GETTING CLOSER TO THE FARMERS’ LIFE
Meals: lunch | Accommodation: not included
Today we will set off on our exploration trip at 8:30. We will start firstly with a soft pedal which will serve us to warm up while being surrounded by picturesque and laid-back villages, passing by wide rice fields, beautiful gardens and orchards and witnessing how the residents proceed with their daily routine and work.
In less than one hour we will reach a local organic farm in Cam Thanh, where we will be welcomed by our friendly hosts, who will happily share with us the story about this community-based project. Afterwards we will be invited to join them in their daily duties (don’t be shy and give it a try at least!), such as cultivating the soil, planting, watering, applying organic manure or making organic pesticides to control and prevent pests.
Once the farming work is done, we will return to the farmers’ house and use what we have harvested in the organic vegetable garden to learn how to cook a Vietnamese lunch. Afterwards, it will be time to enjoy our well-deserved meal at the garden (weather permitting).
Before we leave we will also have the chance to experience the genuine local means of transport travelling by basket boat under the mangrove forests, and maybe even helping the locals with some net fishing before returning back to our hotel after this 2-day journey in which we will have been able to get a pretty complete picture with the different facets of Hoi An.
Note: If you are not keen on cycling, a transfer by car can be arranged with a surcharge. Otherwise, we recommend you the cycling option to get a better appreciation of the landscape and interaction with your host destination, to “go green”, and quite a few more good reasons. The terrain is pretty flat and the ride will be enjoyable. So if your can cycle, please let's re-cycle and just enjoy the ride!

GETTING TO KNOW HOI AN
Meals: lunch | Accommodation: not included
Our visit to Hoi An Ancient town will start at 9.00 am, when our guide will meet us in our hotel. Our guide will be the key for us to gain some insight about the city, its ancient architecture and its important role in the History of Vietnam due to its trading port, which was once the largest in Indochina. We will then understand that Hoi An has always been (and somehow, keeps on being) a meeting point for many diverse cultures.
After a morning soaking up the magnificence around the Ancient town and the curious information provided by our local guide, we will embark on a private cruise on the Thu Bon river so that we can get a glimpse of the surrounding rural life in Hoi An. Before lunch, we will also have time to visit a local family who still practices the traditional craft of sedge mattress weaving using ancestral technics that have been passed down to multiple generations.
In the afternoon, our boat will take us to a bamboo studio where we will spend some time with a talented craftsman, an authentic artist that manages to create almost everything made of bamboo and who will teach us how to make our own preferred bamboo item under his guidance.
Around 4:00 we will be transferred to our hotel, enjoying the rest of the day at our leisure.