ANYWAY. Hoi An. We arrived at 6.30 am so tired that we missed the guy holding the "Emma" sign, hopped in a taxi, inevitably pronounced the name of the hotel incorrectly, and ended up paying 4 POUNDS (that's alot in Vietnam) for a taxi to a destination that was actually about 100yds away. Fail. After a few hours sleep we'd recovered and got up to explore the beautifully quaint ancient town of Hoi An. Originally one of the main trading hubs of South East Asia, it has been lovingly preserved (almost) as it was at the nineteenth century, and is now one of Vietnam's main tourist destinations. The architecture is heavily influenced by the eclectic mix of traders who settled here over centuries; the streets wind together Chinese, Japanese, Dutch and French architecture. Lanterns swing from every shop, and the streets are filled with women in cone-hats - so much so that we didn't feel like twats when we wore them, which, obviously, was a deception.
On the very first day we found our favourite cafe - a really nice French boulangerie place overlooking the river, serving excellent Vietnamese coffee and cinnamon rolls. We've been there every day since. It took me a few hours to shake Abi off so I could buy her some birthday presents to open the next morning (she's incredibly difficult to get rid of).
The next day was a very BIG DAY: Abigail's 22nd Birthday!! Hurray!! Started beautifully with an incredibreakfast: toast, bread, jam, butter, followed by poached eggs benedict on brioche, with Vietnamese coffee and fresh orange and lime juice, finished with a small (and frankly strange) platter of fruit. [I talk about food far too much.] Next we went and did the best birthday shopping I can imagine. Hoi An is home to the best tailors in the world, and it took us a while to work out which of the hundreds of tailors we should employ. With the internet as our guide we chose Yaly - though supposedly the best in town a suit only set me back $85! A SNIP. We bought Abi her birthday suit (get it) and that was actually cheaper (due to fabric) at $75. Though wonderful, in reality the tailoring process is quite stressful. Faced with an endless series of questions it was very difficult to be decisive about anything: colours, fabrics, cuts, length... single or double cuff? slit or pleat? how many buttons? what colour lining? In my ignorance I was very flustered, tired, and anxious. My tailor Luna's excellent English and reassuring smile, however, gave me faith. After all the decision-making we had to be measured, which we found embarrassingly funny in front of the terribly dignified tailors who are no doubt used to a classier clientele. Poor Luna kept telling me to "stand up straight", and the language barrier was rather stretched as I struggled to explain my ridiculous back, and my wonky hip. LOL. All this was knackering, and took most of the day.
By the time we were finished it was time to don our gladrags and meet the lads for dinner. Had an awesome Vietnamese before finding a bar on the riverside where we sipped fresh beer (brewed on the premises and a bit of a gamble - 4000 dong (14.3p) a glass). It was deathly quiet and we were pretty pessimistic about finding some life, lash and lols for Abi's birthday. We wandered through desterted streets, came across the smallest bat I've ever seen, and eventually found a relatively lively bar. I think Mike's words were "every white person in Hoi An is in here". We had some good chat, and some good gin, before they finally kicked us out at 2am.
The next day we headed back to Yaly for our fitting. Given that they'd been made within 24 hours I had slight apprehensions that I might be exploiting someone somewhere, but the suits were so beautiful that I quickly brushed my Westerners' guilt aside. (Topshop is no doubt worse). They really were amazing, better than I'd expected, especially the attention to detail. We went for food and downtime before returning late afternoon for our final fitting. I was so excited that I went slightly overboard and ordered a load more stuff - and spent the rest of the evening justifying it to myself: "it's just so cheap", "I'm only gonna have to buy work stuff anyway", yadayadayada... Met the boys for a curry the same evening and heard all about their new swanky stuff.
The next day Abi was ill, so Rach and I went off alone to say goodbye to the lads. Before we waved them off we had time to explore the market, and learnt some excellent skills from Joe and Mike who bartered hard for pearls. Abi was still ill that evening so Rach and I had to eat alone.Terribly strange; we haven't eaten without Abi for literally months, and, we felt the loss of Joe and Mike all the more.
We spent the next few days grabbing some bargs, and seeing the sights. Saw an ancient house, a lovely temple, and, of course the JAPANESE COVERED BRIDGE (Hoi An's pride and joy). We also ticked some boxes: bought some cone-shaped hats, and caught a cyclo round town.
I'm yet to mention, though you may have noticed my panic on facebook (free wifi in the hotel allows me to be embarrassingly fb-active), that I was attacked by a case of THE HIVES. I first noticed a slight red rash on my neck (or, rather, Rachel did) on the evening of the 14th. Initially I assumed it was some sort of heat rash that would soon dissappear. I was wrong. During the night it took over my body and spread like wildfire. By 2am I was covered in a fast-moving, hot and itchy rash. I messaged Dr Coops in panic, but managed to diagnose myself (an allergic reaction to something), and prescribe antihestimines before she got the chance to answer (who needs a GP for a mother when you have google). This seemed to work, and in the morning it had all but gone. In the evening, however, it was back with a vengence - and this time IT SPREAD TO MY FACE. I felt like screaming when I looked in the mirror (for some reason rashes scare me more than other stuff). During this time Abi made some investigations and informed me that this would probably last weeks. I despaired. Taking the piss, though, it was actually totally gone by the morning, and hasn't been back since. Massive drama queen (though I have to say I think Rachel would have cried under the same circumstances).
Today was our last day in Hoi An; we made our final purchases on the market before enjoying a splendid cooking course - learnt how to make Grilled ocean fish (mackrel) in Banana leaf, Spring Rolls, and a Beef Salad. There were 8 of us in the class altogether-a very nice bunch.
Tomorrow we fly up to Hanoi (couldn't face the 16 hour bus ride). Probs only one more blog to go. Well done for reading!
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