Cycling to the ceramic village Than Ha

After a wonderful night in our small hotel on the outskirts of the city, I wake up at 6.30 and I am drawn to the terrace. From the balcony, I can observe the morning activities of the residents here - the children are riding or being driven to school. The buffalo woman is trying to move her buffaloes into the water and not just munch on the delicious greens along the way. The ducks and chickens waddle across the street and also want to start their day's work in the paddy field. Occasionally, a dog passes by - that's country life for you.

For breakfast, we are treated to fresh juices, lots of fruit, and fresh omelette.

With a good amount of energy in our bellies, we grab our bikes and ring our bells as we navigate through the traffic - it's going well, just keep pedaling, just don't stop 😀 we cycle to the ceramic village - everything feels very familiar and I sit down at the potter's wheel after a very long time - okay, I used to be better at this 😳 at the ceramic museum, we learn a lot about the traditional pottery craftsmanship here - greetings to Kümmelschänke 😀 and we see many buildings from around the world as clay miniatures.

We also visit the small pottery workshops in the village itself, with potters demonstrating their craft, which reminds me a lot of Kümmelschänke actions.

It is nice to see a very old and probably very famous potter demonstrate her craft again - kneeling on the ground in front of the wheel, while her daughter moves the wheel, every movement of her hands on the clay is still perfect 😀

On the way back from the ceramic village, we pass by a small harbor where the fishermen are selling their fresh catch - and this is still real trade here. Women and restaurant chefs come here to buy or the goods end up in small bowls filled with ice. With these, the women run from shop to shop in the city and offer their catch. Vietnamese shops usually have a living area in addition to the sales area. Between 12 and 3pm there is a break, which means cooking and eating on-site, making fresh fish or mussels just right.

Once we arrive back in Hoi An, we want to redeem our acquired admission tickets for sights. But first, we need some more energy - after all, we cycled at least 15 km 🚴‍♀️😀

We find a cute restaurant and Stefan tries the traditional Cau Lau - a noodle dish with roasted rice crackers, vegetables, lots of herbs, and thinly sliced pork. I stick to the vegetarian version - vegetable fried rice 😃

Afterwards, we visit two of the centuries-old merchant houses. We take a journey into the history of Hoi An, which is a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese culture and architecture.

Chinese merchants started building these long houses 300/200 years ago - workshop and salesroom, open courtyard, and living rooms. The houses are located between two parallel streets - one street is along the river (for transportation). As there is flooding here every year, as we can see for ourselves, the houses are built so that all furniture, tools, etc. can be quickly brought upstairs - that also reminds me of something - oh yes, the Elbe and Oder rivers give us similar experiences.

Finally, we visit the Japanese Bridge - a beautiful piece - and we see a couple in traditional clothing in front of it. The colors and patterns of the traditional dresses are truly a feast for the eyes. No wonder Hoi An has developed such an expertise in tailoring. Hoi An is a dream today - a sweet bustling small town and a paradise for fashion lovers 😍 there are countless designer stores here.

We wanted to end our adventurous day with a performance at the water puppet theater - we just needed to find our way there, and that during rush hour 😳🤔

The mopeds seem to be constantly moving in circles. There is no standstill, only the desire to merge in and be part of it. Our destination is the puppet theater arena in Hoi An. We merge into the traffic in the old town and are now part of the functioning system of pedestrians, bicycles, and motorized vehicles. The locals have the route in their heads and we have it on an overview map. With our search, we deviate from the smooth path and disrupt the choreography that makes the traffic resemble a dance. After numerous intersections and road crossings, we finally arrive, but in vain: the show is only on Fridays. Kerstin has had enough of dancing - but that doesn't matter. We have to keep going. So into the hustle and bustle and off to the hotel, where a peaceful evening awaits us.