Merry Christmas from Hoi An!

(clockwise from left: church in Hoi An; market in Hue; cooking class in Hue; market in Hue)

hey kids! Merry Merry Christmas from Hoi An! :) I hope that Santa Claus has been good to you. We are twelve hours ahead of most of ayou so Christmas has came and gone for us but it was great!

Yesterday we took a cooking class in Hue before leaving for Hoi An, which is about 4 hours of slow driving from Hue. It was really cool! For $15 we had a semi-private class with a Vietnamese woman who took us to the market. We had already been to the market the day before but it was cool to get a personalized tour and to see it all through the eyes of a local. It was saturday as well so it was extra busy with lots of vendors selling everything you can imagine. On the menu for the cooking class was the fried pancake, fresh and fried spring rolls, peanut sauce and bun bo hoe, the spicy beef noodle soup that is popular in Hue (different in noodles and broth from the traditional pho bo (beef noodle soup) that has different herbs and flavour). It was really wacky walking through the meat and fish section...some of the fish and eels were still moving so you know they were fresh. Thankfully neither Yosha nor I is squeemish, but buying meat from a woman who cuts the beef with her hands, then takes the money, then hands you the change, is a little much at times for even me, but when in Rome...so far other than a bit of a cold (I am still in denial about that), we seem to be doing well health-wise! :)

We arrived in Hoi An last night. Of all of the places that we have visited so far in Vietnam, Hoi An is by far the most amazing. The architecture is incredible; the buildings are absolutely beautiful. After checking into a random hotel (off a tip from a local at the bus station...who needs to book ahead?!), we walked around the town and had some tasty dinner (cao lau; noodles with sliced pork, deep fried croutons and herbs is the local dish and it's delicious!), drinks and snacks. Deep-fried banana is my snack of choice for the moment!

After dinner we walked around town. While most Vietnamese will probably consider themselves Buddhist, Christmas seems to be a really big deal. Walking around town there were tons of vendors selling helium-filled Santa Claus balloons; some stores were playing Christmas music; many stores, restaurants and hotels have lit-up Christmas trees, "Merry Christmas" signs and various reindeer, Santa and snowflake stuff out front. So we haven't forgotten it's Christmas! I have been wearing a mega dorky elf hat I bought off a lady for a $1 since last night. It makes me feel festive :)

This morning after a lazy start (maybe our first in ten days of travelling!), we got some shoes and clothes made. OMG I am soooooo excited for the stuff that I bought! There are probably close to 200 tailors and shoe makers in the entire city. I got two pairs of funky shoes made (work friends watch out!) and a pair of winter boots for $100. I also got a grown-up suit jacket, skirt, pants, as well as workout shorts made for $145. I am not going to think about how I am going to bring this home...but it'll be worth it because it's amazing and totally fitted to me! I feel like a queen!

The weather in Hoi An has been nicer than in Hue. While it was pouring rain this morning when we left our hotel it stopped and it's a lot more comfortable!

Tomorrow we leave for My Son temples. I am really excited!

While it's different not being around family and friends (except for my dearest Yosha of course!), this is probably the best gift that I could have given myself. There is something about travelling that makes everything else seem less important. While I think that we will always have stuff to pay off, I think that to deny yourself the joy, beauty and adventure of travelling is to miss out on a huge chunk of your personal growth. To quote St-Augustine, "the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page". So get your butt out there and take that big trip that you have always wanted to take! :)

So Merry Christmas dear friends and family! And thanks for following along! More stories from the road to come!