Early & Morning My Son Sanctuary, Traditional Food with Boat Trip

We were lucky enough to have Van as our guide and his passion and knowledge and friendliness were such a treat. The early morning tour was best for us because the temperature was expected to reach 95 F (35 C) and the tour is entirely outdoors. We got up at 4:30am to be picked up at 5am and were touring the temples at sunrise. It was stunningly beautiful and totally empty!! By the end of our two hours, other people were filling the sites and the temperature heated up very quickly. Breakfast is included in the tour but is not served until *after* visiting the temples and sites so make sure you eat something. We woke at 4:30am and didn't eat until around 9:00am so if you're like me, you may be shaking and starving by then. The end of the tour included a stop at a village to see how rice noodles and rice paper is made. My 13 year old volunteered to try it and I enjoyed seeing them make these foods that I have been buying at H-Mart for years back in the U.S. After this stop, it was a long drive to Hoi An where we got on a boat. To pass the time, Van told us the story of his life. I won't give it away in case you also have Van as your guide and are lucky enough to hear him talk but I'll just tell you that we laughed, we smiled, and we cried. He's a wonderful human being. At the end, we all hopped on a motor boat that quietly took us to downtown Hoi An to our shuttle. You could stay and shop or you could shuttle to your hotel. Overall, we were door to door 5am to 11am. Highly recommend everything about this tour! Take a snack and take water! We did not have any bug problems in early April so bug spray was not needed.