Travel with Me, Vietnam Culinary tour returned to Australia last week after an amazing 12 days in Vietnam. 13 adventurous ladies headed to Vietnam in search of fun, new experiences and possibly to pick up some great culinary tips.
We arrived into Ho Chi Minh City in the evening and checked straight into our hotel, Northern Hotel. Not sure at all what to expect with our accommodation we were all impressed with the standard and the location. Was going to be a hard ask to keep this level up for the next hotels (or so we thought). Having a 3 night stay meant we could settle in and relax while we explored this amazing city We saw the sights, visited the bustling Bin Thanh markets and sampled our first Pho (pronounced fur), a Vietnamese noodle soup.
A day on the Mekong Delta gave us a great opportunity to view local life in the "rice bowl of Vietnam" We sampled fruit and other local produce including Snake Wine... and yes this is a big jar of wine with a massive cobra coiled inside. A flash storm on the return in our small boat proved a lot of fun with no one escaping with any dry bits at all. Luckily the weather was very warm so it didn’t take long to dry off.
Our first cooking school was the Vietnam Cookery Centre conducted by a local Vietnamese Chef. We cooked and ate a few dishes including Vietnamese spring roils and an amazing Green Papaya Salad washed down with local Tiger
Beer.
After cooking school we took a flight to Hoi An for another 3 night stay and stayed at the Hoi An hotel. The hotel was walking distance to everything and had an amazing pool. The weather took a turn for the wet here so unable to utilise the pool but it did not stopping us from some hard core shopping and exploring. The Tailors were amazing so we all filled our suitcases with new, well fitting clothes. A lot of people also had shoes and handbags made here.
Another cooking school in Hoi An, Red Bridges cooking school which we arrived at by boat, was a favorite for most of the group. After a small visit to the herb garden we sat down with a local chef who was very entertaining as she showed us how to make traditional Hoi An pancakes.
We continued to Hue for one night and stayed at Huong Giang Hotel in beautiful river view suites, we visited the citadel, home of the Nguyen Dynasty Emperors and had a very entertaining "Imperial Dinner" where we dressed in imperial costumes.
We then flew to Hanoi and our hotel was situated smack in the middle of the night markets so was very interesting getting our group through the crowds, the location however was worth the effort. More sightseeing including visiting the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho), and lots of free time to explore. Crossing the roads in Hanoi requires great skill and guts, I think we got the hang of it by the third day!
Our last cooking school was in Hanoi and was preceded by a guided visit to the market, this had to be one of the most interesting food markets although possibly not for vegetarians! We enjoyed our dishes with some complementary local wine and beer.
One of the highlights in Hanoi was visiting and eating at Koto. Koto has been set up to help street kids who would otherwise have no future. They do an amazing job here training their students with Australian Cookery and Hospitality Certificates on offer. Their graduates then find great jobs in the industry both in Vietnam and overseas and are therefore able to ensure a solid future for themselves and their families. This is a must visit for anyone travelling to Vietnam. Over the next few months another school will be set up in Ho Chi Minh City.
Of course no visit is complete without a visit to Halong Bay, not a day visit but an overnight on your own personal Junk Visit. Wow, we all boarded our junk and rooms were allocated before meeting for lunch in the dining room with magnificent views. We were extremely lucky to have the best weather for these 2 days and found it a great way to unwind and reflect on our journey so far. Some very eager people were up on deck early in the morning doing Tai Chi while the rest slept peacefully in their cabins enjoying the quiet and nursing some hangovers.
Back to Hanoi for one more night at the Serenade Hotel and free time for shopping or many elected various spa treatments.
We had an amazing time in Vietnam, the itinerary was well spaced to ensure we visited all the main sites as well as having a lot of free time to explore on our own. The food was exquisite throughout with no one experiencing any bad dishes and there seemed to be no major doubling up on food, something different awaited us at every restaurant. The prices were a dream with everyone coming home with more money than was expected.
What an incredible holiday, a great mix of learning new culture, local history, new foods and fabulous sites along with fantastic shopping, cheap spa treatments and amazing markets. Lets not forget our new found friends who we spent 12 fun packed days with. Our local guide went over and above every day of this tour to ensure a memorable holiday was had by all.
I will be running this tour again next year in exactly the same format so if you would like to join me and have the holiday of a lifetime please contact me at Travel with Me.