Vietnam - Hoi An Day 2

Yesterday was very relaxing for Bob and me. Ingrid and Elise had booked a cooking class which included going to the market to buy the ingredients and taking a boat ride along the river to a fishing village to try to catch fish for the menu. They were tranferred into the round basket woven curricles and given a fishing pole with a length of line and a hook which was predictably unproductive but fun. They were then taken to a very professional kitchen and put to work. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and also eating the dishes they prepared.
Meanwhile Bob and I decided to go to the beach. This was just to see the sights rather than to swim and get a tan.  The hotel shuttle service drove us out and back as a free service. It was an interesting drive as we had not seen this part of Hoi An before. Enroute we went past a large area of rice paddies and I was amused to see a buffalo lying on his belly close by the road with his owner stretched out along his back having a nap. Of course the camera is never ready  when you are driving past but I resolved to watch for them going home. Unlikely as it seemed they were still there when we returned but this time he was carefully helping a young woman onto the buffalo's back. It was a contrived and clever photo opportunity which no doubt earned him handy cash  while the rice gets on with growing. I still missed the opportunity because I really didn't expect they would still be there and didn't have the wits to ask our driver to stop.
The beach was a private area precisely defined and hired by the hotel. There were lounges with palm frond shade umbrellas, clean sand, blue water with waves and proprietors who supervised the access and operated a cafe which delivered cold drinks to the beach. Bob checked the water and found it surprisingly cool for the tropics. Apart from that we reclined on the lounges reading our books and watching the other guests. 45 minutes before our 3 hour excursion was up we strolled up to the cafe for lunch which was tasty and cheap. The proprietors came to tell us when the shuttle had come to collect us and we strolled down to be taken back to the hotel as truly pampered tourists.
When Elise and Ingrid returned the female contingent went for our tailoring fittings. Elise's blouse and my slacks fitted perfectly. Mine only needed the button at the waist band to be marked to ensure exact fit. Ingrid's was more complex and required a bit more work but we were assured everything would be ready for us to collect on our way to dinner at 630 and it was.
We enjoyed our meal at the Secret Garden again and strolled home for an early night. This tourist life is quite tiring.