Hoi An discovery

Program

Tours

Traditional Painting and Latern Making workshop

• Hotel pick up for a short transfer to the Lifestart Foundation situated in the centre of Hoi An. Meet your guide, then enjoy a brief stroll through town to board a local boat for a short boat trip across the river. About 15 minutes later, you will arrive at the painter’s house where you will participate in an hour-long, hands-on traditional painting class. The class is taught by the local artist Mr. Sinh Trong who has been sponsored and helped by Lifestart Foundation. The Foundation helped Sinh to realize his passion for painting turning it into a vocation. At the end of this lively session, you will be able to keep your own handmade card as a souvenir. After, enjoy an hour-long lantern making class. Hoi An traditional lanterns are very famous and bring a beautiful charm into houses and streets. While creating your miniature lantern, you will have the opportunity to learn about Vietnamese life through interesting discussions with the class instructor and Lifestart members. Learn how the Foundation is helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Meet some of these lovely ladies and see how their beautiful products are made. As in the painting workshop, you will have the chance to keep your lantern as a memory of your time with Lifestart in Hoi An.

Tra Que Vegetable Village

• Pick up from hotel in Hoi An and transfer to the starting point of the bicycle ride. From here ride a bicycle to a local farm in Tra Que Village (depending on the location of your hotel you may be able to cycle directly). Take a trip around the vegetable garden and join the farmers in preparing the land and fertilising it with seaweed. Continue gardening activities such as raking, sowing, watering greens, picking greens etc. After farming activities you will be shown how to prepare tam huu, a local delicacy before sitting down for a home cooked meal including banh xeo a speciality savoury pancake wrapped in rice paper before transferring by vehicle back to Hoi An or to your hotel.

Goda Gourmet Cooking Classes the gourmet adventure

• Start with a transfer from your hotel at 09:30 am. After a short drive, arrive at the Goda Restaurant. Begin the tour with a 10-minute bicycle ride to picturesque An My Village. Here, you will visit a typical Vietnamese house and duck farm where you will learn about the cultivation of fresh herbs and vegetables and discover how they are used in traditional Vietnamese medicine. Join the farmers in preparing the land and fertilizing it with seaweed from the local lake. Join others activities such as raking, sowing, watering or picking greens. Return to Goda Restaurant to enjoy a 02-hour cooking class with one of the chefs. Follow the chef in the preparation of a 03-course menu. After the lesson, enjoy your own creations before to heading back to your hotel.

Duong Lam Village and Tay Phuong Pagoda

• Depart 8.30 for the 1.5-hour drive west of Hanoi to Duong Lam village, a purely agricultural village of the Northern Red River delta which still preserves many hundred-year-old houses. Visit Mong Phu temple in Mong Phu commune - the only hamlet whose original village entrance remains intact. Continue on through the narrow alleys to see the old laterite houses which make up this charming village. For lunch enjoy a local style meal in a 100-year old house. After lunch, continue driving to Mia Pagoda (another hamlet of Duong Lam), built in the 15th century, some 287 statues of all sizes can be seen here, among which are famous sculptures such as the statue of Buddha and the statues of the ‘Eight Vajra Deities’. Then, visit Ngo Quyen temple and Phung Hung temple, places dedicated to two national heroes - Ngo Quyen and Phung Hung. On the way back to Hanoi stop at Tay Phuong Pagoda. The pagoda offers beautiful architecture and ancient and unique sculptures. It was one of the first pagodas built in Vietnam. Note the dragons and demons carved into the wooden roof. From here it’s a 45-minute drive back to Hanoi.

Hanoi Street food tour

• Stroll through the Old Quarter past the old east gate to Thanh Ha market. Along the way try delicacies, strange food items and listen to an explanation of Vietnamese food practices. This busy, eclectic market is alive with the sights and sounds of Hanoi and is the essence of Vietnamese culture. Continue through the streets of the Old Quarter to Dong Xuan market to sample some local treats such as pho tiu and bun dau. Your guide will explain the routine of Vietnam meal times and indigenous/unusual ingredients eaten. See dried goods and aromatics, the essentials of Vietnamese cuisine. Stroll up ‘food alley’ to see other dishes on offer. Walk down to Hang Than Street to view ceremonial cake stalls and taste a special French influenced dessert. An explanation on traditions and food gifts for celebrations will be given. Continue back into the Old Quarter via Hang Cot Street – check specially treated fruit which are dependable on the seasons and a common snack in Vietnam. Walk along Phung Hung Street through temporary market stalls where you can see the changing market scene in Hanoi and how modernization is shaping tradition. At the end of the tour stop at one of the Old Quarter busiest (yet smallest) coffee shops for a well-earned sit down and coffee before transferring back to your hotel.

Book this trip

Booking

For bookings, partner rates or further information, please contact us at:

Art Of Travel
V Jámĕ, Prague 1
Czech Republic
phone: +420 224 239 250
email: bookings@artoftravel.eu