Coconut Village Boat Ride

Today we are back on a bike again. Actually cheaper to rent one for a day (10€) than to go back and forth with taxis since our destination was a bit further away. It was nice to have that independence back. Our destination is a tourist classic in the region but it just looked so fun we didn’t want to miss it. About 20 min from Hoi An nestled next to a river there is a Water Coconut forest. The „ water coconut“ trees are also known as nipa palm or mangrove palm, but the fruit tastes similar to coconut. The corresponding village uses the coconut palm for building houses, furniture, hats and - also boats. The round boats look a bit like colorful coconut shells and more something found in a game. The main income for people in this region of course used to be fishing, but looking at the crowds and number of family coconut boat tours it is safe to say that tourism is a strong alternative. You also pay a fee for the entry of coconut village which similar to Hoi An is supposed to support the local attraction.
Our guide was a tiny Vietnamese woman, she didn’t speak much English but was nice and really was a private photographer we felt a bit bad for her rowing so hard and us just sitting there. In the end Charly helped a bit, although that seemed mainly another picture opportunity as well. We expected this to be a serene and picturesque boat ride in a quaint village, so we were surprised it’s more a karaoke party/ competition race out on the water. It was all a bit surreal but great fun. We also saw the coconut fruit and flower. And a quite unique attraction was „ crab fishing“, finding the crab and getting it to „bite“ is easy but boy do they hold on tight to the root. Secretly we were happy Jeroen was unsuccessful in his fishing attempt and the crabs got to liver another day. We also saw fishermen throw out there nets but it seemed also more part of the attraction rather than for work. One of the things these coconut boat rides are famous for and you might have even seen a video of, is spinning really fast. Charly was excited to take the challenge, it was really fun and a bit like the breakdancer ride at a fare.
After a cold coconut we were ready for a swim and we drove to the nearby beach. The waves were pretty big but it was refreshing. We enjoyed some nice vegan dinner with sea view.Weiterlesen