Vietnam: Hoi An

I think that from the get go when we climbed the bus to head to Hoi An, many of us in the group (especially the girls) were eagerly anticipating our arrival in Hoi An. Sure, Hoi An is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site and the old town has been marvellously preserved in its ancient structures and shop houses but it is also known for its tailor shops and it's ability to produce ready made clothes in a day! With two and a half days scheduled for us in Hoi An, I was definitely determined to make the most of the time - shopping and sightseeing combined. Our first night, our guide brought us on a quick walkabout the old city. Other than being blindslided by stalls and stalls of street food (a story to come later), I was quite in awe of the the old town - it was literally like a step back in time. Old shop houses lining the streets and lanterns lining up the buildings and trees at night. It was a sight to behold.

We started the next day with a vengeance. After a hearty breakfast, made our way down to the old town with Iz. From the previous day, we already had a list of tailor shops that we wanted to visit. One must applaud the wireless technology in Vietnam. Almost every hotel/shop we visited had wireless or at least a computer that we could use. One of the shops that we visit was Yaly and they had computers with high speed internet that allowed us to browse the net quickly for dress designs.

Pictures of the streets of Hoi An, it's just so lovely to walk around and just wander. Above left, Yaly ( the tailor shop) where we spent most of the morning on the first day since we had to decide on our designs and then choose the material which was another hard decision as we were just wondering around the shop looking at different types of fabric of varying textures and colours and wondering which was the best fabric for the dress. The salesgirls will help you, but ultimately you're the one who has to make the decision. After everything, you still have to get measured, pay up, and make your appointment for your fittings the next day... very tiring! Above right, where we had our very late lunch at Cargo which is just a few doors down from Yaly. One of the few times in Vietnam I had non-local food but I was too hungry to care. 

The good thing about Hoi An and the tailor shops is that everything is situated in the Old Town, so in between running between shops and fittings, we also took the time to explore the town and its historical sights and also buy some gifts for our friends back home. To enter the town, one has to buy a ticket which allows you to visit 5 historical sites (there are people at each site to check and snip off your ticket). The more notable sites are the Japanese bridge, the Clan houses and Old houses (which is still inhabited by families but they open it up for people to see the way of life and the different generations that have stayed in the house. Like Hue, Hoi An is also prone to flooding and many places were affected by floods last year. One of the families showed us pictures of a sampan boat in their kitchen which was an indicated of how high flood waters were.

How we spent our nights in Hoi An. The streets at night are lovely as the lanterns come on and numerous restaurants convert into bars and vibe is very very chill. Perfect for most of us who just wanted to have a drink after a long day of shopping and sightseeing! We had dinner at this Italian place "Good morning Vietnam" where I was introduced by Iz to this lemon liquor called Limoncello.... very strong, so much so I couldn't finish it and I gave the rest to D. The owner was quite nice though and treated everyone to a shot of Limoncello after our meal. We also found a bar "Tam Tam" which had a pool table which was pretty cool. The boys ended up dominating the table and they actually played a round with the staff.

One of the hotels in Hoi An - famous for the fact that the film " The quiet american" was filmed here.

One of our favorite hangout bars in Hoi An, simply because of its proximity to Yaly and where most of us gathered at the end of the day. We often sat at the table facing the road and people watched.

This has to be my favourite street food experience in the whole of vietnam. Photo courtesy of Iz who took this while I was checking out the dumplings that the lady was selling. So they sell sticks of what I would usually call satay but to eat it Vietnamese way, we take out the meat from the skewer and wrap it up in a rice paper and lettuce. They also served dumplings (to make it easier for imagination, think of really mini soong kueh but with shrimp or mung bean filling instead served with sweet chilli). Lastly they had dao huay! But with ginger syrup in it which was an added bonus and I had seconds after and everything cost $10,000 dong only each!!!

Wearing one of my new tailor made dresses once back in S'pore :)