Hoi An Countryside bike tour to Kim Bong village

Today my wife and I spent our last day in Hoi An on an amazing bike tour through the local countryside. We got to learn about and experience rice wine and how it is made. Make woven mats with the locals, and get hands in with a local wood carver. This experience far exceeded my expectations and we had the best guide in Tin Tin. She had great local knowledge and was very friendly. For those wanting an authentic cultural experience, this tour is for you. Highly recommend Tin Tin as your guide if you can manage to book with her.

We started off the day with Nancy and her friend at their office in Hoi An. We wanted to do something a little different, having been to Hoi An before. Well we struck gold with this one. We were all designated a bike and ready for the day's activity - starting at 8am. Although the start time is early, believe us, it's a great idea because it gets a bit hot and steamy at this time of the year. So we all headed off down to the dock to load and bikes and ourselves onto a little boat that took us across to Cam Kim Island. It is such a quaint and enchanting little island away from the hustle and bustle of the town. We were introduced to a number of families who for generations have been doing the same craft and continue to do so in the interest of keeping skills alive. It made us appreciate that, when you haggle and try to get vendors down to really cheap prices, that maybe you are having an effect on these families who are the true craftsmen (and women). We met some boat makers, rice paper/noodle makers, wood carvers, woven mats producers and the highlight was a visit to a local kindergarten. As if that wasn't enough, we then journeyed back to Hoi An and went into central market to enjoy a local rice noodle dish that was absolutely amazing. The group we toured with were a mixture from the USA, France, The Netherlands and us Aussies. It should be noted that Nancy conducts her tours very professionally. She tries to converse with all members of the group and her presentations are so incredibly interesting with lots of information that you just couldn't get to know all by yourself. It was a truly fabulous experience and we would DEFINITELY go on a tour with this group any day of the week. It was incredibly good value for money and we really enjoyed our half day out with these lovely girls. Highlight of the day: There was a lady at the rice noodle site who was 88 years old. She was absolutely amazing and was down on her haunches going about her business as if she was 21!

I really enjoyed this tour, especially riding down the village streets, a visit to the school and the food. You spend a lot of time with the locals so there is not too much riding. Nancy was our guide on the tour and was full of information about local life.
Get away from the tourist strip and experience the real Hoi An.