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Published: November 12th 2007
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Hello everyone!
So, last you heard from us, we were just boarding the plane to get to our next Vietnam destination: Hoi'An.
Once in Hoi'An, it was already dark and getting late, but we were hungry and so we decided to go for a walk and see what was on our street. Right away, although it was late and most were getting ready to close, we were astonished by how many tailors actually WERE in Hoi'An. All up and down the street were nothing but tailors, broken up every now and then by an occasional hotel or restaurant. Yes, this was definitely going to be a fun city!!
The first place we checked out was a "surf-like" store that sold bathing suits and also backpacks (yes, we know, random). But, Larry was in need of a new bathing suit and so we went inside. Here they had really nice ones, that they could custom-make to fit your body, for only about $5 USD. Larry definitely wanted to jump on this bargain, and so he was taken across the street to the family's home that owned the store to try it on. While I waited for him, literally inside
this family's kitchen, they asked if we were hungry and showed us their menu (they also ran a little restaurant out of their home). Well, since it was getting late and these people were so friendly and sweet, I decided we should just eat there. We were NOT disappointed at all!
In fact, we ended up going to this little restaurant (known as "The Light Candle Restaurant") for one meal almost every single day of our stay in this city! Not only was the food some of the best we have EVER eaten in our lives, but the family was unbelievably sweet, and the prices were (again) CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP! For a 3-course meal and wine, Larry and I paid around $7 USD total!!! And, the family had a kitty cat that they knew I liked....and so every time we showed up, the very first thing they did after they seated us, was look for their cat (named "Meu Meu") and put her on my lap. Talk about good hospitality! 😊
Later that night, we went back to our hotel and went to our room. Our hotel was called the Thanh Xuan Hotel, which means "Long Life" in
English. This hotel was a little more than our hotel in Hanoi, but it also was brand new and was rated #1 on TripAdvisor. We also had the deluxe garden suite with a balcony that overlooked a lovely garden and the pool. This room ran us $28/night! It also included a free breakfast, served every morning out by the garden and pool. This breakfast ROCKED...every morning I had banana pancakes with chocolate syrup, and Larry had the same but with honey. We also got fresh fruit smoothies, French baguettes, and eggs too! Yummy!!
There was also a REALLY cute kitty that lived at this hotel...whom I nicknamed Nam (short for 'Vietnam'). Nam came and slept on my lap every morning while we ate, and played with us by the pool too. One day we saw Nam kill and eat a rather large gecko whole....which freaked me out a little bit though. It made me wonder if they fed this poor cat at all! The hotel workers actually one day told me I could take this kitty home, which I really did consider. He was so cute!!
Anyway, the next day, the first thing we did was start visiting
the tailors. This shopping process took a lot longer than we thought it would have taken. Not only did you have to decide what you wanted from each tailor, but then you had to get measured especially for what you had picked out, and then you had to look through the shop to pick out the material you wanted. Oh yeah, and then you also had to negotiate the price for each item bought. Some tailors we would spend hours and hours in, without even realizing how much time had passed. In the end, we came out with mostly new business casual clothes - blouses, shirts, and dress pants - but we also got shoes and sandals made, I had some dresses made, we both got some coats & jackets made, and I even got a new bathing suit! All in all, quite a fun experience!!
While we were in Hoi'An, we also got to witness a special holiday going on - "Children's Day." During Children's Day, all the children dressed up, played instruments and went into the local tailors and shops to ask for money. Sometimes, there were so many children in one group, that all of them
coming into the store was a little intense, but all the while entertaining too. There were also crazy parades and street shows going on...again for the children to earn some money/tips from those who gathered to watch. A few times, we even saw children who climbed all the way to the top of a 20-foot pole that was held in place only by the hands of other children in the group! It didn't seem very safe, but luckily we didn't see any accidents, and so it was quite entertaining! I think we picked a really good time to be in Hoi'An.
Besides shopping and eating in Hoi'An, we did some other things too. One day we went up to the infamous Marble Mountains, and also checked out the nearby village and China Beach. Another day we did a tour to see the amazing "My Son" ruins (pronounced "Mee Son"). These are actually some of the oldest ruins in the world - even older than those in Angkor Wat (Cambodia). They were built and used for worship starting all the way back in the 7th century!
We also did a really cool day tour called the "Red Bridge Cooking
Class." This day started off with a trip to the local market. Here, we learned all about different spices, vegetables and ingredients most commonly used in traditional Vietnamese dishes. We also got to purchase some traditional Vietnamese kitchen utensils at this market. Next, we boarded a little boat that took us to the beautiful cooking site, complete with a 'red bridge' (appropriate name, huh?) After we received lessons from a master Vietnamese chef, we were then taken to our own little cooking stations to try it all on our own. Obviously our dishes and garnishes didn't come out nearly as beautiful as the master chef's did, but we're nonetheless proud of the fact that we still have all of our fingers and don't have any burns...so, all in all, a successful lesson! 😊
On our last day in Hoi'An, we finished running around picking up the last of our items from the different tailors we had bought from, and also said good-bye to all of the wonderful friends we had made there. As we got in the van to go to the airport, we truly were sad....
But....we soon arrived at the airport to go to our next
destination, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon)....and.....
Stay tuned for the 3rd and last Vietnam blog...!
Love,
Larry & Melanie
Vietnamese for the Day: cam on - "Thanks!"
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