The previous night some of us had talked about meeting around 9 and going to Hoian's beach. Olivia and I were dragging but managed to get up in time. We looked for our group but couldn't find anyone in the lobby and then tried the hotel restaurant. We found Ryan and Kate there finishing their breakfast. The 4 of us took a taxi to the beach. When we got to the beach Talia and Kathrine were already there-they had asked Bac about how to get there and he said it was 3km straight, but after 45 minutes of walking they ended up getting a taxi to the beach because it wasn't that easy apparently. We were able to rent some lounge chairs by promising the restaurant owner we would buy lunch from her. We relaxed under the umbrellas a bit and also strolled along the beach. The waves were quite large and the water was cool, but not too cold. Olivia and I hung out at the beach for about an hour and a half. Then we shared an order of spring rolls and fried rice. We took a taxi back to town so she could return to the tailor and pick up her jacket.
We arrived at the tailor and her jacket looked nice. The saleslady said "don't you regret not having something made?!" I did agree, but I just don't know what I would have had made. Maybe in the future I will return to Hoian and get something tailor-made. Olivia and I then went to a bakery and ordered some dessert and tea. It was nice to sit outside on the patio and people watch. Then we hurried back to the hotel to change and get ready for our bike ride tour. We got a taxi to the bike shop. There, our guide said we could call him Lucky. We were outfitted with bikes and helmets. My bikes seat was too tall, even when it was lowered so it was a little bit of a challenge for me. First we rode a short ways to the bay and put our bikes on a transport boat and we were ferried across to an island. Apparently this island is covered in water 2 or 3 months of the year during the rainy season! We biked around the island and saw some of the village houses. The kids there were all so cute, when they saw us they would run after us waving and yelling "hellooooo!!"
Our first stop on the island was the home of a man who made rice "wine". He had stepped on a landmine in Burma as a soldier and couldn't do fishing or farming which are the main professions of those on their island. He decided he would make alcohol instead. He showed us his little kitchen and the steps he did to make it. He also gave his piglets (in the same area as his kitchen) some of the leftover fermented rice so that he said his pigs were usually drunk! He gave a sample and apparently it was 70% proof or higher because it burned when he tried lighting it on fire!
Next we were off to a lady's home where she made rice noodles. We were able to try making them as well, if we wanted. We scooped the rice noodle batter onto a mesh tray and made into a round shape, over a fire and covered it with a lid for a few seconds. Then we added half another scoop and waited a few more seconds. Then we took a long thin stick to lift the batter now solid and voila, the rice noodle. The next step would be to chop the circle to get the noodle strands. Sometimes they bake the circular solid batter and its crispy; then they would put a fresh circle on the inside and fold it and have it as a snack-crispy and soft at the same time! After a few of us made the noodles we were served a soup with homemade noodles.
We got back on our bikes and rode back to the "port" to ferry across again. We returned to the bike shop and then everyone split up for the evening. I decided I wanted to walk around Hoian a bit more so stayed out while everyone else headed back to the hotel to freshen up and do their own thing. Olivia planned to meet me later in the evening for dinner. I scoped out the area looking for a place to eat and found one that looked good, Cafe Hai. I met Olivia at the tailor so she could pick up her coat and we then went to the restaurant. At first glance it looked like the restaurant had about 4 tables on the porch and a few tables inside. But when we asked for a table we realized that there was a lot more to the restaurant! Next came the kitchen area and bathrooms, a big waiting room (also where they would host cooking classes I believe) with some low tables and benches and then a big courtyard with at least 20 tables if not more. It was really nice. We had to wait about 5 or 10 minutes before we were seated out in the courtyard. We shared a bahn mi (sandwich) and grilled beef. Everything was delicious but service was a little bit lacking-they all seemed so overwhelmed. But it didn't affect us too much.
After dinner we browsed some of the stores and ran into Brett, Dan and Adam so we decided we'd head back to the hotel with them. We packed up as we had an early departure from Hoian in the morning.
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