Hoi An

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Hoi An was by far my favourite place in all of Vietnam. I arrived after a 20 minute taxi to my hotel where they had swans on my bed. Hoi An is known to be a shopping mecca and did not disappoint. I was off as soon as I put my bags down (does that surprise anyone?!). I walked through the markets where the shop owners were by far the pushiest of any in Vietnam – I had a seamstress follow me up stairs and down, inside and around for a good 15 minutes. I met Stuart and Sharni while wandering the streets and we went for lunch at a place recommended by their hotel – it was delicious – the first meal I had kept down since Halong bay!



Hoi An is a tiny country town (compared to Hanoi or HCM) with bustling streets that are closed to scooters and motorbikes so people can shop in peace…. Again my kind of place. I bought cheap jewellery and on the recommendation of my new Aussie friends went to Yaly Couture to get my clothes tailored. After 2 hours – yes it did take me that long to decide! I mixed and matched a few patterns to get a cute blue dress with pockets, a white dress and a full length couture gown in magenta and yellowy floral pattern. I then met up with Stu and Sharni for icecream. I had dinner at another yummy place where I met Holly – a fellow member of our Halong Bay cruise. 80 million people in Vietnam and I keep running into the same ones! Haha I then met with Stu and Sharni for a drink at a funky bar, where I had maybe 1 too many and got lost trying to get a taxi home. Haha Yes I told him the address, we drove there – I said “No this isn’t it – it’s too close, I could have walked here, keep driving” so we keep driving and I decide now we’ve driven too far, so I hand him the business card and he says “back the other way” so we go back to where I’m SURE he tried to drop me the first time…. Hahahahaha sooo stupid, such a blonde moment.



Next day was more shopping, more fittings for my new dresses, met an American who owns the used book store - funny guy, more yummy lunches and a scrumptious dinner with Stu and Sharni, followed by more drinks at our fav bar and meeting a very good looking medicine student from Adelaide 😊. I could have stayed here a month just eating my way through the menu’s at our favourite restaurants’ and bars, not to mention the shopping! I got heaps of chrissy present, and I also found another cocktail dress and had it made for $25 with POCKETS! Insane.



I flew back to HCM for my final night in Vietnam and will definitely be back someday! A great first overseas experience!

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Photos

OMG!!! SHOES
And I couldn't fit into a SINGLE pair! sob :(