Hoi An - the hard sell & the open road

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17 09 10

Today was our first full day in Hoi An and a day for exploring. We have very much enjoyed Vietnam so far but it has to be said that it is very difficult to travel at all independently because of the reliance that the economy seems to place on tourism. So, today we decided to do our own thing to the maximum extent possible which meant hiring a moped.

I started the day feeling a little out of sorts and, whilst I got up for breakfast in good time , needed to retire thereafter for a little R&R before heading out for the day. For the record, I was not hungover but was just feeling a little delicate. As I lay on the bed willing my stomach to stop its relentless somersaulting, conversation turned to what we would do today. Gregg has spent the last week trying to persuade me that we need to hire a motorbike/ped and, given the random driving culture that exists here, I have equally effectively resisted. However, having taken stock of the relatively quiet roads around Hoi An and the fact that the beach is 3km from our hostel, I decided that now was the appropriate time to give in. So, as if the idea had just popped in to my head, I said “we could hire a motorbike for the day and explore a bit”.

Well, the next thing you know, Gregg is half way out of the door explaining that he is off to sort out a bike and go for a “test run” before he has me on the back. So I settled in to a morning of HBO tv - for which read endless repeats of Austin Powers movies and awaited Mr P’s return.

A short while later Gregg walked back into the room and, the miniature gymnast having at least temporarily vacated my insides, we set about packing in preparation for our trip to the beach. Later on I was to discover that, in re-packing the bag, Gregg had left nearly all of my beach gear on the bed.

The trickiest part of our excursion was getting from the side street that our hotel is on onto the main road through Hoi An and towards the beach. Traffic never stops to let you out and is pretty much constant so we had to just go for it and hope we didn’t fall off/collide in the process. Then began a trip in the direction of the sea. Beep, Beep, Beeeeeep…that’s pretty much then only sound carried to us on the wind until we were well away from the town. The bizarre thing is that it seems that one must beep to announce one’s presence and desire to overtake BUT nobody ever moves out of the way. The announcement seems to be more a warning not to move in to the path of the vehicle in pursuit rather than to move out of he way. The smaller the vehicle, it seems, the more of a right it has not to move out of the way.

And then we saw our first glimpse of bright white sand. At the end of the main road out of Hoi An awaits a cacophony of samey looking shops and restaurants that, but for their method of construction, would look equally at home in Newquay, Morgan Porth or, indeed, Great Yarmouth, as they do in Hoi An. We decided that this was not a place to stop for today and therefore took a right. As we travelled along this coast road we passed deserted beach and deep blue sea interrupted by only 4* holiday resorts that appeared to be either deserted or, in the case of most, nothing more than footings roughly marked out in the sand. I find it difficult to know how to feel about that because it is clear to see that so much of Vietnam is reliant for income on the tourist dollar but it just seems incongruous and wrong to me that the likelihood is that in 10 years time the beautiful deserted coastline that we drove along today will have become just another resort where only the rich can afford to sunbathe and the locals can only afford to serve.

Eventually, we literally reached the end of the road and decided to turn around and head back along the coast in search of somewhere to stop to sample this section of the South China Sea. Half an hour later we were still on the bike, the feeling of freedom having become too much of a tonic for us to want to stop. We were driving slowly enough that we could talk to each other as we travelled and our conversation meandered along with the changing scenery around us. As we drove through a village we noticed that nearly every house had a sheet set out in front of it, sometimes in a gardens and other times on the side of the road, covered in little bits of something beige that seemed to be drying. We are pretty sure that what we were looking at was rice.

I think that I am right in saying that Vietnam is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and I hope that I am therefore not over-romanticising when I say that I imagine that it is just possible that some of the rice that we saw today will make it on to your table or mine.

That village led us back in to town and we then returned to the hotel, never having found a place to stop to sample the South China sea but having enjoyed our ride nevertheless. The absence of my beach gear therefore becoming irrelevant.

We then wondered in to town and had some lunch and whilst we were eating the monsoon made its presence known once again. Once the rain had subsided a little, we decided (ok I decided) that we would move on to the patisserie that we had seen yesterday for desert and a spot of people watching. The cakes looked and tasted awesome but that particular café seems to be something of a mecca for peddlers and we were asked no less than three times by the same guy whether we wanted to buy postcards. Each time we tried to politely say no but he was extremely persistent to the extent that an Australian man behind us got really quite cross with him. I appreciate that everyone needs to make money but that kind of hounding is a bit much in my book.

We then decided to start checking out tailors in town to have a few items of clothes made. There are two reasons that Hoi An is so well touristed, being the fact that so many old buildings have survived the various wars and its tailoring. At one time it was home to the finest tailors in Vietnam and I am sure that a few of the more expensive ones still are but now there are literally hundreds of opportunist tailors shops, the vast majority of which produce goods of, at best, questionable quality. The difficulty is in finding one which you think might do a half decent job for a half decent price. Hence, we wandered around quite a few trying to guess at the quality of the fabric and the workmanship. You might wonder why we would want to buy in to the tourist economy in this way and the truth is that there is something about Hoi An that makes you want to shop and we had both left Plymouth wanting a few things for our travelling wardrobes that we couldn’t find at home. The chances of finding what we want to buy off the peg are pretty much non-existent here because the Vietnamese are generally very small so this seams to be the best option.

After a few hours of wondering, we decided to return to the hostel for a break from the heat and the endless calls of “you come inside, look in my shop…”.

A few hours later and refreshed, we set out for dinner and to commence the purchasing process. We found a restaurant that says that it washes all of its salad ingredients in mineral water so that was us sold on a Caesar salad each. This was one of the tastiest meals that I have had since arriving in Vietnam but we were thrown to begin with because we were each given a bowl of salad and a separate plate with lettuce, Caesar dressing and a breast of chicken on. This was Caesar salad DIY style and it was actually great fun.

By the time we finished dinner, it was gone 9pm and the shops were starting to close so we quickly headed for the tailors that I had earmarked as the one I wanted to try and set about the process of ordering. Standing in the middle of a shop being measured is a strange experience and, for someone with only the slightest grip on the meaning of fashion, trying to explain exactly what I wanted was not all that easy but we got there in the end. We had been told to haggle so I tried and I did get some money off but not anywhere near as much as I was expecting (we had heard people saying that you can get things for half of the originally quoted price). Each time I suggested the price the girl gave me a sort of pittying look and I really couldn’t tell whether it was one that said “I’ve already given you a good price, now be real” or “poor you, you really are awful at bartering”. Whichever it was, we eventually left having paid a deposit and being told to return tomorrow afternoon.

18 09 10

After a good night’s sleep we awoke to a beautiful sunny day so we decided to do more shopping - this time for Gregg. He was much less discriminating about the tailors that he chose but seemed happy enough with his choice. Whilst he was being measured etc, I decided to leave him to it and entertain myself in some of the other shops in the street. By the time I found him again, he had ordered three items - all in linen. Gregg was told to return to try his items on at about 6pm. So we decided to explore some more of the old town. Some of the streets are closed to vehicles during the day which means that such exploration is peaceful and relaxed - until someone wants to sell you something! We whiled away a few hours this way before finding lunch and then returining to our hostel.

A quick dip in the pool later and we were ready to set off for our first fittings. We went to my shop first and my dress and blouse were nowhere to be seen. Then, they turned up and I have to say that I am not at all displeased with the workmanship. They both need a little bit of re-working but not as much as I was fearing and the ladies had started pulling the dress in at the waist a bit before I had even had the chance to look at myself properly in the mirror, which gave me a huge amount of confidence.

That part of our day complete, we headed off for liquid refreshment as we had a little time until Gregg’s clothes would be ready. The bar that we picked was showing Aussie Rules Football and was therefore full of Aussies. We sat at a table between a family and a girl who appeared to be by herself. Eventually we got talking to the girl and ended up staying in the bar for significantly longer than we had intended but she was a riot and we were really enjoying ourselves so, what the heck! I say that we stayed significantly longer than intended but it was actually only shortly after 8pm when we emerged, ever so slightly giddy and headed off for Gregg’s fitting. The trousers fitted fine but the shirts both need a little adjustment and then, he ordered a third shirt!

At this point, I started feeling a little jealous that he now had four items and I had only had two so I marched us back to my shop and promptly ordered two more shirts to add to my collection - I only managed to get $1 off the price this time!

We are both going back for further fittings tomorrow…

p.s.

The hunt for yum yum berries is still on
Toilets are still western
I expect at least one of our parents is having kittens about the idea of us on a motorbike…I’m not the one driving which immediately makes us safer!

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Photos

Ice Cream
Including Gregg's obligatory Coconut flavour

Tables Set
For a wedding - we see wedding parties nearly daily. They are very loud affairs but only last for one meal and then, it seems, everyone goes home. A Vietnamese girl that we met told us that often a couple with have three celebrations and that they take place on a day of the week which is auspicious for that particular couple.

Lanterns
The wooden frames sitting outside the shop

Tailoring
If you look really carefully you might just be able to see Gregg inside

Street Traders
Doing their thing in the Old Town

A side street
In the old town

Comments

[Chris & Lisa]

Thanks
Thanks for these great blogs. It brings back so many memories.