Before I came to Hoi An, I stayed in Da Nang for a couple of nights. There wasn’t a lot to do so I pretty much lounged around drinking coffee.

In Hoi An, there isn’t really that much to do that I want to – there’s beaches to cycle to but I neither want to get sunburn or cycle, there’s a temple supposedly similar to Angkor Wat, where I’m going this week, but there is a lantern festival on Sunday. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting in cafes, drinking watermelon juice and Vietnamese Coffee.

On Saturday I did a food tour – it was quite a few outdoor stands in the street then into the company’s property where they cooked around half of the 44 tastings that we had. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel as though I needed an Uber to walk two blocks after the tour.

Black sesame

This morning, I got picked up for a cooking class, where we first went to a market to get the produce for the menu items we’d chosen to cook prior. I chose BBQ fish wrapped in banana skin as it’s a method of cooking that I’ve not done before, and it’s pretty easy. I was having a think as to what to tell everyone in the class my job was as it gets old being hoarded with questions because I’m a chef. A professional gymnast and hostage negotiator did come to mind, but I accidentally told someone about work.

The way the class worked was that the teacher showed everyone how to prepare the proteins and then came individually to show us the next steps, then one by one we’d finish the dish. There were 13 of us, so the day did grow a bit long, but I’ve had neither lunch nor dinner.

Tonight there is a full moon which means that the Lantern Festival is on. I’ve been down to the river for a bit, but after being there for 45 minutes I wanted to get away from the crowds.