I have been sucked into the tailoring vortex of Hoi An! If I manage to escape tomorrow it will be a miracle! If I haven’t mentioned before, Hoi An is THE PLACE to have clothes made in Asia – better than Bangkok, Chang Mai, or anywhere else in Thailand. But with over 200 tailor shops in the small town, who can decide?
Well, I knew I wanted a pair of linen pants…so I devised a test. I would go into a shop and ask to see their linens. In some shops they would actually take me to polyesters! Easy test, I would just walk out. No where to go from there – I mean if they’re too cheap to show you the right fabric then how can you possibly expect good tailoring? Some people would take me to their Japanese silk (a better try but still can’t fool me) and I would say No Thanks and be on my way. Then, with the places where they did show me linen, I would advance to the second level of testing, that is the Smell Test. I would smell the linen and if it smelled musty or like mothballs then they obviously weren’t moving any fabric and who wants to have clothes made that smell bad anyway?
I was feeling pretty disappointed though after going through about 20 or 25 stores this way thinking the whole tailor thing was just a tourist trap and a waste of time. Everyone going in to have a shirt made of Japanese or Chinese silk or a pair of nylon pants with a dragon embroidered on the bottom – oh now THAT’S original (every tourist in Vietnam has a pair).
Well FINALLY I found a decent place – I went in, asked for linen, and the girl ACTUALLY showed me linen. Then I smelled it and it smelled fine! So I said, OK, let me see your catalogs. And after she saw me sniffing the fabrics she said,’Oh, you professional!’. So that must be some kind of trade secret that I didn’t know about!
Anyway I didn’t even really need to look in their catalogs for ideas because I already had some sketches drawn for 2 pairs of linen pants and a linen tunic so we started from there. And it just went on and on…ideas for bathing suits (3), tank tops, and dresses were formed in between crazy amounts of measurements they took all over my body. And yes, I did get sucked into one tourist purchase but at least it was authentic – a traditional Vietnamese dress, full length with side slits on each side up to the waist with a pair of wide-legged white satin pants underneath. I’ll probably NEVER wear it but it’s really beautiful and proper too – not showing any flesh like some tourists have them made. Maybe I’ll break it out for Tet.
Todat was fitting after fitting as we fine-tuned each piece and now just 24 hours later my new wardrobe is complete. And I’m really happy with the fit, style, and fabric of everything. What a bargain too – one pair of linen pants was $12 USD…so I was able to get 5 pairs for LESS than the price of ONE in any J.CREW catalog at home.
The only bummer of it all is the reality that I have to HAUL all the new purchases on my bike with me tomorrow.
Yes, it’s Goodbye Hoi An, Hello some other town that I forget at the moment but know that it’s 121 km south of here. (She doesn’t go half-way this girl does she?) No, it’s back with a vengeance on the diva-mobile for me.
Early to bed tonight…
Vietnamese women in the market at Hoi An
Snake wine for sale at the Chinese medicine shop
Victim of the Tailoring Vortex – must escape soon!
February 7th, 2002
Another day in Hoi An…this morning I ventured out early (6am) for a tour of My Son – the largest Cham site in Vietnam. The site dates back from the 4th to 13th century and is the burial place of many Cham Kings. It’s the Ankor Wat of Vietnam. Packed with tourists everyday but they all leave on tours from Hoi An at 8am – that’s why I chose the 6am private tour. The 10 people in our tour were the only ones visiting the ruins while we were there – it was great!
The site of My Son was actually a base for the Viet Cong during the war and was heavily bombed by the Americans. You can see craters made by B-52 bombs everywhere as you walk around…weird.
Yesterday I releaxed, read my book, and walked around the streets of Hoi An. I looked in a few of the many, many tailor shops but couldn’t decide on what if anything to have made. I’m going to look again today and then decide – if I have stuff made then it’s another day in Hoi An, if not I can start cycling south again tomorrow.
The weather here is warm and sunny – so much different than the north! I feel human again. Actually the Hai Van mountain pass is what separates the weather from the north and the south and it is definitely nicer on the south side. I might even ditch the extra clothes that I bought up north.
So Tet (Vietnamese/Chinese Lunar New Year) is just 6 days away…quite a big deal in these parts apparently. Everything shuts down for a few days (except hotels hopefully) so it’ll be interesting to see where I’ll be and how it goes. After that, well my visa expires on Feb. 22 so I’ll have to be out of the country by then…just have to decide if I’m going to pass through Cambodia on my way back to Bangkok or fly direct from Saigon.
The loovely streets of Hoi An
Cham temple
Cham statues
February 6th, 2002
Recovering from my second day of cycling yesterday. According to the Lonely Planet Cycling Vietnam guide, I did 2 days of cycling in one – from Lang Co to Danang to Hoi An. The real beast of the day was getting over Hai Van Pass – a straight vertical 500m ascent from sea level. Quoted in the book as’9.8 km hard climb and 2 km of hairpin bends.’ It was up and up and up for quite awhile but the scenery was stunning with mountains to my right and ocean to my left. It felt like it was never going to end but eventually I got to the top where there is an old American bunker and a few shops. I thoroughly enjoyed the 10 km descent! Then the road flattened out a bit until I reached Danang where I stopped for some well-needed lunch and energy resupply.
So I could have stayed in Danang for the night but it was still early (2pm) and only another 32 km to Hoi An so I thought well let me just take my time and continue on. The route from Danang took me straight to the sea at China Beach (My Khe), the former R&R spot for many American GI’s during the war. Not much there besides 2 hotels but the beach was nice…
Then I continued south on a somewhat smaller road than the main Highway 1A – still a lot of traffic but not nearly as bad as the highway. I have discovered a new weapon in my defense against the raging horns blaring everywhere: THE EARPLUG. I’ve been wearing one in my left ear now as I ride (they drive on the right-hand side here just like home) and it definitely has helped me retain a bit of sanity during the actual pedaling. God they really do love their horns here. I don’t know how they’d mangane without them.
So it’s a rest day (or 2) in Hoi An before heading south again.
Miles biked: 46.56
Time: 4 hr 43 minutes
The evil mountain climb lurks ahead – Hai Van Pass
She makes it to the top!
Quick break at China Beach
February 5th, 2002