Good morning SE Asia!: Hoi An

Hoi An is definitely one of the most touristy towns in Vietnam. The streets are lined with tailors (apparently there are a whopping 460 in town), bars and restaurants and tat shops.

There are two must dos when in town. 1) Get a tailor-made suit (hence all the tailors), or 2) take part in a cooking course in one of the local restaurants, as Hoi An is well-known for it's outstanding Vietnamese cuisine. We decided that a suit, despite very cheap at about £100, won't be needed in the next few months and booked in for a cooking class with the well reviewed Morning Glory restaurant.

We met in the morning for a market tour. There were only a few other tourist. The guide, a girl from the restaurant, walked us through the local market, and explained various Vietnamese spices and ingredients to us. It was very much the same as all the other markets we had seen in Vietnam, but it was nice to have someone explain a few things. Afterwards, we went to the Market Restaurant where the actual course was going to be held. It was a very nice place, more like a food canteen, but all very up-market. There were different food stations - soups and noodles, meats, desserts etc. We were walked around past each station and were told how things are made and sometimes also got a wee taster. We tried some beatle larvae and some coconut jelly thingy.

Afterwards we went upstairs to the class room. Nice place. A proper cooking class room with cooking stations for each student. We met our cooking teacher, Lulu, who was the head chef of the Market restaurant. We cooked soup with crab meat wrapped in cabbage, a crispy Hoi An pancake, spicy grilled chicken and a spice mango salad. Best of all, we got to eat everything we cooked!

The class was finished at around 2pm so we had the rest of the afternoon to look at the Japanese Covered bridge and walk around town. In the evening we walked back to our new favourite restaurant, Balle Well. I know, twice in a row seems boring, but I can't emphasize enough how delicious the food there is.