You Come To My Clothes Shop

Rooms in Vietnam are so nice!!! Cable, hot water, clean, etc etc...our room in Hoi An was about the nicest yet. Hoi An is about a 30 min drive from China Beach and it is famous for being the place you go to get clothes made. There are tailors on every street corner and in every alley. The clothes are similar everywhere, but you can style them the way you want. This town was quite torturous for me as we weren't staying long enough to get clothes made and what do I want with clothes anyway? Everyone gets clothes made here - a suit for $30! - why not. Even our Israeli friend - Nir - got a dress made for his girlfriend who had emailed him her measurements (how sweet). Instead we had to walk around saying, "no, bugger off," to every person trying to get us into their shop. This happens about every minute and you have to tell them no at least 3 times before they leave you alone. That's a lot of 'no's' for one girl and one guy to say. There's lots of other great things to buy here too: souviners out the wazoo and name brand backpacks for cheap, you can even have shoes custom made! You can try to escape the madness by strolling along the river - right??? Wrong??? "You take boat ride" "You - boat????" "Hello come into my restaurant," blah blah blah. How do you meet a real Vietnamese person who isn't trying to get you to empty your pockets??? Get off the tourist trail and go to the country. That wasn't our plan so instead we just walked around the town and occasionally gave in and bought something small. Hoi An is quite charming actually and we had fun looking around and eating in the cheapest restaurants we could find. Definately a stop off if you need a new dress or a suit!

Beers in Hoi an

The evening of our bus ride South we were getting ready to go - packing up, showering and looking for a place to eat before the night bus. 6.30 we were told. 6.00 is when the bus came to our hotel. I was in the shower. James and Ben got our bags on the bus and Nir was out getting snacks. We left a message at the hotel for Nir hoping the bus would pass him as we drove to other hotels to get other passengers. Luckily we saw him on the way, but I realised in the rush to get on the bus I had left my camera at the hotel desk.

Boat lady

"STOP" I yelled as I raced off the bus and sprinted down the road getting more stares than normal. I panted into the hotel to get my camera and then turned back to run towards the bus. This is where it got hard. Half way there I had to stop - sprinting is NOT my thing. Luckily a guy on a bike took me the short distance to the bus and I collapsed into my seat puffing and red faced.

Over loaded Ferry

Statue shop

Store testmonials

The perfect shot