Last Day in Hoi An
Trip Start
Apr 15, 2008
1
13
22
Trip End
May 14, 2008
Hoi An, Vietnam
Sunday, April 27, 2008
First stop is just on the outskirts of the old city, where Tina has been getting some clothes made. It isn't going well and she needs to go back in for another fitting and review of progress, so we all go with her. Things are still not good and she needs to go to the factory shop where the clothes are being made, so the tailor can see them on her. This is an adventure in itself - she's whisked off at speed on the back of a motor scooter to a residential area at the other side of town. Down a little alley and the tailor shop is a large open room attached to a 2 storey house where the tailor and her family live
Relaxing at Vuon Trau
. There's about 5 girls working at the factory - all on old Singer treadle machines that have been hooked up to electricity. There's material scraps all over the floor and a busy friendly atmosphere. Tina has to change in the family's living room - there's not a huge amount of privacy! But its an fascinating glimpse into how a reasonably well off family live here in Vietnam. She's held captive here for over an hour while garments are tried on, adjustments discussed in high speed Vietnamese between the tailor and her staff, then garments removed, seams ripped apart and restitched, all at a frantic pace. Eventually, Tina insists she has to rejoin her friends back at the shop. Meanwhile the others have been waiting, offered cold water and refreshments by the shop staff and entertained by one of the shop girls who is trying to learn English from a text book which is actually for English people learning Vietnamese - has all the Vietnamese pronunciation but no English pronunciation - which of course is what she needs! So Chris, Penny and John are sounding out all the difficult English words for her and she's avidly taking it in. And just as its getting a bit tedious, John spots Roger and Julie walking past the shop! A few minutes later, Tina arrives back, so we wander into town to have lunch together. It's a slow wander - Roger and Julie keep meeting up with members of their group on the way and there's the shops we stop at and the hawkers who accost us, but its another hot day and a slow wander is all that we can manage anyway
More relaxing
!After lunch, we split up and arrange to meet after dinner tonite. Penny, John, Tina and Chris start to do a tour of the old Hoi An buildings of interest, but we don't get far - its just too hot! So mid-afternoon it's a taxi back to Vuon Trau and lazing round the pool with cold beers and G&Ts. On our way out of the old town, Chris decides he needs a Ho Chi Minh t-shirt, and since the shirt he's currently wearing is wet with sweat, he strips it off on the front strps of the shop and dons the new one - much to the delight of the shop lady "Suxy, suxy man!" she exclaims! It becomes a standard refrain for us all.
David has finally completed his assignment and emailed it off, so he's able to relax as well (which means a nap to catch up on some much needed sleep - he's been working on the assignment til the wee small hours the past few nights!).
Because we're meeting up with Rog and Julie later, and because we had such a good meal at the here a few nights ago, we decide to stay in and eat at the Guesthouse. They are very keen to get us to put in our orders around 5pm when we tell then we'd like dinner, but we're not ready to think about eating just yet
Hoi An scenes
. When we do decide to order, it becomes apparent why they wanted us to do it earlier - there's a flurry of activity and one of the staff has to hop on a motorbike and zap into the market to buy up the ingredients. Meanwhile the owner and the cook are making frantic preparations in the kitchen and other staff are organising other parts of the meal preparation. Its quite clear this is a real, from scratch meal! And it does mean that dinner is a little longer coming than we'd anticipated. However, when it does come, once again its great - excellent food, and we know its fresh! And at the end of the meal, the owner and the staff come out to say goodbye, and present us all with some small gifts - a pashmina each for Tina and Penny and silk ties for the boys. It's the first time anywhere we've stayed has thanked us quite as nicely!We meet up with Roger at their hotel and head into town to meet with Julie who is looking at the art shops with a couple of the girls on their trip. John and David decide to buy Ho Chi Minh t-shirts as well, so now all 3 are dressed as suxy men! The local seem to love the look... We eventually make our way to a bar cum restaurant in town where we order some drinks and chat. Roger and Julie have to be back at the hotel by 10pm - that's the curfew imposed on their charges, and we have organised a car to collect us from our guesthouse at 8.30am tomorrow to start on the next part of our trip, so its an early night for us all.
Comments
WOW - cool
You are having fun!!!!...(BITHC)
Loved Hoi An as I knew you would, and the scooters dont get much better than there.
Not much to report from here...climbed to the top of Mt Ruapehu
Will keep reading