In order to guarantee the tour’s quality promised to our clients, we often make unsuspected inspection or request for a fam trip from our partners. Recently, we have been to Hue and Hoi An to test out the services of our partners in hotels, transports, restaurants.

Eco tour is a rising trend in Vietnam. This allows you to leave the regular form of tour and let you discover the ‘true’ Vietnam in the most authentic and distinctive way. In Hue and Hoi An, we took part in a bicycle tour throughout the countryside offered by our partners.

In Hue, we started our tour with An Hien Garden House where architecture and nature come together. Coming to this place, we can see the ancient architecture style of Vietnam and Hue and thanks to our tour guide, we were introduced to all kind of fruit trees, including (jackfruits, grapefruit, mango, etc) and understand the ups and downs of this house through time.

Passing through the beautiful rice fields and lotus ponds, we stopped by Phuoc Duyen Pagoda. It is a beautifully constructed pagoda which is located in the rural area of Hue. This pagoda is surrounded by mountains and rice fields therefore make it perfect for those who are looking for inner peace.

Biking across the countryside, we immersed ourselves in the relaxed and laidback lifestyle while familiarizing ourselves with the daily life of the locals there.

We then embarked on a cruise along Perfume River. After, we continued our way by bike to Sinh Village – also known as the folk painting village. Sinh’s village paintings have been part of Hue’s ethnic minority culture for over 4 centuries. Each painting has its own meaning yet they mainly demonstrate an ambition, a hope to have a prosperous and happy life. What special about these paintings are that the ink used are made from completely natural ingredients. For example, coal is used to create the color ‘black’. Here, we were introduced to the history of folk painting and guided on how to paint a folk painting

On the next day, we arrived in Hoi An. There, we rowed our way in basket boat through Bay Mau coconut water forest in Cam Thanh Commune. This area has about 7000 metres square of freely grown water coconut trees and was the place chosen by the soldiers in war to hide themselves away from enemy. We were shown how to catch crabs that are hidden behind the water coconut tree. On top of that, we were given souvenirs from coconut leaves made by our talented tour guide. We also got to experience catching fish by ourselves. This is the most interesting activity so far as the logic behind this fish catching is that we have to scream our lungs out to ‘frighten’ the fish so they get caught in the net.

After the exciting catch, we went back to prepare for our own lunch with a local family. This time, we were taught to make Cha Gio (spring rolls) and Banh Xeo (Vietnamese pancake).

Lunch with the local family leads to the end of our fam trip in Hue and Hoi An. It was a very unique experience and it gives us the opportunity to see these 2 cities in a different way. If you’re an active person, someone who loves to experience new things and like to lay back to fully absorb in the captivating countryside, then this eco tour is the perfect choice for you!