Hoi An

Hoi An was a breath of fresh air and a city both of us want to return to. It is a port town and World Heritage site of about 75,000 people. It is one of the few places in Vietnam where you can see traditional Vietnamese architecture, and it is all clustered in the Old Quarter. One of the wonderful parts of being a protected city is that the Old Quarter is shut off from motorcycles and cars. It was a very pleasant city to stroll in and everyone we met was really kind. Getting to Hoi An is a bit tricky since it doesn't have train or flight service so you have to leave out of Danang, which is one hour north.

We left Hue for Hoi An on a bus for what was supposed to be a 3 hour trip, but with everything in Vietnam, it took just a bit longer. The bus never went above 60mph and half-way through the trip it stopped at a road side stand for 30 minutes. At first we were bummed by stopped but there was a beautiful beach (if you could ignore the trash) with shallow water to wade in. We arrived about 5 hours after we left Hue into Hoi An and hit the ground running.

Our hotel, the Greenfield Inn, left much to be desired so we thought we wouldn't spend much time hanging out. Lets just say that wide angle cameras can make a place look much more appealing on the Internet.

Hoi An is known for it custom clothing and tailoring so we set off to have a suite made for Billy. In the Old Quarter we visited a tailor shop where Huong was wonderful in helping us pick out fabrics, designs, etc. Billy went for a slim fit brown pin stripe suit. The cut is more Italian and with a skinny bean pole like him it made a difference to have one custom made. He also picked out 6 dress shirts and one jacket all for about $150.

Besides custom tailoring Hoi An is known for its wonderful food. Two specialties are Cau Lau and White Rose. At about every restaurant we ventured to we ate one of the two.

The first day in Hoi An we also bought tickets to visit a few of the heritage sites in town, including Phuoc Kien Pagoda and Quan Thang House. The home was about 300 years old and the family still resides in the home but opens it up for tourists. Inside the home they marked where each of the floods has hit over the years. The Pagoda was dedicated to Thien Hau, goddess of the sea and patroness of sailors and fisherfolk.

In the evening we ate at Hung Phuc Restaurant where Billy dined on their specialty of fish wrapped in banana leaf with garlic and lemongrass. While eating dinner we chatted with a man from San Diego who was traveling in Vietnam and Thailand for three weeks by himself. Originally from Pleasanton it felt like a small world.

The second day we rented bicycles and took off for the beach. We walked a bit on the sand and dipped our feet in the water but neither of us are sit on the beach type so we returned to our bicycles and hit the road. We toured the waterfront for a bit before returning to the tailor for another fitting. Billy looked sharp in his suit but with the humidity it was difficult to get our clothing to slide on our body. While at the tailor shop the power went out. It had gone out that morning and we just thought it was our hotel but according to Huong the power company has the right to shut off power any time they want, and for any length of time, up until 5:30pm. She said most of their power is hydro power so when there aren't rains and the water is low the utility company tries to conserve. Thankfully the ice cream guy went by at the same time and all three of us sat and enjoyed a few cones.

After our fitting we went to the end of town and took in the Japanese Covered Bridge, a Hoi An trademark. It was built in the 16th century and no cars, bikes, or motos can cross. After the bridge we biked down a few other streets and went shopping. We stumbled across a beautiful gallery and did what any Callaway does, buy art. Billy and I purchased two pieces, both by artists living in Hoi An. One was by a French man (whom we met), and the other was by a German woman. Oddly enough billy and I both agreed on the pieces right away so they rolled them up, packed them in PVC pipe, and off we went with art in our basket.

After returning to the hotel and dropping off our purchases and bikes we walked to town for dinner and drinks. While strolling through town we ran into two of the couples from our Halong Bay boat trip. We all chatted for a few minutes and agreed to meet for wine and drinks at White Marble Wine Bar. The evening finished with lots of laughs, wine, beer, and juice for me.

Our last morning in Hoi An we went for a final fitting and brought items to ship back to the states. To keep our travel load to a minimum we shipped back all of our clothes we had made and a few other purchased souvenirs from our two weeks here. While packing our box Huong saw our extra camera and offered to buy it from us for $20. Sold!

We took a car to Danang from Hoi An and boarded a trail for an 8 hour trip to Nha Trang. I was sick most of the way so I slept or laid on Billy's lap. The views from the train were beautiful and we arrived at 10:30pm into Nha Trang for our next journey.