Hội An, Vietnam

This was my favorite city in all of Vietnam. During the day, you see lanterns strung from businesses and through the streets. At night, there are lantern festivals along the river. It's such a neat subculture.

 The gorgeous hotel

 One of the highlights of Southeast Asia for me was riding a bicycle through the rice fields and countryside of Hoi An. It was beautiful. 

Working the rice fields. Everyone is so happy and friendly in Vietnam.

 Pitstop while biking: Getting a ride from this water buffalo! (I'm 99% sure I sprained my wrist getting off of him. I had never been in more pain than hitting my wrist on his horn. Still...worth it.)

 Slow paced/relaxed vibes

Morning Glory, one of Hoi An's more popular restaurants. Our seven course meal was as follows (plates not pictured: steamed rice and carrot cake)

 Tomato & mushroom soup 

 Crispy "pancakes:" stuff the taco shells (for lack of better words...) with greens. Squeeze lime on top then wrap in rice paper to avoid getting your hands too messy. I love Vietnamese pancakes!

 BBQ chicken & limeleaf

 Pork in caramel sauce

 Stir fried green beans

 Incense chandeliers: A person or family writes a wish or prayer on the yellow paper, then slowly burns it

 You see this everywhere in Vietnam. Looks...safe...

 Tiệm Bánh Mi Phương. According to Anthony Bourdain, this is the best Banh Mi stand in all of Vietnam. My friend Carly knew this, which is why she wanted to try it. So I tagged along. 

There are lots of sandwich options, and they make it right in front of you

 I call this "Random man in front of my sandwich"

I got BBQ chicken. The verdict: It was delicious!!!

 This is the city I had to purchase a small bag because my pack became too small to support my shopping addiction. I fail at backpacking. Whoops. This is partly due to the fact that Hoi An's streets are lined with tailors who alter clothes and make clothes from scratch. I showed the woman at this shop some skirts and shirts off Pinterest, she measured me, and then made them. All at a jaw-droppingly cheap price, because #Vietnam. I ended up staying in there for hours after getting measured and before picking my clothes up the next day because her English was phenomenal and she was teaching me a good bit of Vietnamese. I spent time with her family inside the shop and had a lot of fun. Getting to know people of different cultures and how they live their lives is the best part of traveling. Anyways, of all the (MANY) tailoring options in Hoi An, I highly recommend Yen Dung!