Andrew indulged and bought himself another business suit from Yaly’s, which is a tailor shop with a very good reputation in Hoi An. The process is easy, firstly you pick your fabric (which ranges in prices and quality) then you pick your style. Luckily for Andrew, he already was familiar with suitable styles for his figure so he knew the cut and fabric that he was looking for. The last step is to be measured. We went to Yaly’s in the afternoon and we were told to come back the following day for his first fitting at 11:00am. Talk about FAST sewing. The next day we returned and magically the suit was complete. A few adjustments were made and the suit was delivered to our hotel the following evening. Let’s hope this suit brings Andrew a job when we get home!!!
As for me, after much thought I decided to get myself a coat made. It was a great fit, and like Andrew’s suit it was ready for pick up the following day. It was hard not to walk away from Hoi An with a whole new wardrobe.
No pain, No gain… isn’t that how it goes???
I decided to be a good traditional Asian women and buy a Jade bangle. The process was a bit of a struggle….. But eventually I did end up squeezing my hand into a brand new Jade bangle. For those of you who don’t know, a Jade bangle should fit as tight as possible around your wrist. That means that it must somehow get over the thickest part of your hand. The process involved a lot of soap and a lot of elbow grease. There I was in the back room of a jewelry store leaned over a bucket (so that if I dropped the bracelet it wouldn’t break on the floor) the owner of the store instructed me to push the bangle with all my effort over my soap lathered hand. It got stuck somewhere around the thickest part of my hand, and then Andrew did the last shove and finally the bangle was on… and after all that struggle it will never be removed!
Now as for Hoi An, the city it is a beautiful capture of how Vietnamese towns looked in a time long ago. Hoi An was one of the original Viet port towns for trading with neighbours near and far. Luckily for the town it was surpassed as a viable port and thus maintained its old world charm. It also kept the mix of distant cultures that came here during the original trading days. The city has lot of Chinese influence and you definitely feel like you’re in Asia when you walk down the tiny streets especially at night when many lanterns are lit and line the street. The food here is very authentic and can satisfy all appetites. Overall Hoi An was a treat for the senses and should not be missed on a trip to Vietnam.
My Son
On our way up the country we read about and heard from other travellers about the archaeological site My Son, pronounced "Me Sun". It is one of the Chams largest religious sites with construction starting in the 4rth century and continuing until the 12th century and is a UNESCO world heritage site. The area is quite large and has many of the near 100 structures still standing though most were destroyed or damaged during the war. The geography of the area also shows signs of the bombings with many large craters all over the site. For our excursion we decided to take an early morning tour departing at 6am and arriving at 7:15am. The lighting was perfect and the tour was very informative. The Cham peoples building practices were carried all over S-E Asia and can be seen in Cambodia (Angkor Wat), Burma and Malaysia because of this the structures at the site reminded us of what we had previously seen in Angkor except in a more raw and natural state. Much of the site has been damaged from the war, but it has been left to the effects of time with little reconstruction and allows us to appreciate how well their temples stood through the ages.
Click on the picture below to see the album in Picasa
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| Hoi An, Vietnam |
~Nicola
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