Tailor Made

Friday we left the inferno of Ho Chi Minh City and flew, on our 17th flight, to Hue in central Vietnam. Our wish for cooler weather was granted with temperatures in the 80's and monsoonal rains (normally I wouldn't consider these temperatures cooler). When we arrived in Hue, the tourist information and bus services people had spoke of were no where to be found. We boarded a local bus into town where we found another bus to Danang, which was not our final destination but the closest city to Hoi An. The bus to Danang didn't even really stop for us to get on as we boarded the half empty rolling bus. The bus was designed for an Asian petite build with only 8 inches worth of leg room between seats. Much to our dismay the bus did not stay half empty for long, and it continued to fill passed the number of seats. Benches across the center alley were soon used to pack more people in. We were in the back two corners of the bus, legs crammed against the seat in front of us, with 3 Vietnamese men between us. For the 2 1/2 hour bus ride the horn blared for at least 2 hours of it as the bus plowed around corners and up the hills warning all the motor bikes and cars to get out of the way. Although there was no leg room, there was plenty of entertainment on the bus; a new age outrageous pirate movie played which caused lots of giggles, I was used as a human pillow to the young man next to me, one man wore his bike helmet the whole trip, a man in the row in front of us was getting sick into a plastic bag, etc. Both Jorie and I loved the cultural experience. Due to a traffic jam the bus dropped us randomly on a street in Danang, where we were to fend for ourselves finding another bus to Hoi An. Another travel angel appeared to help us find our way. The rains were causing the city to flood so badly that while we sat in our taxi water came in and up to our ankles. But we made it past the flooding and to our hotel just a little more wet than we had planned.

Hoi An is a wonderfully quaint town set back from the Pacific Ocean on the Thu Bon River. The town has preserved some it's charm by keeping some of the old streets only for walking. The French influence is still evident in the yellow stucco buildings with wooden shudders that line the stone streets. The famous Japanese covered bridge in the center of town also shows the multicultural influence in this small town. At night the streets, trees, and bridges are all lite up by the colorful lanterns creating a magical setting. There is a central market along the river which is full of produce, textiles and cook wear. The traditional Asian cone hats are seen everywhere as women paddle into the market on their small wooden boats or come carrying their produce carefully balanced in baskets hanging on both ends of a stick across their shoulder. The Vietnamese people always seem to be happy, however they did seem to be more aggressive about trying to sell things. These charming characteristics make this small town enticing for tourist, but the main reason people are drawn to this town is for tailor made cloths. Hoi An is the epicenter for tailor made cloths, and my guess is that over 80% of the stores are tailor shops or shoe-making shops. Any piece of clothing you could ever dream of, including wedding dresses, can be made in this town in less than 24 hours for much cheaper than they would ever cost elsewhere.

We knew it was inevitable that we would be drawn into the tailor made experience while in Hoi An, however we didn't anticipate how consuming our shopping experience would be. Our first night we tried to do the smart thing by surveying the shops but then the next day we were fully suckered into a tailor made roller coaster. In the end with spent many hours getting clothes made at two different shops. One place we felt very much trapped into and we did not have the most positive experience, but it worked out. The second tailor shop, Phuong Nam, was amazing; they were extremely helpful, listened to exactly what we wanted and produced incredible cloths. At the last minute when Jorie decided she wanted another dress they made a full length dress in less than 3 hours that fit her like a glove.

When we weren't shopping we enjoyed a boat ride down the river, a bike ride to the beach, splashed around in the pool, went to a cultural dance, and went for some walks in the more bearable temperatures. To help our budget and counterbalance our shopping splurge we had two of the cheapest dinners of the trip with a grand total of $2. On Saturday night, we sat on little stools with a small table (kindergardener size) on the sidewalk next to where the river was flooding over it's banks onto the street. Some ladies cooked us dinner on their portable kitchen set-up and we enjoyed the colorful lanterns lighting the lively streets. The $2 meal did leave my hands greasy but luckily the flood water was within reach to wash them off. It was an awesome Saturday night experience.

We loved our Hoi An experience and left with once again full bags (we arrived with about 12kg each and left with 16 kg each). Today we decided to try a different means of getting back to Hue for our flight. This time we took a tourist bus which consisted of three rows and two levels of basically bunk bed seats that reclined. It was tons more room and a lot more comfortable of a 3 hour bus ride. We are now on a flight north to Hanoi, Vietnam.

P.S. People here love to wear pajamas at all hours of the day. This includes both children and adults.