Currently, there are three UNESCO sites in around Central Vietnam: Hoi An old town, My Son and Hue. Hoi An old town is around 40 minute drive from Da Nang International Airport, there are also a lot of resorts in the area and has been a popular destination for people who want more of Vietnam but had visited the north and the south. If you want a combination of culture, history and nature, Central has that variety.

Hoi An ancient town is well-preserved town reflecting a fusion of indigenous and foreign cultures: Chinese, Japanese and European. Last September the hubby and I stayed in Hoi An for 3 nights and we have spent 1 day in the area.

For one, there are a lot of art galleries in the old town, where you can buy paintings, crafts, art stamps, you name it!

We saw boats in the shore like the above. Fishing is one of the main industry in Vietnam with its long coast.

We first took the basket shaped boat from the shore to a much bigger boat. They said 10 people can fit in inside. Men, the captain even danced in the tune of Gangnam Style while we were in the boat.

We were transferred to a much bigger and comfortable boat later on.

The bigger boat is motorized.

In the bigger boat, we met our captain "also known as Captain Cook" and another staff. Both could not speak in English so our guide will be the one to translate for us.

Thumbs up for this tour!

Along the way, we passed by a boat where there were two fisherman, a husband and wife. They showed us and thought us how to fish. My husband tried and he got a few, while I can't have any luck throwing the net properly. The wife does the navigation, she was the captain of the boat, while the husband does the fishing. And all I can say is what a great team work! Sure, I came from the Philippines where fishing is also an industry, however this tour gave me a good insight that fishing is a real hard work.


We then went to Palm Paradise using the smaller boat, we were gently rowed to see the many palms under water. We were told that the palm paradise were used by Vietnamese soldiers, this is where they hid from the Americans during the World War II in the daytime, and in the evening they would attack and make their opponent weaker by stealing their firearms.

We were then transferred to a smaller village and see the local fisherman's home.

They got fat hens!

And once again, we were taught how to pull the fishing nets using the above heavy pulley. Unfortunately, we were not very successful fishermen, we only managed to catch two small fishes (and a tiny shrimp). What a shame!

The tour finished at around 12 pm and it was the time for us to rest and relax. Captain Cook cooked us a full and delicious Vietnamese meal.

We think it has been a productive day!

I love how they ran their tours which started year 2005. When you visit Hoi An, make sure to include Fisherman tour in your itinerary. It was one of the highlight, an educational adventure for the two of us.