Hoi An, Vietnam
Sunday to Thursday, 2 - 6 December 2006
We wait at a bus stop in Hanoi before making the overnight journey to Hoi An. The shambles that has been our dealings with Vietnamese tourist agencies continues: there is no sign of the shiny, spacious, air-conditioned dream-craft that was to whisk us down south. Apparently its brakes played up during the day. Instead we are urged into an ancient minibus that looks like its last passengers were schoolchildren, demented from icecream/crack cocaine, who didn't like the upholstery.
Forty highly irritated passengers, their luggage and a few pockets of air are crammed into the minibus. As with umpteen bus journeys before, the iPods give a bit of solace. However as we haven't been able to upload any new music on them in ages the playlists are starting to lose their lustre. After all, there are only so many times you can listen to Chris de Burgh's Ultimate Collection (Thanks Amanda!). He had one thing right though: don't pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side. As the cramp and minibus-DVT sets in, we come to the realisation that in Vietnam you should not pay until you see what you are getting.
Hoi An is a smallish town, about halfway down Vietnam's east coast. The streets are lined with tailor shops and it's a mecca for thrifty tourists trying to get well-made clothes at knock-down prices. Thanks to Typhoon Durian, the area is hit with torrential rain for the four days we stay. Our guesthouse is Thuy Duong 1 which is comfortable, if a bit run down. (The acoustics are great though: Leahanne hits some soaring high notes on seeing a large rat scurrying past her in the corridor).
Nothing much happens in Hoi An and we spend most of the time avoiding the rain and getting measured for suits. The quality of the clothes appears to be good although there is always the chance that they will disintegrate after their first visit to the dry cleaners in Sydney. We end up getting a lot of stuff from two tailors, 36 Le Loi and Mr. Xe. One guidebook describes the latter as "flamboyant". The thesaurus must have been acting up on Microsoft Word the day they typed that. Either Mr. Xe takes a shine to Dara or he is meticulous when measuring the size of his clients' rear-ends. He takes his measuring tape to Dara's arse all of five times (on one occasion, inexplicably marching Dara off to a different shop down the street to get measured again). He exclaims joyously and repeatedly "you have a big bum". This is not the only time Hoi An's citizens show an unhealthy interest in Dara's anatomy: while buying a pair of flip flops at a street market, he makes the mistake of exposing his feet. Cue every stall owner within half a mile pointing and laughing at his luxuriant toe hair.
Apart from these few knocks at the self-esteem and the terrible weather, Hoi An was a great place to spend a few days. It is more laid-back than Hanoi (not hard) and has a lot of decent restaurants and bars. We had probably one of the best meals of the trip outright at Mango Rooms, a restaurant near the river so if you are visiting Hoi An be sure to get a dinner there before Mr. Xe measures your bum.
If you want to see more photos click here.
We wait at a bus stop in Hanoi before making the overnight journey to Hoi An. The shambles that has been our dealings with Vietnamese tourist agencies continues: there is no sign of the shiny, spacious, air-conditioned dream-craft that was to whisk us down south. Apparently its brakes played up during the day. Instead we are urged into an ancient minibus that looks like its last passengers were schoolchildren, demented from icecream/crack cocaine, who didn't like the upholstery.
Forty highly irritated passengers, their luggage and a few pockets of air are crammed into the minibus. As with umpteen bus journeys before, the iPods give a bit of solace. However as we haven't been able to upload any new music on them in ages the playlists are starting to lose their lustre. After all, there are only so many times you can listen to Chris de Burgh's Ultimate Collection (Thanks Amanda!). He had one thing right though: don't pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side. As the cramp and minibus-DVT sets in, we come to the realisation that in Vietnam you should not pay until you see what you are getting.
Hoi An is a smallish town, about halfway down Vietnam's east coast. The streets are lined with tailor shops and it's a mecca for thrifty tourists trying to get well-made clothes at knock-down prices. Thanks to Typhoon Durian, the area is hit with torrential rain for the four days we stay. Our guesthouse is Thuy Duong 1 which is comfortable, if a bit run down. (The acoustics are great though: Leahanne hits some soaring high notes on seeing a large rat scurrying past her in the corridor).
Nothing much happens in Hoi An and we spend most of the time avoiding the rain and getting measured for suits. The quality of the clothes appears to be good although there is always the chance that they will disintegrate after their first visit to the dry cleaners in Sydney. We end up getting a lot of stuff from two tailors, 36 Le Loi and Mr. Xe. One guidebook describes the latter as "flamboyant". The thesaurus must have been acting up on Microsoft Word the day they typed that. Either Mr. Xe takes a shine to Dara or he is meticulous when measuring the size of his clients' rear-ends. He takes his measuring tape to Dara's arse all of five times (on one occasion, inexplicably marching Dara off to a different shop down the street to get measured again). He exclaims joyously and repeatedly "you have a big bum". This is not the only time Hoi An's citizens show an unhealthy interest in Dara's anatomy: while buying a pair of flip flops at a street market, he makes the mistake of exposing his feet. Cue every stall owner within half a mile pointing and laughing at his luxuriant toe hair.
Apart from these few knocks at the self-esteem and the terrible weather, Hoi An was a great place to spend a few days. It is more laid-back than Hanoi (not hard) and has a lot of decent restaurants and bars. We had probably one of the best meals of the trip outright at Mango Rooms, a restaurant near the river so if you are visiting Hoi An be sure to get a dinner there before Mr. Xe measures your bum.
If you want to see more photos click here.
posted by leahdara at 5:34 a.m.
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