A wet tour

Our first full day in Da Nang started with breakfast during a torrential downpour. We were scheduled to have a bike tour of Hoi An, a coastal city known for its well-preserved ancient town and architecture and a tourist destination.  Our bike tour was supposed to go to Kim Bong Village on a nearby island.

Breakfast was great again at the hotel.  This is the Vietnamese version of eggs benedict:

"We're not really going to go on this tour, are we Dad?!?"  Yes, Carter, we are!

Here we are in the pouring rain on the ferry going to the island:

Our tour guides were Vietnamese university students who wanted to practice their English, so they give free tours.  We paid a small sum to support the group and the people we were going to see.  Here was our first stop, a local boat-building place.  We could take home a small boat for about $800.

Water buffalo in the rice paddies right by our path:

One of the more amusing and bizarre experiences we've had in Vietnam was while visiting the temple in the Kim Bong village.  Our tour guides gave us the rundown of what happens at the temple, what the statues are (the lion-looking animals were actually unicorns), and why there are three gate entrances.  But as we were sitting and talking for awhile, the conversation turned to music, and then suddenly our tour guides were serenading us in English with "Love the Way You Lie" by Rihanna and Eminem.  Not to be outdone, Carter and Noah did a karaoke version of "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice.

Here are Noah and Carter learning how to make the large sleeping mats that many Vietnamese use:

Our next stop on the tour was a place where the kids got to make rice noodles.  We've actually seen this process done near our apartment, but it was interesting to see the whole process: getting the rice milk, starting the fire, pouring it onto a griddle and letting them cook briefly, then peeling them off and letting them cool.  This guy also had a non la there for the tourists to take pictures.  Guilty as charged:

Our ferry ride back to Hoi An.  Of course it stopped raining just as the tour ended:

Our raincoats and ponchos drying off after a long day of use:

Back in Da Nang, our day ended by going to see "The Martian" with Matt Damon (it was excellent) and then going to eat banh xeo at a famous local place called Banh Xeo Ba Duong.  Libby's advisor recommended it to us.  The food was excellent (of course) but we actually preferred the bang xeo in Ha Tinh from a few days before: