As mentioned many times in previous posts, one of the best things about teaching abroad is the easy access to exotic locations. I've managed to visit many places that I never even dreamed about 4 years ago. Unless you have unlimited time and funds, it's extremely difficult to hit the Asian "hot-spots" coming from the US. What is a grueling 24 hour or more journey from America becomes just a hop, skip, and a jump when you're already based over here. The other thing that makes travel easier when you're teaching abroad is the vacation time! In East Asia, most schools get a Chinese New Year holiday break only a few weeks after Christmas vacation...and TAS is no exception!
This year Jordan and I decided to head to central Vietnam, an area that I had never been to and Jordan had not visited in about 10 years. One of our good friends at TAS used to live in Vietnam, and he always said that his favorite area in Vietnam was the middle, so we were pretty excited to see if it lived up to his descriptions. We also found a great deal on plane tickets - not an easy feat during Chinese New Year as LOTS of people travel at this time. The perfect vacation plan was formed!
After a pretty adventurous and busy Christmas vacation (see the previous Myanmar post), both of us really just wanted to sit by a pool, sip on some cocktails, and eat copious amounts of fresh Vietnamese food (nom, nom, nom). We booked a big hotel in Da Nang, right on what used to be called "China Beach," which was the R&R site for American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The beach was nice and quiet, and the hotel also provided a free shuttle into the old port town of Hoi An - a perfect place to do some (ok let's be honest, LOTS of) shopping and eat local cuisine.
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| Poolside action |
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| Being the captive model for Jordan's photo shoots in Hoi An...it's a hard life :) |
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| View of the river going through Hoi An |
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| Attempting to take a photo without ANY scooters in the frame proved to be pretty difficult! |
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| Finally got one! |
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| One of the many secret alleys among the streets of Hoi An |
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| Trying to haggle for scarfs can be utterly exhausting. |
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| Fresh spring rolls - we had these every day and they ROCKED! |
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| Jordan spied a banh mi stand...and I just crossed my fingers that it didn't make us sick...and it didn't! |
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| Best dollar we spent the whole trip. |
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| This was my favorite meal of the entire trip. Rich paper wraps with fried spring rolls, grilled pork, Vietnamese kimchi, and fresh veggies. Drooling yet? |
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| In the process of wrapping |
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| Ready to eat! |
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| And the final carnage :) |
After reflecting on the trip, I think our friend Bill had it right - central Vietnam is the place to be! With the great food, the friendly people, and the big beach, we couldn't have asked for a more relaxing vacation. I would definitely recommend a trip to Hoi An!
