Hoi An Day 3, Adventure Packed of Coconut Boats, Rice Field Ride, and Floating Down the River

Day three we knew we had to make up for lost time as the rain stripped away a lot of our plans yesterday. We woke up earlier, getting our free breakfast and packing up for today's adventures. We were set to head on a coconut boat ride through some nearby coconut groves. Instead of booking a tour, we believed in our abilities to navigate and negotiate our way through. We took a taxi from the hotel to the starting point in the river where the boats took off from. The first person who approached us told us the cost was 600 dong, but I researched before going and knew the going rate was around 150-200 and I was not willing to accept and get scammed. We waited a moment until a lady came up and offered us a boat for 200 dong, in our ballpark, and we took it. On our ride we went, a 45 minute journey through the streams with coconut trees carving the way. It was so lovely to float among the trees, to see a grove I never have before, and we got the sweetest boat driver who guided us and got us the picture perfect experience. We opted to take a joy ride on the twisty coconut boats, as Gangnam Style bopped in the background, we got spun severely in a coconut shell for about a minute, feeling like the disney world tea cups on full blast, and the torque of being at the edge of the boat shaking my brain and giving me a good spin as I held on for dear life refusing to fall into the murky water. It was such a fun experience, Asia’s version of an amusement park, and our boat driver capturing the whole thing on video.

We also saw how the fisherman catch fish with nets, we got another baby spin, some photos, and floated our way back to the start. To protect our faces from the sun, they gave us the traditional Vietnamese hats, and Izzy and I were both so grateful as we forgot our sunglasses and the day was shining down on us. It added to the joy of the experience and the feeling of an authentic ride down the river and through the coconut groves. 

After our ride, we headed back to the hotel with the hopes to take advantage of the free bikes they offer and ride up to the nearby rice fields. There were some just up the road from us, but too far to walk, so we conquered our fear of riding on some wheels to see more of the city. Thankfully we were headed in the opposite direction of Old Town, so there was little traffic, and the vehicles that passed us were the motorbikes that saw through my tourist looking self and easily swerved and passed me as I mindfully biked as close to the curb as possible with my helmet strapped tight and hand always on the break. It only took us a few minutes to get to the start of the paddy trails, they were these narrow cement roads, only leaving room for bikes going each way. It was the perfect biking trail because we got to see all of the rice fields, some farmers tending the plants, and buffalos ready to haul anything they needed. They also had some lotus flowers growing alongside the bike path and they were gorgeous to stare at. Large pink flowers, some in full bloom and others on their way, it added to the beauty and experience of biking through these fields. We made a few circles, for about 45 minutes, relishing in a new first for us, visiting rice paddys. It was awesome to do it for free, get some exercise, and do it at our own pace. 

When we got back to the hotel before noon, we had already felt so satisfied with our day, feeling so accomplished having checked off our must visits in the town. Post bike exercise, food called our names and Old Town beckoned us to try more of its best cuisine. Our first time eating at a street food location, Izzy found a bomb vegan banh mi vendor, well trusted and reviewed by the people of trip advisor, and boy were they right. We ordered our banh mi for 15 dong each, $.60, and ate it on a stool in front of the stand with a fan blowing on us. I was glad to have a place to sit, and the hunger distracted me from how we must look sitting on a low baby blue stool and inhaling our sandwiches. 

We needed a dessert of course and headed to a cafe to get some peanut butter banana bread, a huge slice came to our table and we were grateful to have only ordered one to split. Two restaurants wasn’t enough and we had to head to a third to have our coffee for the day, a place with a view and good vibes to get some work done. We both had coconut coffee, it was more like a cereal that tasted quite close to tiramisu.

Next on our agenda was to ride the river boats. There are a lot of people there that try to get you to ride on their boat, we ended up just choosing the first person we saw which might have not be the wisest, but we wanted to get the timing perfect for sunset. There were also a lot of really old grandmothers out there selling the boat rides and the candles that you let out onto the river and part of me really wanted to buy it from one of them, but we got roped in instead with another lady. We were hoping for a paddleboat through old town, it must have gotten lost in translation because we ended up with a motorized boat that went in the opposite direction. We still got our ride and got to release a candle lantern. Although not the vibes we were going for, it was still a cool experience and only costed us $3 for the 20 minute ride. 

We then grabbed some dinner at our famous V Vegan place, treating ourselves on the last night with our pricey $9, which included dumplings for an appetizer, our own dish of Cao Lau, and our own serving of the best tasting dessert banana flambe. Headed back to the hotel, having seen our fair share of the city the past few days, we were content with the city, knowing that we for sure walked all parts of that town on our many laps around shops, cafes, and restaurants. We packed up, reflected on our new favorite city in Vietnam, and had to start processing the fact that our next stop, Hanoi, would be our last city together before Izzy heads home and I start leg #2, solo traveling.