Hi Guys,
I love Hoi An!! It is this cute little beach/river town - still has lots of motor bikes and bicycles like Hanoi, but not nearly as packed. In Hanoi I felt like I had to fight just to have a place to walk because they park all their motorbikes on the sidewalk so there's no room and the street is filled with bikes, motorbikes and cars with no clear direction. Here at least we have a sidewalk to walk on.
The hotel is beautiful, looks newish and OUR ROOM HAS AIR CONDITIONING!!! :) It's definitely hotter here and sunnier than it was in Hanoi. The hotel has free breakfast, and when we checked in, the woman gave us a bunch of recommendations for what to do in town. We have 2 beds, a nice spa bathtub (with jets) and orchids on the pillows of the bed - all for $30/night! (including bkfst and free internet)
Yesterday breakfast was eggs, bread, fruit and coffee at the side of the pool (pool looks niceish but mosquito-ey) Then went to get massages at a spa recommended by the front desk lady. 70 minutes Swedish with aromatherapy (steam machine with lemongrass and chamomile), hot stones - for $20. The massage was wonderful and they said if we come back today we get 30%off, which of course we will - 70 mins for $14 sign me up!!!
Then we went downtown to one of the many tailors they have lining the streets - they all have store fronts showing lots of cotton and silk dresses and shirts and they measure you and make them to your specifications. We priced out a few - disappointingly, a lot of them weren't working anymore because Tet, the new year is on the 14th and they all start to take time off this week. But we did find a few and walked in, dresses are about $35 each and coats $40. They don't bargain on these - after we picked everything out and she took our measurements, she quoted our price and I tried to talk her down and she was like, huh, why? Tricky b/c prices vary widely depending on quality. I ordered one work dress, one party dress, one sun dress, a coat and a pair of jeans ($180). M ordered a long wool coat, a cotton trench coat, a work dress, a sun dress and a pair of jeans ($210). She said come back at 8pm for first fitting.
After that we had lunch and walked around the market, Hoi An town, looked at a few historical sights, merchant houses, Japanese covered bridge. We bought some pork buns from a street vendor and to our surprise they had boiled quail eggs in the middle. Delicious.
At 6pm we went to the cooking class our hotel had recommended for us - they taught us how to make Vietnamese spring rolls, beef green papaya salad and a wonderful marinade for fish. Then they gave us a 6 course meal that included those dishes and a few others - squid stir fry, another curry type dish and fresh fruit for dessert. lasted about 2 hours and total for all that was $14 each. I got the print out of the recipes to take home so I can make them for you guys :)
Then we went back for our first fitting - the clothes look good, the quality on the seams is not wonderful, I guess what can you do in 8 hours for 10 pieces of clothing (they should go on project runway!!) but they did some final fitting right there on the spot - we do have to go in this morning for a few pieces that weren't done last night. Then we'll send them to the US - they said on average it's about $5/kilo to mail by boat to the US (but might take a month, that's ok!) It was sooo much fun to pick out exactly what I wanted - not sure if I'd do it again because for the price, I can get better quality at home, but can't beat having it measured just for you!
This morning we'll go get another massage, do a final fitting and see about sending our stuff then this afternoon we're off to Ho Chi Minh City - trying to get myself prepared again for the bustle of the busiest city in Vietnam. I really like the laid back feel of Hoi An, even though there isn't much to do here except shop, eat and get massages (what else do you need???) :)
A
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