The Quinn Family Excellent Adventure: Goodbye Saigon, Vietnam

It was time to leaving the increasingly busy city and fly to Hoian. I've heard such wonderful things about it. We were advised to arrive 2 hours early to the airport. We arrived early enough that their was not yet an assigned check in counter. The domestic pre checkin seating was really small to we stood for about 15 minutes watching the counter assignment closely. We were in line within 5 minutes of the assignment. Checkin was kinda slow as the airport was flooded with Lunar New Year traffic. Our 3:30 PM flight had a 3:00 PM boarding. Check in was disorganized and slow. Immigration and security was combined and OMG it was busy. Doing some quick math I sensed we would clear just after boarding. Trying to let staff know we may need to be fast tracked was difficult. Fortunately amongst the many difficult to understand overhead pages, we heard our flight was delayed 20 minutes. Awesome. Things were smooth from there. That was close and there was nothing we could have done better. With about 30 minutes to spare we wondered around the airport looking for snacks and water. Soon we were bussed to the tarmac and boarding from the ground. I love that. We were on the back of the plane and were able to board from the back ramp. Sweet. 3 people noticed my height and asked me to assist with their bags into the overheads lol. There were 3 cute little one's who were soon freaking out. A plane is a scary place for uninitiated little people, Michelle and I thought of solutions. We gently introduced KT to trains and planes when her baby sitter saw they freaked her out as a young child. There is no reason the airports cannot provide a introduction/play center at the terminal.

Once on the ground we wondered if out pre planned taxi person was still waiting. Even with the flight delay and slow baggage pickup, he was still patiently waiting. The drive to Hoian is about 45 minutes. Despite being dark, we could see it's way calmer than Saigon. I provided him with a great tip and soon we were checked into our next home, the Iris Villa Hotel http://www.irisvillahoian.com/

The staff at Iris Villa are great and the room is very clean. We chose this place based on reviews. We were to learn later that it's location is fantastic. KT was getting really sick with swollen tonsils. I was hoping to find a natural doctor but only modern meds are available here. Frustrated, I needed to walk so I walked to explore the little map the hotel gave us. Michelle and KT hit the hotels recommended clinic. I learned the map is not to scale. The walk to the An Bang Beach beach for example looks like 500 M. It was 5 KM ha ha. It felt and looked great. http://www.vietnam-guide.com/hoi-an/attractions/an-bang-beach.htm

I got a message that KT had Tonsillitis and Laryngitis. Antibiotics. Meh. The beach was pretty cool. Lot's of rental chairs and umbrella's. Plan to come back soon. Our hotel is alongside a huge collection of rice fields. It's nice, green and quiet. A Google image of this beautiful location is below. These rice fields include a labyrinth of concrete roads. Some are dead ends. After a few days of doing nothing, we tried to book a few tours. The Lunar new year impacted some of the tour operations. Our first choice was the "Farming & Fishing Life experience" using bicycles with Hoi An Village Experience https://tour.hoianvillageexperience.com/

Mr Cu the tour operator arrived promptly with 5 others for the tour. Cool. A bunch of bikes were waiting as well. After adjusting my seat we were off. These bikes are well used but rideable. Simple urban bikes with fixed gears. The rear brake is a drum is seems. They squeek like crazy but do work. After a few hundred meters we were on the Rice field trails. The fields are free to the farmer provided by the government. The size allotted is adjusted according to family size. After crossing a few fields, we were led to a cemetery within the fields. There a farmer and his wife introduced us to a very friendly buffalo. These creatures are so calm. Almost like a large calm dog. Everyone rode him for a minute. Not our cup of tea. Then we got a chance to do a mock rice field plow. Walking through the mud was cool, very smooth and squishy. We then used a flat rake to prep the land and did a mock planting. It's kinda refreshing to work as a farmer for a few moments. The farmer then kindly washed each of our muddy hands and feet. We said a warm thank you to the farmer, his wife and especially Mr. Buffalo. Soon we were riding again through a busy farmers market. The fixed gear on these bikes makes control kind of hard. After that we rode a few more K to a riverside and parked our bikes. It was now time to get into a round boat. 100 years ago, boats were taxed. Round boats were devised to avoid being taxed. Our boat driver was an energetic ball of fun. Multiple times he spun us around wobbling us to the tipping point. I joined in and was ready to dunk it. We never did but it was fun. Dozens of other boats filled with tourists passed in both directions. The "captains" all know each other and are constantly goofing off and laughing with each other. For a round boat, these things really move. With a solid J stroke leaning in at the front, the boat cuts quite fast. We parked for a few moments to receive custom made hats and jewelry made from reeds. Then a fun little interlude boat dance to a portable powered speakers in the reeds. Although it's totally cheezy, the Lunar New Year party atmosphere made it really special as everyone, both tourists and locals were fully present in the fun. Before heading back to shore, our captain taught us how to catch crabs. Cool, we caught 5. We were hungry and soon we headed to Mr Cu's home for a . We learned how to make rice milk and a Hoian pancake. Then we sat down and ate as a group a wonderful feast. After lunch and one last ride we were back at our hotel. We said goodbye to our new friends and the very knowledgeable Mr. Cu.

See yah Saigon