Cut to fit

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We have only been in Hoi An for about a day and a half and we are sad to be leaving tomorrow. We are wishing that we had given ourselves one more day to fit in some tours, but instead we have been drawn in by the shopping, even the boys have joined in on the fun and they don't seem to be complaining about the long days in the market.

There has to be more than one hundred tailor's shops in this small town and it is chalk full of shoe shops and art stores. The boys had some pretty skoocum suits made at A Dong Silk, and Curtis even designed his own western-style formal jacket. The ladies were so impressed it that they took a picture of him in it before he left. We weren't entirely sure if it was the suit that they were so enthralled with or if maybe it had something to do with how handsome they thought Curtis looked in it.

Mom and I have taken to the art stores. We have bought so much that dad finally had to cut us off from buying anymore. We couldn't resist the authentic art as it is so inexpensive. Our favorite store was one of the first that we visited where the store owner displayed much of his own work. We ended up buying about four pieces from him and when we left he gave us both a firm hand shake and a bow, for a moment we thought that he might just hug us (we wouldn't have minded). Later that day we saw him in the market and he waved at us like he had known us for years.

There is a river that runs through the town full of little gondolas just waiting to be ridden. I don't think that we could have fit the four of us in one if we tried. We weren't quite convinced that the small asian women would have been able to take us very far. We ate dinner at a restaurant tucked up right against the river; we shared our out-door dining with a small frog which left mom trying to hold back her histeria as to not scare our waitress. To think of all of the reptiles and bats we have seen so far, she was most terrified of a frog that was about the size of my thumb!

We have noticed that the women work around the clock and the men are difficult to find. It is definately a culture that is more gracious to the men. At dinner the boys have their orders taken first and are the first to recieve their meals. We have decided that, if given the choice, we would prefer to be pampered like the men are here.

We are still working on trying to send pictures, we will see if we can get some more posted tomorrow.

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Photos

Venice, Vietnam style
The view of the river running through Hoi An

Local Artist
This is one of the pieces of art that mom bought.

Tailored Suits
Curtis was a big hit with all of the little ladies...