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Published: March 17th 2009
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Ross:
After our bus was an hour late picking us up in Mui Ne, and after stopping for a pick-up in Nha Trang, we eventually rolled up at the Hoi An bus office 16 hours later at about 8am the following morning, bleary-eyed and fuzzy-tongued. We wasted no time in checking into the Hotel Thanh Binh II, one of three hotels in the Thanh Binh chain. For $15 a night we had a big room with air-con, a bath, a TV and included free WIFI, a full buffet breakfast and use of the pool at the nearby sister hotel, just round the corner. Pretty luxurious by our rapidly declining standards!
Having had a good nap on the bus, we both freshened up and then headed out into Hoi An to get some breakfast. On our way past a tour agency we enquired about onward travel to Hanoi before ending up back at a little cafe opposite our hotel. After discussing our options for getting to Hanoi we decided to book flights with Vietnam Airways, a much quicker and only slightly more expensive option than the train.
After breakfast, and after buying a few counterfeit DVDs from a street
vendor, we went in search of a reputable tailor. Hoi An is famous as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but is probably better known for it's plethora of seamstresses and thriving rag trade. We'd planned to have some clothes made for Adinda and Matthew's forthcoming wedding in Bali, so were eager to scout out a trusty outfitter. We had been given a few tailors' business cards by fellow travellers we'd met along the way. As with a lot of our travelling experiences, word of mouth has always seemed to pay dividends, and this time was no different. In Hoi An, only every fifth shop isn't a 'cloth shop', and so choosing one is a bit of a lottery. It's largely a case of 'you get what you pay for' and we'd been warned by numerous people that at least two fittings were essential. It's also easy to get dragged down the street by seemingly well-meaning ladies offering you all sorts of trash.
With all this in mind, we headed to 'Vinh Lien', tucked away on a back street off the main drag, as recommended by the motorcycling couple from Somerset who we met in HCMC. We were welcomed by
Ming, a lovely lady who kept supplying us with endless bottles of ice cold drinking water, whilst we flicked through out-of-date Next catalogues discussing our requirements. Finally, Polly settled for a long oriental-style dress in brown and gold, whilst I opted for a light cashmere suit, spare trousers and a shirt. Next we were both comprehensively measured before finally agreeing on a price and a time to return for the first fitting. Polly also got a swatch of the dress fabric and off we went to see if she could get some matching shoes made, another popular service on offer in Hoi An. After leaving instructions with the slightly impatient staff at the shoe shop, we headed back to a little curry house near our hotel for an early tea, then caught up on some internet chores.
Breakfast the next morning was a highlight, with us stuffing our faces on ham and cheese rolls, scrambled eggs on toast, tea and coffee whilst watching BBC World News. We then wandered back across the city for our first fitting with Ming at 10am. On arrival, both suit and dress were ready, so after trying them on and suggesting a few adjustments
we left them to it yet again, agreeing to return later that afternoon. I'm not entirely sure how the system works but a guy disappeared with my suit jacket on a moped, whilst Polly's dress was given to a seamstress out the back of the shop.
After leaving Ming for the second time, we returned to the shoe shop to be told that Polly's chosen design had been deemed too ugly to make by the cobbler - hilarious! We duly accepted a refund and disappeared, Polly for a coffee, whilst I had a haircut.
That afternoon, we visited the Japanese bridge, and wandered around the narrow streets of the old town, killing time before our second fitting. We found a second, much more accommodating shoe shop and Polly opted for a strappier version, again tailored to match the dress material.
On our third visit to see poor old Ming, I was happy with my suit, so we all breathed a sigh of relief. However, Pol still had a few minor adjustments she wanted making to the dress, and so back to the sewing machine it went, with the promise of a final result later in the day.
Sure enough, by the end of the afternoon everyone was happy and we handed over the cash for the clobber, accompanied by hugs and kisses, much to Ming's delight.
The next morning, after picking up Pol's shoes and calling in on Ming for the fifth time to take a couple of photos (which scared the living daylights out of her), we spent the rest of the day making use of the swimming pool and other hotel facilities, before our cab arrived at about 6pm to take us to Danang airport, about 45 minutes away, for our flight to Hanoi.
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