Travelling through Vietnam - Hoi An

I had been really looking forward to going to Hoi An as I had heard good things from fellow travellers, some saying that it was their favourite place in Vietnam. When I was there, I could certainly see the appeal. It isn't a big city like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh and it isn't a beach resort like Nha Trang and, I imagine, Mui Ne. It is actually a quaint town full of old Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese buildings and history. The town is also famous for tailors, something we only found out when we arrived, as the lady at our hotel spent a long time talking to us about it when we checked in.

After settling into our rooms, we went out for some food and a bit of a wander and finally understood why Hoi An is famous for tailors - there are so many of them! When I had first heard about the tailors, I wasn't too bothered about them and didn't plan to get anything. However, a dress caught my eye outside Kimmy Custom Tailor. This shop had been one of the ones recommended to us by the lady at the hotel so we decided to go in. It was a long, simple, but elegant evening gown in a turquoise/teal colour. We had a look through their various catalogues on their laptops but this dress was still my favourite. Chloe and Alex convinced me that I should get it as, at the time, I still needed another outfit for my cousin's wedding in Nepal. In the end I didn't wear it for that, but the plan is to wear it for part two of the wedding in the UK in August!

One of the workers took my measurements and asked me how long I wanted it. I then got to choose the fabrics and colours, I kept the top fabric the same but chose a darker colour to go underneath. The lady suggested I might want the back changing as the original was very fussy. I'm glad she did this because I actually hadn't looked at the back at all and was much happier with the simple halter neck alternative. The service was very professional despite there being quite a lot of customers. My dress cost 60$ which I thought was a good price for a dress tailored to my measurements. Alex also got some trousers made. They were both ready the next day after a fitting. Alex's fit perfectly first time but my dress was a little bit long so they took it up for me.

My beautiful dress

Dress fitting

Back of the dress (apologies for the bra straps!)

Before picking up our clothes, we went to the bus company to book our next bus. We had hoped to get a night bus to Nha Trang and have two full days in Hoi An, but, unfortunately, the bus was booked and we ended up having to choose the bus early the next morning instead, only giving us a day in the city. After checking that we could get our clothes in time, we set off for the ancient city. However, it seems that in Hoi An it is very easy to get distracted by various clothes shops. Chloe and I ended up purchasing "travellers' pants" and Alex got a couple of tank tops from one of these shops.

Finally, it was time to wander around the ancient town. You have to buy a ticket which allows you to visit a certain number of each type of place but not everything. This is plenty as we found that once you'd been to one assembly hall or old house, they were all quite similar. The ticket also allows you entry to the museums but we only went to the Hoi An history museum which was more like a small exhibition. It seemed clear that the town was a shoppers' paradise and it was very difficult to refrain from buying more things!

Hoi An streets

Lots of lanterns!

Some of the most famous buildings in Hoi An are the Chinese assembly halls so we decided to go to one of these first. It wasn't difficult to choose as there is a Fujian one there, the province Xiamen is in.

Entrance to the Fujian assembly hall

Mosquito coils

Dragon fountain

Inside the assembly hall

一帆风顺 - "Plain Sailing". This idiom was in my Chinese textbook!

We also went to the Cantonese assembly hall towards the end of our wander around town as we still had spare ticket stubs left. This was also very nice and had a garden at the back as well as the front. Both were very ornate with lots of detail.

Cantonese assembly hall

Inside the assembly hall

Back garden

We also decided to visit one of the old houses and opted for the one we'd been told was "most famous". Once there, a lady told us about the house which was very interesting. Apparently the house had stayed in one family for many many generations and that they still lived there upstairs but let tourists visit downstairs. The house had experienced problems with flooding and there were marks on the wall showing how high the water had got in different years. One year it had flooded almost up to the ceiling!

The character 百 - hundred - made from birds

Lines showing the water level during different years of flooding

Inside the house

Another one of the most famous attractions in Hoi An is the Japanese Covered Bridge. We walked along by the harbour to get there. Hoi An used to be a big trade port but nowadays the boats are more for tourism.

Boats in Hoi An harbour

Hoi An harbour

Japanese covered bridge

That evening we had a nice meal after an equally enjoyable day. It was a shame that we couldn't spend longer there but I think we would have ended up with very heavy suitcases if we did!