the best thing I’ve ever had! The coconut here is so incredibly fresh. You can literally buy an entire coconut on the street and drink it. Mixed with coffee and ice cream, it was heaven.
After more walking we were stopped by a woman who asked if we wanted a boat ride. We checked our clocks, had enough time before dinner, and carefully stepped into the boat. Sunset reflecting and the lanterns started to shine made it really peaceful and magical. In my experience, there is no better way to see a city than by boat.
Dinner was next at Vy’s Market Restaurant & Cooking School. Along with a massive menu, we got to see some of the crazy dishes being made. Some of the dishes included: Silk Worm Salad, Spicy Snails, Jellyfish Salad, whole chickens, and tons of other exciting dishes. For our meal, we started with appetizers.
“With Vy’s Market Restaurant, Ms Vy wanted to recreate the atmosphere and ambience of the local markets as she remembers them when working at her parent’s restaurant as a child. With a central courtyard surrounded but individual food stalls, guests are invited to see how dishes are prepared and cooked in the traditional.html way. From grilling rice crackers and roasting peanuts to making fresh ‘bun’ and ‘cao lau’ noodles, the restaurant offers guests a unique culinary experience. A tour of the individual stalls also forms part of her world-renowned cooking class. Guests can tour the stalls before ordering from the tablet-based photo menu and dishes are prepared and served to order. To really enjoy an authentic Vietnamese dining experience Ms Vy encourages guests to order in the Vietnamese way, selecting a few dishes to share with your fellow diners.”
I have never had better Crab Wonton in my entire life! I ordered Cha Ca fish and got to watch it be cooked directly in front of me. It had a bit of kick, but was so delicious. Happy and full, we explored Hoi An’s night market for about 20 minutes before heading back to our hotel for the night. It was such a full and wonderful day.
