Blogs from Hoi An, Quảng Nam, South Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 137

so after a 13 hour bus ride from nha trang to hoi an i hoped to get some sight seeing in. we were leaving that afternoon at 4p via taxi to hue. i had read that hoi an is THE place to get custom tailor sewn clothes made in a matter of hours. they weren't kidding! the streets were lined with hundreds of tailors. who to go to? we stopped in a place called "Lovely." once i saw the shop owner was pregnant, i thought of all my girlfriends back home who just gave birth or are prego...and i was sold that this was the shop for me. mom and i ordered a bunch of clothes and the shop owner got on the phone to her calvary of tailors and one by one, 3 tailors pulled ... read more

Despite my calamitous introduction to cycling in Vietnam, I was soon remounting the spokes to trekk off to more remote regions. Relief from the harassing calls of moto-bike drivers was an additional benefit. And so, I set off to visit a reknowned pagoda, which turned out to be under reconstruction. At any rate, I was enjoying my ride so much, I decided to continue on down the dirt track, all the way out of the city limits, and into some of the surrounding towns. In a matter of meters, I saw the world around me transform. Always a keen observer of the youth around me, I noticed the kids more than anything. Three little girls shouted gleefully in play as they tended a small shop. A hoard of 5 year olds gathered around to watch one ... read more

On Boxing Day (26th Dec) we flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hoi An in Central Vietnam. Hoi An Old Town is a Unesco World Heritage Site, mainly because of its Chinese, Japanese and European influenced architecture. We parked ourselves in a convenient centrally-located guesthouse (Thanh Binh Hotel) and set about exploring the quaint narrow streets and the old temples. This place is also famous for its tailoring and has some 300 shops in its vicinity. Gerry had himself made a silk shirt (being completely fed up wearing the same old t-shirts every day!) and Denise 5 dresses (being completely greedy!). Out alone one morning taking photos some women persuaded me to have breakfast with them by the roadside. One of the women owned a boat and she desperately wanted me to take a trip, ... read more

We decided to give DaNang a miss and are now here in nice little Hoi An. Our 8am bus this morning didn't show up until 10:30am so we didn't arrive until almost 2pm. Lovely hotel with a small pool, $10 for the room. For our last day in Hue yesterday we went to the DMZ (De-Militarised Zone). Trip left at 6am and returned at 6pm, and we worked out that we were only off the bus for a total of 3 hours (and that included lunch & breakfast!!). Exploring the tunnels that the Vietnamese lived in for 4 years was the highlight, but overall the trip had far too much time spent on the bus......at least it only cost $8 each! Also got to see an old American Army Base with helicopters, tanks, and stuff. The ... read more

Har kommet meg fra Hue til Hoi An naa. Paa torsdagen var jeg ute med mr. Do og en tysk kjaka og drakk. Det var kjempemoro, og vi kom ikke sjanglende hjemover foer 06:00 om morgenen. Senere paa dagen dro vi ut til Hot Springs, som ligger ca en time (med motorsykkel) utenfor Hue. Utrolig deilig aa bare ligge der og kose seg i vannet. Plasket rundt, og drakk oel, og hadde oss. Mr. Do begynte aa kysse paa meg, og foer jeg visste ordet av det saa var baade Gud og hvermann borte aa kysset paa meg. Jeg foelte meg noe som en unge, men det var tydeligvis veldig festlig for resten av de. Paa loerdags morgen resite jeg til Hoi An. Hoi An er en liten tradisjonell by, som spesialiserer seg paa skreddere. Det ... read more