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Published: March 16th 2006
Tailors, tailors everywhere
Lining every road, on every corner, everywhere..76 measurements, 13 types of material, 21 visits to tailors, 7 forms filled out at the post office and 26 hours later, and I'm now the proud owner of some cool new clothing. Well, not that I have any right to use or even know the meaning of the word 'cool', but it's pretty smart stuff to my eyes. This is Hoi An, home to arguably the world's largest collection of tailors, or at the least, the cheapest. One can have a new suit made up for $25! Personally, I prefer clothing with a bit more class (don't laugh), or rather, better quality that I know will last, so I spent a little more. I felt like a king on a Fordian factory line, getting measured up at various places, along with 100s of others, who all have one thing on their mind: the smell of cheap, well-made fitted clothing.
I lost track of the number of measurements that were taken (yes, that earlier number was a lie, but probably not far off); arm length and thickness, neck, neck to arm, neck to chest, chest width upper, middle and lower, check to arm, you get the idea. Then there's the
100s of
catalogues to look through - everything from Argos to Vogue, depending on one's sexual inclination, followed by endless stacks of material to choose from, and finally the suit design - with 0, 1 or 2 slits, 2-3 buttons, double or single breasts, folded lapels etc. So many choices! It's like being back at a fast-food place in the States, and for someone who's knowledge of clothing is about as much as my knowledge of ladybird migrations, it was tricky at times. But I think I made it through to the other side, and have the following, all tailor-made and fitted for me, to show for my efforts: a 3-piece tux ($80), 2-piece suit ($60), travelling-trousers ($12) and travelling-top ($10), the former of which are on their way in a Nescafé box back to the UK. Yep, it's eaten away at my budget somewhat, but I would have been stupid not to, since the price of the tux has cost the same as renting a cheap one in the UK for a day!
If you actually look past the endless tailors of clothing and shoes, canvas painting shops, lamp shops, 'antique' shops, wood-carvings and sourvenier shops (though these
add to the charm of the place), and token moto drivers (which don't) who either make random noises to attract attention or have the phrase "motorbike, my friend?" on a verbal loop, Hoi An is a wonderful little place. It has an impressive 800 structures of historical significance, which sort of makes the number of about 12 I visited quite pitiful. Of these, included a 200 year old traditional Vietnamese house which I got shown around by the 6th generation owner, a couple of museums and Japanese Covered Bridge (see photo) guarded by ugly dog and monkey statues.
The whole place just had a nice feel about it, and I wish I was staying longer to appreciate it more after the clothing hastle. Still, by a nice stroke of luck, my final evening here turned out to be the 14th day of the Lunar Month, day before full moon (and thus was by Sod's law, a cloudy evening), otherwise known to locals as 'Hoi An Legendary Night'. Quite a strong word 'legendary' but certainly an entertaining evening with streets decorated with lanterns, incense burnings and food offerings everywhere, and entertainment near every corner. Strange musical instruments were being played,
Hoi An market
more markets...I sometimes get the feeling all my photos are of markets (or temples) with the sound drifting through the streets, locals taking part in what I can only describe as an Asian form of Bingo, likewise an Asian form of 'Pin the Tail on the Donkey', but instead of pinning any tails, clay pots were being smashed to raucious applause. Martial arts shows, live bands, boats lit up - a fun evening rich on the senses (I sound like a wine expert) as I cycled around on my new favourite type of asian transport - a 1-gear, 1-basket bike.
After Hoi An, I took a scenic little bus trip past the rugged Vietnam coastline to Hué. Deciding to stay here only one night to lengthen my remaining days in Laos, I made a quick dash of the city's sights in one rainy afternoon, shouting "I'm English, I like rain" to all the moto hustlers (as a side note, I tried learning some Vietnamese, but being a tonal language, it's near impossible - for example, depending on the tone of how you say 'Ma', it can mean either ghost, mother, tomb, which, horse or rice seedling; hmmm, I think I'll stick to English thank-you-very-much). Possibly most famous for its exquisite tombs of the
Nguyen Emperors, Hué has a dozen or so dotted around the outskirts of town, of which I saw, err, none. However, I did manage to pass more than a glimpse of the huge 10km-perimeter Citadel built 200 years ago containing among other things: the Imperial Enclosure (a 2.5km long citadel-within-a-citadel), Vietnam's largest flagpole, some ornate palaces and many beefy little objects including 10 tonne cannons, 2.5 tonne cauldrons and a huge drum that looks like it could only be played by a Keith Moon/Pavarotti clone. Before calling it an early night, I also had a little wander around the National School, Vietnam's version of Eton in the UK. Waiting until the last bell had rung, it was surprisingly interesting peering into the classrooms and seeing what was being taught on the blackboards.
Waking up at stupid-o-clock 5:30am, a time I'm tragically becoming use
to, it was the beginning of my 2nd epic bus journey, this time all the way from Hué to Vientiane in Laos. A (very?) few of you may be wondering how my earlier 22-hour bus trip went to get from Saigon to Hoi An. Pretty well in the end actually - comfortably slept most of the
way. However, no bus trip in Asia would be complete without some annoying noises, and this trip was no exception with 2 of them: a screeching suspension noise that grinded into the brain, and the driver's persistant use of the horn, where I felt I spoke for everybody in wanting to shout "they heard you the 1st bloody time, there's no need to keep beeping it!" (...and relax...). But for 1000km, at $9, you can't grumble.
It's a shame the views were obscured by darkness and sleep, but during the day they consisted of pretty rolling mountains, and rice fields filled with pointy white things (herons, I think). I still can't believe I did 1000km in one day - it's very easy to be fooled by distances in Vietnam, as from tip to toe, the country stretches the same distance as New York to Miami, or from baguettes in Normandy down to paella on the Costa Del Sol, yet at one point is only 50km wide. This is historically thanks to the Vietnamese trying to get as far away from their Chinese neighbours as possible, forging a passage along the coast down to the fertile plains of the Mekong
Delta.
And what of the second epic journey? Well, let's just say I have not heard a single traveller have a smooth trip between these 2 countries, though most head into Vietnam instead, which is meant to be decidedly worse. The tour operators in Vietnam all state you get one A/C bus all the way to the border, then another all the way to Vientiane. Even though I knew this to be a lie, there's nothing I could do about it, as local transport is not a viable option. The phrase 'grin and bear it' come to mind. Getting to the border was fine, besides being herded into a squashed local minivan most of the way (no bus, no A/C), but once in Laos, amongst other things, we were told "we go to Savannakhet now. You get local bus, very difficult for you, hahaha." How lovely. I was just thinking how funny that was. The Russian girl, Leah, also going to Vientiane, threatened to call the police, and a little argument ensued, blah blah. To cut a dull story short, we got to Vientiane, after stopped in boring Savannakhet for a few hours to freshen up at a hotel,
before catching a local bus overnight to Vientiana that was actually very comfy. Shockingly too, we arrived on time at 6am, despite breaking down with a burst tyre at midnight (though Leah was told by her lying agency, we'd arrive at 4pm, so for her we were 14hours 'late'). Personally, I'm not usually bothered by such a venture - I've been on worse, everyone has. But when you pay $20 for a ticket, and are told little fibbies, it's the principle that makes it annoying. Ok, moan finished, sorry.
It's a shame it put a downer on the end of Vietnam, and pretty much everyone on the trip was relieved to leave the country and enter the gloriousness that is Laos. One guy even kissed the ground! Vietnam was good fun, and I can't wait to go back and explore the North, but the constantness of having to question everything got to me after a while, and sadly, for the majority of the travellers, finding honesty and warmth from many of the locals was difficult. I'm sure this is a case of a few giving a bad impression for the many, and I don't feel I was there long
enough to form a strong opinion, but I will say that I left the country with some resentment.
Last but not least, I actually continued onto Vang Vieng (I'll explore Vientiane last), where I am now - home to tubing and mp3 player repairs (I hope). It was yet another 4 hour trip, which I crazily took on the back of an oversized tuktuk, which looked like a cousin of the Filipino jeepneys. After travelling nearly 24 hours, you sort of become a little high and zoned out, so I figure that another 4 hours wouldn't make much difference. I seemed to amuse the locals all the way there too, by my art of peanut butter sandwich making while on a bumpy road, and my lack of any ability to dance to Laos music from the radio in a confined space. I'm looking forward to these 2 weeks in Laos, as it seems to be every traveller's favourite country. I'll keep you posted.
I'd just like to mention, since my last blog, I'm now shockingly over 1/2 way through my trip! It's gone by so quickly I can't believe it, but hopefully plenty more stories and funny annecdotes
still to come. The number of times my blogs have been read has also surpassed the 5000 mark, and over 160 from my last blog alone, which is incredible, seeing as I expected everyone to become bored of my wafflings after the second blog. It makes me really happy to know that in some way my adventures are being shared by each of you, so thank you so much for reading, emailing me, writing comments. It all means a lot to me, even if I haven't replied to each of you individually yet. Take care, speak to you soon. Simon x
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Rommany
non-member comment
Hi!
Hi! I've just finished my dissertation!! Hurrah! Was really hoping I'd go to hotmail and find a blog...and I did! yay! Just thought I'd share my excitement with you!!! Now I'll actually read the thing...! FINISHED!!! WOOO!