Tailor city, Hoi An
Trip Start
Feb 08, 2010
1
15
28
Trip End
Apr 07, 2010
Where I stayed
Hoi An, Vietnam
Saturday, March 6, 2010
We were picked up by the hotel taxi and driven to our hotel in Hoi An, about 30 km away. Since the section of Danang leading out of the city is between the sea and a river, it's prime real estate. There's lots of new resorts being built and it should be quite the hub in the next few years.
Hoi An is an Unesco World Heritage site, as is Luang Prabang and Halong Bay.
Our plan had been to fly to Hue, another Unesco site, a bit further to the north, but the only available seats were on the night train (a 12 hour trip), in shared, not very comfortable sleeping cars.
Hue is the former capital of Vietnam and both these cities are on the Central coast, where some of the worst fighting of the Vietnam War occured.
We are here for five nights, before heading to the South Central coast. Our hotel is on the edge of the old town and is quite pleasant. Our room has a small balcony on the third floor; outside there's a large deck area with tables and umbrellas, where guests eat meals and spend time relaxing. There's also a protected swimming pool. The real clincher though is the flooded rice field, beside the deck which is chock full of life! At this time, morning glories are being grown there, to be fried in sauce-delicious. This is the first setting during our trip where we've encountered some nature. And you can see some stars at night! There's lots of frogs and insects making a racket in the evening and bats to deal with the mosquitoes. We brought out the wooden frog from Thailand and conversed with the frogs-quite entertaining. During the day, there's a variety of water birds, ducks, chickens (on the edge of the water) and butterflies. Love it!
Hoi An is on the Thu Bon river and was an international trading post since the 17th Century. We find it to be Vietnam's Luang Prabang. There are a couple of beaches here in town which we will visit in the next days. Most restaurants serve regional specialties, usual Vietnamese fare and surprisingly, spaghetti and pizza!
Last night we walked through the old town, to check out the lay of the land. There are many tourist oriented shops and restaurants and the old town is lit up with a stunning display of handmade silk lanterns,
The current attraction to Hoi An, in addition to the architecture is the more relaxed atmosphere and pleasant surroundings. The old buildings have Japanese, Chinese and European influence.
As well, there are many tailors in this town, where one can commission clothing made from fine silk, linen, cotton or wool. Maija had previously researched some of the recommended tailors and sought those out. We visited four of them, showing them pictures of clothing, looking at the fabric and discussing the price. She commissioned a silk, summer dress and a silk blouse. Her fitting will be in two days and likely the items will be finished by the following day, then delivered to our hotel,
While the weather has been in the low to mid 30's for our entire trip so far, the humidity has been at it's peak in Bangkok and here in Hoi An.
After an extended afternoon rest, we were suddenly (and quite mysteriously) transported to Sapa in North Vietnam, not far from Hanoi! There, Maija began some rock climbing maneuvers and without warning, her rope broke and she went tumbling and sliding down 300 meters to the rocks below!! Into a snake pit! The snakes were happy to see her, for they thought this would be payback for all those tourists and wealthy people who have been raising and killing off their relatives for fancy resatuarants and to put into alcohol and sell as drinks (to mostly male tourists). However, Maurice arrived just in the nick of time with a long rope to pull her out of this nest of vipers!! They were driven back to the hotel by a couple of cyclo guys, a bit worn down but happy to be back in Hoi An! The end!
And the moral of this story is, be aware of broken curbs while walking; a new meaning to the word trip, in Indochina. Maija's fine but licking her wounds.
Comments
Happy International Women's Day !! Maija - falling down and going BOOM! is just not an acceptable part of a vacation!! Are you sure you are OK? Maurice - Superman to the rescue !!!!!!!! Yake it easy both of you ! Mara
OOPS - big fingers , small keyboard !! Take it easy - no yaking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm honky dory fine, still healing. We met a young woman who was also somewhat battered but she took a spill off a motorbike, which is at least more acceptable than what I did!!!!
Happy (belated) Womens' Day to all my women friends!