A casual start to the morning in Hoi An before making our way into town for Vietnamese cooking classes. We all trekked out to the nearby produce stalls to take a look at the types of things we were going to be using in the class. There were lots of different herbs and veggies and we also saw the different types off rice available. Back in the kitchen, we shredded veggies, prepped various herbs and made a nice dipping sauce using fish sauce, chilli, garlic, sugar and lime.

We proceeded to assemble veggie spring rolls, Phó Bo (beef noodle soup), banana blossom salad, lemongrass eggplant and mango sticky rice for dessert. We all had varying degrees of success and the end result was quite delicious. Most of the ingredients used are readily available in Australia but for the colder parts of the world, our instructor suggested some substitutions. Everyone really enjoyed the morning.

Sue went to lantern making with Mairie and Breda. They started with a basic lantern frame, choosing the size and shape along with the colour of material to cover it. Sue was surprised at the level of skill required to glue the material to the frame but the instructor was very helpful. Noel and Steve found a quiet spot out the back of the shop to enjoy a cool drink and have a chat. Once the lanterns were all assembled, we left it to dry whilst we went back to Anh to pick up the clothes.

Anh keeps the testimonials from all past customers and with a bit of digging, found our first entry from 2012. With the final fitting complete, we got another photo with Anh and said our farewells, promising we'd call in again on our next visit.

Whilst Sue was busy making her lantern, Steve was out bargain hunting. One shop was selling a number of things we were looking for so he perused the wares. The young girl was very keen to keep him in the shop but Steve was definitely not brave enough to buy Sue clothes without the opportunity for her to try them on. He promised he'd return with Sue so when we finally arrived back with said wife in tow, the young girl was ecstatic. We bought a number of cheaper lanterns than those being sold at the lantern class and Sue got a banana dress.

Many in the group had bought banana shirts and dresses that day so we met up for dinner wearing them. We got lots of smiles and laughs from the tourists and locals alike. Some of the group headed back to the hotel and we headed over to the new town for drinks. Another late one but it was so much fun.