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Published: August 14th 2008
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We have been in Hoi An for five days now and don't plan to leave until Wednesday, our original plan was to stay for only four or five days which quickly changed to six and then again to seven. Its such a beautiful town and in many ways is like stepping back in time, it was originally a 17th century trading port and has many Chinese, Japanese and European influences which are still present today. Part of the town has been named a world heritage site which means its charm and history will be preserved for future generations to see. The picturesque town cast its spell on us almost immediately, that is why we have decided to stay so long, I think we could and probably would stay longer but if we don't leave soon then we may never leave; we still have much more of the world to see.
When we first arrived it was about 6:30am and we were without a hotel; we have been taking it in turns to find accomadation and on this occasion it was my turn. I left the bags with Helen and set off. I looked at a couple of places but most
were out of our budget but not by much (we are currently working on between $8-$10 a night), in the end I settled for a $12 room and returned to get Helen and the bags. The room wasn't available immediatley so we waited in a restaurant that was directly opposite the hotel and it was here that we first discovered the generous hospitality of the people of Hoi An. The owner, a short vietnamese lady gave us the warmest of welcomes, she insisted that we stay until our room was ready and gave us a free desert of fresh fruit. Our first impressions were good. An hour and half later the room was ready and turned out to be worth every penny, we actually got the price dropped to $10 by opting for a fan and no air conditioning which we didn't need. The room is huge and really clean, it has a balcony, TV, a bath and two double beds. Much more than we need but at $10 who are we to argue, we have had so much less in other places for the same price and sometimes more. If travelblog would allow advertising I would gladly do some
name dropping but it will just get blocked.
One of Hoi An's biggest appeals is the huge number of clothes shops which tailor to your every need, most specialise in made to measure suits and dresses but will make virtually anything. Copyright doesn't exist here so if you want Georgio Armani's latest designs on your back then all you need is a picture and between $50 - $140. The prices altered depending on the fabric and the shop, the quality and level of service was also dependant on the shop. I advice to shop around. The first place we went to was run by a really peculiar man with a penchant for stroking my arms, he was a really pushy salesman who convinced me get a pair of trousers and a casual shirt whilst his assistant worked on Helen resulting in her choosing a jacket. Although they were good they needed altering three times and turned out to be more expensive than the competition. Each shop has its own tailors and seamstresses which turn around most items in about a day, which is great, especially if you have limited time but not when they keep needing changes and the
designer doesn't listen to you. More advice - be very specific. When we finally picked up our clothes from the strange man we washed our hands with Hoi An's tailoring shops, that is until I foolishly asked how much a suit would cost in a diferent shop. $80 was the answer and the experience was much better; I was measured once, fitted once, altered once and done in two days. Helen also picked up some shirts which all look fantastic and seem to be put together really well. It would be really easy to fill a wardrobe here and after chatting to other travellers it seems that some people do, especially since the prices are so affordable and the quality so good. As for us we don't want to shorten our trip by overspending on clothes, happy with our lot we have posted them back to UK with fingers crossed that they will arrive safely.
Other attractions in Hoi An include the old town and a beach which is about 2 miles east of the main town. On Friday we hired bicycles and headed for the sand, the beach is beautiful and stretches for miles in both directions. The
water was calmer than in Nha Trang and was great to swim in. Unfortunatly though, our waterproof sunblock isn't quite as waterproof as it suggests and so we are both looking a little pink. Its not too bad, I'm sure we'll back to our lilly white complexions in a few days.
This morning with my pink face I got ready to face the sun again, this time to watch it rise, only the clouds had better ideas. It wasn't too bad but not the beautiful morning I was hoping for. Its amazing how different the town felt at 5am without the tourists and motorbikes. I am pretty certain I was the only westerner wandering the streets and got a few inquisitive looks from the locals but mostly pleasant smiles. There were more people around than I thought there would be and especially for a Sunday as this seems to be taken as a day off work, not here apparently. People were busying themselves for the coming day, some were setting up shop whilst others seemed to be taking a morning stroll. It turned out to be a nice peaceful morning. I managed to get some good pictures of the
town and without the usual hordes of tourists in view.
After a short wander around I headed to the market which as I discovered was at its peak of business at this time of the day. What I can only describe as organised chaos pretty much prevented me from getting any decent pictures of the fantastic colours and energy of the market; before I knew it I had been herded through the narrow walkway and past the various food stalls and was on the other side. I exited left and walked along the Cam Nam bridge where I stopped to catch my breath. It turned out that the bridge was the perfect spot to watch the 'behind the scenes' goings-on of the market. People on boats were ferrying back and forth trading all sorts, some had vegetables and herbs whilst others were fishermen who had all manor of produce; snails, frogs, prawns, squid and of course fish. Seeing all the food reminded me that I still needed some breakfast so I set off in search of a cafe that was open at 7am on a Sunday. Fortunately I was in luck. Usually me and Helen have western style breakfasts
or buy cereals and yoghurt, noodle soup isn't really my thing first thing but in Hoi An there is an exception. The exception is Cau Lau which is a local dish and one that I have now had for the third time, Cau Lau is made up of flat noodles mixed with croutons, bean sprouts and greens which is topped with slivers of roast pork in a savoury broth. It is delicious and is something I highly recommend to anyone visiting Hoi An, for breakfast, lunch or dinner! After my morning adventure and hearty breakfast I decided to head back to the room for a few more z's.
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