Hanoi has been great but it's time to move on. We take a cheap flight down to Danang and from there, catch a taxi a little further down the coast to Hoi An.
This is the city Rich has been dreaming about...and why? Suits made to measure. Tailors to make your wish their command. Hundreds of fabrics, thousands of colors and its all very very cheap!
Halfway through our taxi ride from the airport, we are joined by a
local - a "friend" of our driver's. He befriends Rich by talking
football and when I mention getting some clothes made, he tells us his
family own the best tailor shop in town (of course). Sure, it seems like
a scam, but we might as well take a look, why not?
Later that day we head over to the "best tailor shop in town" and after a
bit of measuring and haggling, we walk out having ordered a 2 suits. Great! Mission accomplished. But wait, what about Alicia, doesn't she want some clothes made?
That was a rhetorical question. We find our way to a shoe shop (where Alicia is truly
in her element), followed by another tailor shop for dresses, and then several more tailor shops that Alicia just can't walk past...Finally we end up at
the Central Market where the prices are too good to refuse, and again we both cave to the buying temptations.
In total we walk away with 2 suits (each with an extra pair of trousers), 6 dresses, 8
shirts, 2 pairs of shorts & 2 pairs of shoes. Everything in our
choice of fabrics and made to measure with at least three fittings, and all for the bargin price of $600! Ya can't beat that...
There is more to Hoi An than just tailors, but we're here for only 3 days and there's a lot of shopping and measuring to be done so we don't get to do that much sightseeing. Hoi An is a riverside town, originally a busy trading area, and it
still has an amazing amount of the original architecture of the old
town. Best way to see the town is renting a bike for $1 and riding around town. (beware of the little pickpockets, they look cute and innocent but they are sly)
What is worth mentioning, is that this little town has a great atmosphere, great food and a great beach (so we're told, we never make it that far). But, according to reports, Nha Trang has the best beach in Vietnam and that's our next stop...
