Travels: Relaxing in Hoi An, Vietnam

Back on track with long overdue vacation posts...

After eating our way through Ho Chi Minh City, we popped over to a sleepy little beach town on the east coast of Vietnam, called Hoi An. (not to be confused with Hanoi...)

Hoi An was named a World Heritage UNESCO site due to its preservation as an example of a South-East Asian trading port. You can still see the mingling of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese architecture in the alleyways or homes, pagodas and temples. Supposedly, it’s through Hoi An that Christianity entered Vietnam in the 1600s.

I'd like to split up the town into 3 areas: the little harbor and surrounding shops & restaurants, the inner fields where the locals and farmers live & work, plus the beachfront, where we stayed.

Here, we took some time to relax on the beach and by the pool, enjoy a couple bike rides through the fields and explore the little town center. 

loving our pool & beach-side locale

this is what happens where there are hats to play with but your hubby is working...

 Fishing boats on the beach (you may have noticed this shot also on banglesandcuffs.com :P )

Hard at work

Hoi An harbor at night

eatin' noodles and sellin' wishes

Hoi An Harbor

the prep before they set out

i love a good bike against a wall pic

this little store was great. it's a fair trade shop selling handicrafts made by disabled  employees. we also got to go back and meet the people who made our purchases. :)

biking through the fields & town

Found the perfect wine bar to cap off the town!

Black Friday Business Launch!

I don't want you all thinking I've been a total slacker with no blog posts for over a month. We've been busy traveling, PLUS, I've been starting up a new business with my friend Nick! 

Check us out!
www.banglesandcuffs.com

Don't think this is my new full time career, but it's been a great adventure/experiment in starting an idea from scratch. 

As we just launched, we are open to feedback!!! Let us know what you like / don't like / wish you saw / etc. We're planning on donating proceeds back to the local communities, but turns out there was a little snafu with our charity of choice. More to come there.

Absolutely NO PRESSURE to buy a thing, but if you're interested, we're kicking off with a Black Friday sale!

Promo Code: Launch2013
Free Shipping on Orders over $100: freeshipping100

Looking forward to hearing with you think!
XOXO
Jacqueline & Nick

China: in 10 minutes

We're back! At least on the blog. I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post, but I've been working on creating some great content. :)

There's so much to catch everyone up on, so the next couple weeks might be a little scattered as I pull together all the pieces. I still need to finish up our adventures in Vietnam, my trip home to the US and our current Ladies Adventures trip out to Western China.

First up, a China recap. This video was given to us by a guide on one of our most recent trips and I thought it was hilarious. A perfectly succinct, stereotypical yet fairly accurate portrayal of China.

Hope you enjoy!

Video: China in 10 minutes