Hoi An: tailor-made heaven!

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Arrived on the overnight train at Hoi An - a gorgeous little old town, which is a Unesco World Heritage sight, set along a small calm river. All the buildings are small, colourful and crumbling in a charming way, many are converted old Vietnamese tea houses, with colourful lanterns hanging from the balconies and people in cone hats cycling through the small streets. Really beautiful.

There are lots of interesting historical houses and museums to see in Hoi An, but the main reason we came to Hoi An was....to get clothes made! Hoi An is famous for its hundreds of tailor shops and they are EVERYWHERE. Beautiful clothes and materials are everywhere you turn and with some recommendations from travellers, we headed straight to the tailors.

Was fun choosing styles, materials and getting measured up, but it is very easy to go clothes-making crazy....and that's what happened to us! They can make everything and anything, and is usually done by the next day, so spent literally all day every day for 4 days rushing between different tailors going to fittings. And when you went for one fitting, you'd suddenly decide to just get 'one more thing made'....famous last words!

So 4 exhausting days and US$400 later I emerged from the whirlwind of tailor shops with:

2 x 3-piece suits (gorgeous wool/cashmere, fit like a glove)
3 winter coats (oops, maybe I didn't need that many!)
3 shirts
2 evening dresses
2 tops
2 skirts
...and many other bits and bobs!

Was really cool though, because with the exception of the suits and shirts, I designed all the clothes myself, chose the styles, materials and small details, and when a long 100% wool winter coat is only US$30, you'd go shopping crazy too, right?? It was so cool because how many times have you walked into a shop, look at an outfit and think - oh that would be nice, only if it had this, this and that. And in Hoi An - poof! Just like that- it's done for you that day! Was hard work though, always having to give instructions for every last detail and to be honest, I think I am done with shopping for a very long time (never thought I'd say that!).

Also visited the ancient kingdom of My Son - temples set out in the mountains, dating back to the 12th century. They were nice, but I think after seeing the temples of Angkor in Cambodia, nothing will ever compare. Plus it's scorchingly hot still, despite it supposedly being the rainy season, so it's hard doing sightseeing in the afternoon heat.

Posted most of my clothes home - the postage bill was an absolute killer, so since we were both feeling depressingly broke, we bought ourselves a nice bottle of red wine, and then decided to have a huuuuge night out, which ended very messily, but a good way to end the biggest ever shopping spree of our lives....

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