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The Gratitude Vietnam Retreat Venue Blog

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Tết Celebrations, Moving House and New Neighbours!

Dear Friends,


This week or so has been a little hectic as we have moved house! Whilst we were sad to say goodbye to our indoor-outdoor home, we love our new place which has the essential third bedroom for visitors and practitioners who would like to utilise all of the villa bedrooms for their retreat guests! We no longer require an umbrella to get to the bedrooms though (as the house is all under one roof), which is a blessing. It is wonderful to know that we will be here for at least a year, and finally unpack the pictures that have been so patiently waiting to be seen on a wall since June!


Due to a bike issue preventing Cyril from joining us, we recruited the reliable and friendly ‘Same Same But Better‘ who helped us to move our slightly increased luggage from one end of Cam Nam island to the other. In true form, our lovely neighbours joined me as I was mopping and doing the final bits of cleaning, with regular tutting that we were not leaving it for the landlords to do (kindly translated by Chau from SSBB!).


A photograph of local Vietnamese residents who invited themselves in to say hello as Hannah and Naomi moved house.

Whilst we will miss the regular drop-ins, our new neighbours are just as friendly and welcoming. This morning I had one of those ‘Love Actually’ conversations – the one where you are both talking in your native language and seem to be communicating, but neither of you understand a word! It has made me even more determined to learn the language so that I can say “The baby you have placed in my arms is beautiful, and I would be delighted to babysit!”


Our new landlords live next door, and have been so lovely. On grabbing the electric bike to go to the Post Office, I discovered a thoughtfully and newly installed extension lead, placed to save lugging the battery indoors to recharge.

In the bike department, we have adopted the bungee rope system for transporting larger objects, which has worked a treat…


A photograph of a blue bike with an ironing board secured on with bungee elastic.
A photograph of an electric bike and pedal bike laden with shopping in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Across Asia, celebrations are beginning for the Lunar New Year. Whilst in China you bear witness to the largest annual human migration on the planet, it is also the major public holiday of the year in Vietnam. Builders as an example, get a full month off during ‘Tet’, and many shops, restaurants and services will shut down for at least a week. The preparations in our street are ongoing, with bunting, fairy lights and increasingly frequent karaoke as everyone enters the festive spirit, ready for the Year of the Pig!


Fairy lights and bunting line the streets for Tet in Hoi An Ancient Town.

The blog shout out for this week goes to Jhanvi and Tracey – thank you both for your beautiful messages about the ‘Time‘ blog. Writing a blog is initially an intimidating process – putting out regular updates about the ‘journey’ you are on to an often unknown audience is quite daunting, and to put out something more personal, even more so! Thank you so much for your encouragement.


A photograph of the Vietnamese flag against a blue sky with Vietnamese bunting underneath.

Thank you to all of you who have commented, liked and shared our blog posts! We are not going to be able to share any big news now until after Tet, and whilst we have been hinting at some since we moved here, we have taken a fantastic step forward this week which we will share with you as soon as we have signed on the dotted line!


Chúc Mừng Năm Mới – Happy New Year!


With gratitude and love,


The signature of Naomi and Hannah at the Gratitude Vietnam Wellness Retreat Venue in Hoi An Vietnam
“Happiness doesn’t have just one address” Unknown
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