Food Tours · Tour

Tra Que Herb Village: Rice Paper, Water Buffalo, Basket Boat

Six hours, which is the longest of them, and three of the things in it are not cooking. Tra Que is the famous organic herb village outside Hoi An, and the day happens inside it rather than beside it. The venue is the Tra Que Water Wheel, a traditional Vietnamese building that has been restored rather than built to look old, and the view from the table is farmers working the beds the herbs come from. The rice paper is the part worth booking for. Everyone eats it wrapped round spring rolls; almost nobody has seen it made, which is a batter spread thin on a cloth over steam and lifted off in one piece. You make your own. Then the water buffalo, which the operator calls the peaceful giants and which you ride, and the basket boat, which you row. Up to fifteen people, in English, with private transport, lunch and all fees and taxes. Wheelchair accessible, transport included, and prams are fine.