We were glad to arrive in Hoi An on Sunday morning for a number of reasons. Firstly I was glad because this overnight bus may have been sparklier than the other but it was a lot less comfy and I hadn't had a very wonderful sleep, although Rob seemed ok on it due to having very short legs.
Secondly we were glad to arrive as we've been really looking forward to seeing Hoi An. We had been told how beautiful it is and we were excited to see the town and visit one of the millions of tailors here to get some clothes made. When we did arrive it was 6am and so although our hotel were awake and we could leave our bags there we had hours to kill before we could get in our room, so into the town we went just as it was waking up for a really good explore and a very tasty breakfast.
When we got back to the hotel we had a quick snooze/read/rest before heading back into town to eat again and get a daytime impression of the place. On this second visit to town we got to see the prettiness of it once it wakes up. Pedestrianised streets; a mix of old Vietnamese, French, Chinese and Vietnamese buildings, flowering climbers lounging off the walls and beautiful fabrics, clothing, lanterns and art spilling out of all the shops. We found a balcony restaurant where we tried two of the many Hoi An specialty foods; Cau Lau noodles and crispy Wontons and from here we had a lovely view of it all.
After eating we went in search of a street with apparently the best selection of tailors; a good place to start we felt. Walking past one tailor shop after another at first it is hard to imagine how you will choose where and what to buy. However I started to get a feel for what I did and didn't like and when I spotted a dress I liked more than the rest we jumped feet first into this shop and got on with it. With three weddings to go to this summer I felt I had the perfect excuse for a fancy silk party dress and so got all measured up and arranged to return at 7pm to try it on.
Rob had been dreaming of a well fitted and snazzily designed suit and so after I'd so decisively got myself a dress he decided to get on with getting himself a suit. We had some criteria for the suit and a price limit. After about three tries we found a place that could meet these criteria, where the ladies who measured him up were really friendly and seemed to know exactly what they were doing. They even encouraged his choice of a bright purple lining - Rob was sold. He ordered the 80% cashmere suit (jacket, trousers), shirt and matching tie all for $110 (£70ish).
We were on a roll now and on the way back to the hotel I managed to get myself a brightly printed cotton dress too (well I can't wear the same dress to all three weddings can I?) With three significant orders under our belts we went back to the hotel to shower again (it's pretty hot here) and get ourselves ready for dinner. As I hadn't slept earlier I was flagging but was appeased by a visit to a French patisserie for coffee and cakes. This perked me right up and got me ready for returning to try on my pretty silver dress - it was a great fit and just needed to go back for a few adjustments. I am very pleased with it.
By this point dinner was overdue so we went to a street food cafe opposite which was another place run for and by local kids in need and provided training and accreditation for them. Then we went back for an early night to rest up for our various tailoring appointments the next day.
Despite the early night I slept in a bit we had to head straight to our first appointment by the time we'd had our complementary brek and moved rooms to one with a window (I don't mind other things but I hate a room with no window). In fact somehow we managed to fill the whole day popping back and forth to different shops where we were measured up or tried on masterpieces in the making.
I was persuaded to get a second cotton dress for a very good price by the lady who made the first. Plus I then decided it would be a good idea to get some shoes to match and a cheap pair of pumps. Plus Rob got a purple checked shirt and we both got of our favourite shorts copied as they are falling apart too soon. In preparation for the colder Japanese climate I got measured for a jacket. By this point we wondered if we were getting a bit out of control and put a freeze on spending. But we were very pleased with what we got and had each spent under $150 on six items each. I was even able to collect my two cotton dresses and wear one out to dinner that night.
That evening we made it over the bridge to An Hoi (a different part of the town with a rather confusing name). The town looked very pretty from across the river, you can see it behind me in the picture above. Everywhere was all lit up by lanterns.
We had drinks and dinner on the other side that night. We chatted to a very funny and slightly mad bar lady, eves dropped on the conversation of two overly intense American guys, ate pizza, drank beer and even stayed up until 10pm!
Tuesday morning we got up for a very different day. No more clothes buying, we were off to Cham Island on a snorkling trip. It was fun being picked up by the mini bus and doing a group day out, it took us back to our antipodean traveling days. Unfortunately as we boarded the boat in the harbour and Rob turned a funny colour we realised we had optimistically blocked out one aspect of those memories - the part where Rob has his head in a bag until we reach dry land again. He was very good about it though and managed to keep hold of his stomach for the hour until we pulled into the sheltered cove where we got ready to go snorkling.
The snorkling was lovely, its not really the season for it but despite that we were shown some secret spots where this season's fish were hanging about and our favourite thing was all of the huge bright blue starfish - something I've never seen before. Rob recovered immediately once he got into the calm sea and we both enjoyed it very much.
After this we climbed back aboard for a quick journey to the Cham Island fisherman village. I did feel like were intruding a bit as we trailed through their village as you can't reach this village without permission and life here is as it has always been and revolves around fishing. They didn't seem to mind us popping by though and got on with packing up their fish.
Everywhere you looked there was both activity and serenity at once. And there was sealife drying all over the place.
We then walked the 2.5km around to the other side of the island to the beach where were to have our lunch. The views en route were beautiful; back down to the village:
And then down to stunning beach after stunning beach:
And then finally the beach in view was the one to which we were heading. It was a public beach but we were the only ones there. The little local restaurant cooked us a beautiful lunch of fish and seafood - definitely the best squid I've ever had, and then we got on with enjoying the beautiful beach.
Once I'd finished my book and let my lunch go down we frolicked in the sea some more. I went off for a swim and Rob did some more snorkling and saw a fish with two green tongues. Then before we knew it we were being herded onto a little wooden boat to return us to our ship (well slightly bigger wooden fishing boat). I enjoyed having to leap from the small to the big boat and then once that excitement was over we settled in the least sick making spot on the boat and waved goodbye to the island as the sun started to go down.
Back at the ranch we quickly got ready to head out as we had some nearly final pre-dinner tailor appointments and most importantly Rob was due to pick up his suit! It fitted perfectly, looks really good and he loves the shiny Prince style purple lining and matching purple tie (beware those who have invited Rob to your wedding this summer, there's more to this suit than meets the eye!)
I then picked up my shoes which are excellent too, a little snug but I am assured this is because the leather will stretch. And with our wares we headed into town for dinner and stumbled across a place where we had the best dinner yet, and then I called in another earlyish night after all the excitement of the day.
On the morn of our final day in Hoi An we finally got around to using the ticket we bought on arrival, to visit the old buildings and cultural sites in town. You buy one ticket for three days and with that you can select five things to visit. We had visited the oldest house in Town, Tan Ky, the other day which had been built by a Japanese family in Hoi An's finest trading years. It was very beautiful and amazing how it had survived all these years despite the fact that every year the whole downstairs flooded. Then this morning we also went to the Quan Cong Temple, where there were two turtles kissing in the pond.
Then to the Hoi An museum where we learnt a little more history and I bought some postcards. Then finally to the old Phuc Kien Assembly Hall built in the 1800's as a haven for the Chinese living here to meet and socialise. The gateways and doorways were as ornate as the inside.
Plus we caught the second half of a cultural dance performance that told a traditional story about an old fisherman (you can tell he's old by his very realistic white beard which he stroked repeatedly throughout the performance).
Today it is boiling so once our five tickets were spent we went back to our hotel to use the very cold pool that we hadn't yet been brave enough to get into. We welcomed the coldness today though and felt much refreshed after.
We then had a spot of lunch and spent a few hours getting some jobs sorted and getting our packing done. At 4pm we had our final appointment at the tailor next door who had been making our shorts, my jacket and who kindly agreed to adjust my three dresses (which I got in different shops but which once I wore for a few hours proved to need a little adjustment). God knows how we're going to get all this stuff onto the plane tomorrow without paying for excess baggage? A good excuse to carry my fancy new jacket about to show it off though (I can't quite get used to how smart it is yet, but I'm sure that soon enough either it'll smarten me up or I'll manage to make it look scruffy.)
This evening we got out in time to watch the sun set over the river. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy for this but the town still looked beautiful as the sun went down.
As we weren't quite ready for dinner we went and played a few games of pool to a backdrop of excellent music. I even beat Rob once and pulled a move that made a random guy clap, although on the whole I was very hit and miss. Rob than challenged the clapping guy to the game and succeeded in beating him. On this high note we decided it was dinner time and headed to the acclaimed Mango Rooms where even Sir Mick Jagger has eaten. The food was a little pricier than we hoped but we got round this by having one main and one salad - an excellent choice as it turned out. The food was fresh and tasty and gorgeous. Then we popped into the Patisserie next door for a shared chocolate mousse to ensure we were properly full. All round it was a perfect night and a lovely way to end our time here in Hoi An.
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