Day 93 - Hoi An

23.10.09

My last day in the tailor capitol of Vietnam and it starts at 5.30am as we depart for My Son, the ancient ruins about 50km away from Hoi An. The aim is to get to the ruins before most of the tour groups do and as not many people like to wake up this early it should be relatively empty. The deal is that we get breakfast on the bus there, which is a slightly disappointing coffee and small roll, but it will do the job for now. There are only 6 of us in total on the bus and outside the heavens seem to be opening up and the road is getting flooded in places. The ruins themselves are quite nice although only one section remains semi intact and the rest really are truly ruined. The severe rain has left some paths very flooded and so unless you are Jesus and can walk on water you're going to get very wet feet, I obviously am not Jesus and so now am sporting a pair of soaking wet trainers.






















Getting back to the Hotel I take a short nap and then roam around town some more before settling down in the same cafe from yesterday and getting my two coffees, some lunch and a cup of tea, more or less the same order as yesterday. Watching the world go by, and the rain, I kick back and finally finish updating the journal before heading out to Nha Trang on the 6pm bus. The ride should take about 12 hours and it's on an air conditioned tourist sleeper bus. The transport situation of Vietnam only dreams of being as efficient and having the coverage of China's and so for tourists one of the easiest ways of getting around is on the tourist buses that run between the major destinations. Hopefully I can find a nice spot on the beach at Nha Trang and just lose a few days to the sun, sand and sea...

Day 92 - Hoi An

22.10.09

To buy or not to buy, that is the question... I decided last night that I'm not going to buy any more clothes, but still this morning I am getting tempted. I could wangle out a more expensive suit at the reputable places and still pay only £200 for a tailor made suit in a quality fabric that I'm sure would be lovely. After another stroll around town I decide that this is not a good way to spend my money and I can pick up a suit for the same price at home in Marks and Spencers and it will probably be better if not the same quality.

My morning takes me out to one of the Islands near Hoi An which isn't that interesting apart from a transaction where I am initially quoted 5000VND for three banana fritters and after some negotiation, I end up getting 3 for the 5000VND. It is typical of nearly every transaction in Vietnam, where you are quoted outrageous prices compared to the locals for food and even things as basic as bottled water. My journal is seriously out of date and I have a span of days from a month ago that I need to write up, so I place my self in a cafe on the river front and end up whiling away 4 hours writing and drinking tea/coffee. I know I said I wasn't going to buy any more stuff, but a few silk ties glistened in the light reflecting of the river in that oh so special way and beckoned me to part with my money. The initial price was $7 for one, but after some talking and smiling I end up getting them for just less than $3 each. No more buying!

Day 91 - Hoi An

21.10.09

I have a fitting for one of the shirts at 10am, so I get up early and have a walk around town and end up ordering another two. I now have 4 shirts, all from different places on order. My aim is to compare quality and then possibly get some more stuff made if it's all good. The shirt is nice and the cut is good, They put normal cuffs instead of double cuffs and it's slightly too tight, so I get them to change it and while there I obviously end up ordering more... 30 mins later and I'm measured up for a blue 3 piece navy suit. I head around to my other fittings during the day and by night fall I am the proud owner of 4 bespoke shirts and a 3 piece. The shirts vary in quality and the three shirts from expensive tailors are better than the shirt from the cheaper tailor, unfortunately I also got my suit made in the cheaper tailor as it was half the price of the expensive one. It's not horrendous, but it has some problems and the lining isn't properly set in the jacket so it doesn't glide on unfortunately. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to save my money and not splurge on clothes here as the quality is below what you would get at home, although it is still so cheap it is probably worth it.

Day 90 - Hue, Hoi An

20.10.09

I'm on the 2pm bus bound for the coastal town and tailor empire that is Hoi An. This morning, I engage the legs once more and rack up a very healthy mileage walking around the town in search of the pagodas, temples and burial mounds, but after about 2 hours I've done a massive circle and managed to bypass all of them some how. What happens next is either funny, brave or just stupid, as I reach a bridge to cross the river and I know there is a temple on the other side. The only down side is that it's a bridge for trains on one side and the other has two lanes, each one wide enough for one motorbike or cyclist to go down or up. I can't be bothered to walk back to the pedestrian bridge as it is a good 45min walk away and so I make the decision to run the 150m or so down one of the lanes and just hope I'm fast enough not to annoy the other bikes. It ends up working and I manage to tail a cyclist nearly all the way, so I don't feel too bad although running essentially down a road with moving traffic is quite entertaining.

My afternoon bus to Hoi An gets in at a cool 6.30pm and this town is tourist central! It's also the place to come if you want to get tailor made clothes made and with bespoke 3 piece suits coming in at under £100, it is totally possible that I blow my Cambodia/Laos/Thailand money on clothes. In the few hours of opening time that the shops have left, I manage to order 2 shirts and have my eyes on a few suits. The shops have countless catalogs and cut outs from high end fashion magazines of suits you can have copied and all in all it's a very dangerous place to be if you don't want to spend money. I shall see tomorrow how the quality compares.

Day 89 - Hue

19.10.09

Today the train pulls into Hue Station at a bright 8.30am and I ignore/walk/barge past the army of taxi drivers and hotel touts who are standing outside. A walk into the centre of town and scour of the places that I could possibly sleep in and after looking at four hotels I settle for a $5 dollar double bed, which isn't too bad value at all.

Hue is all about ancient ruins and the capitol of old, so I hit up the ruins and have a look around, but it is in a seriously desperate state. Most of the old Imperial City was destroyed during wars or natural disasters and no one seems to have worried about repairing them, so all in all there isn't that much to see apart from some ruins and large open spaces where buildings should be. The architecture of the restored sections though are very nice and some of the garden spaces still manage to retain some of there charm. Overall today is a day of wandering and when night falls my wandering turns into avoiding the constant calls of "where you go?, motorbike?" and when I decline the offer of a lift it moves on to "Marijuana?", "Women?", "Men?", at every street corner there seems to be a bike driver who doubles up as a pimp and drug dealer. My trip so far in Vietnam has been interesting. Although I have only been here for a week, I can say that I take Vietnam as a bad version of China. The people hassle you so much more and try and cheat you out of money at every turn or fool you into paying extra for everything. People at Ha Long Bay paid $78 for the same tour as me and I only paid $40, even from the same hotel a girl paid $42 compared to my $40. If you try and buy any local food, you will get an inflated price that is more than double the rate that locals pay. Hopefully it will pick up and as I travel further south it will all get better.. I've booked my ticket home today and will be heading home on the 2nd November, so not long to go. It's a sad thought to think it will all be over soon, but new adventures will be just around the corner.