Hoi An

After the super fun 15 hour train ride, we arrived at Da Nang and were picked up by our hotel for a quick 20 minute drive to Hoi An. The drive through Da Nang left us wanting more, so we will definitely head back there for at least a couple of days. The sea and the beaches are gorgeous!

Arriving to our place in Hoi An, we immediately knew we made the right choice for lodging.  It's called Hoi An Greenlife Homestay and is situated in the main Hoi An town. But right behind it are lush green rice fields, as far as the eye can see.

Here is the little sitting area and balcony of our room:

And this is what we see from our balcony!

It's just beautiful!!!

Upon arrival we were completely exhausted from the train ride and both of us immediately took a nap.  We woke up hungry but it was dark outside and we were in unfamiliar territory, so we decided to see if we could find someplace nearby. 

We stumbled upon a really busy place that was definitely an authentic Vietnamese hang out - no English on the menus and nobody who spoke English to be found. We used a lot of gesturing and pointing at grainy pictures to order, having no idea what we would be getting.

My food was really good, maybe it was chicken with bok choi?  It was tasty!

Buddy received a strange look and some questions (in Vietnamese) from the waiter when he ordered, but since we had no idea what he was saying, Buddy just shook his head and gave a thumbs up. When his dish arrived, it was a blackish colored nest of fried bits on the plate.  Buddy just dove in and started eating the crunchy, chewy pile of stuff.  I asked how it tasted, he said "good," so I picked a piece for myself.

I looked closely at the bit in my chopsticks and picked out a bone.  I really couldn't figure out what I was looking at. Then I saw a little eye. Ok, I'll pick that eye out and usually when there's one eye you'll find a second...ok, pick that one out as well.

At this point Buddy says "stop looking at it and just try it. You won't eat it if you keep looking at it."  He was totally right, so I took a bite and chewed, chewed, chewed. It was very chewy. And deep fried. And crunchy. And chewy.

Having finished my adventurous bite of mystery meat, I looked more closely at what was left on Buddy's plate.  I saw a small foot and predicted that he was eating goose knuckles.  I don't really know what those are, but I've heard about people eating them in Asia and thought it seemed like a reasonable guess.

When we got back to the hotel, Buddy looked up the Vietnamese words for the dish he ate. Turns out it was a frog. And apparently I ate a frog's face.

Welcome to Hoi An!