Đề thi VSTEP Full B1 — Hoi An & Sapa Homestay (Round 5)

Last month, I spent a weekend in Hoi An, a small town in central Vietnam famous for its colorful lanterns. I arrived on Friday evening after a four-hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City. The streets were already glowing with silk lanterns, and the smell of street food filled the air. On Saturday morning, I walked to the old town and rented a bicycle. I rode slowly through narrow streets lined with yellow buildings. I visited a few old houses where local families have lived for over 200 years. The guides explained how their ancestors traded with Chinese and Japanese merchants. For lunch, I tried the famous Cao Lau - thick noodles with pork and herbs. A street vendor showed me how to mix the sauce properly. In the afternoon, I took a boat ride along the Thu Bon River and saw old trading ports along the riverbank. On Sunday, I joined a cooking class at a small family restaurant. The chef taught us to make spring rolls and banana flower salad. By the time I left, I felt like I had become part of the town, not just a visitor. I will definitely return next year.

Hi everyone, today I want to tell you about my recent trip to a small village in the northern mountains of Vietnam. I stayed at a homestay with a local H'mong family for five days. When I first arrived, I was a little nervous because I couldn't speak any Vietnamese. But the family was so welcoming. The grandmother smiled and offered me a hot cup of tea. Their wooden house had a beautiful view of the rice terraces below. Every morning, I woke up to the sound of chickens and roosters. I helped the family with their daily work - feeding the pigs, collecting water from the stream, and picking vegetables from the garden. In return, they taught me how to plant rice and weave traditional cloth. The best part of the trip was the food. We ate simple meals of rice, fresh vegetables, and sometimes chicken or pork. Everything tasted completely different from the food in the big city. At night, we sat around the fire and the grandfather told old stories about the village. I learned that we don't need expensive hotels to enjoy traveling. Sometimes the most memorable experiences come from living like the locals do.