I love Vietnam… truly… especially Hoi An. I love the atmosphere, the food, the people, and of course the weather!
I was really emotional when I wrote about being “lucky”. Since then, I have relaxed a bit. I still believe every word I wrote about being lucky, but as to the bargaining in Vietnam – there is no choice. That said, there is no reason to be an asshole.
Everyone is connected. If someone offers to grab you a cab – they are getting a kickback – if they send you to a nearby restaurant if they are full – same. If your hotel or tour guide sends you to the “best place” for leather goods or tailoring, it is not necessarily the “best”. It also doesn’t mean it is not good – just that the tour guide has a relationship with that merchant.
Even the convenience stores don’t have prices listed – so weird – and as a result – you have to bargain. I remember being in Shanghai with Linda Zuber and after our group was done shopping for “knock offs” she asked the woman how we did- lol! She said we did okay – but she also said that our group provided her with a week’s worth of salary.
Annie, the beggar (her word) on the street who brought my attention to much of this, was out and about again yesterday. When she saw us, she said, “Kim and Mark! I remember your names!”. I told her that I wrote about her in my blog. She offered to sell us magnets and chopsticks but when we declined, she smiled, wished us well, and went on her way.
I looked for her later as I wanted to do a selfie with her – no luck. On a lighter note, we may have stayed longer if my “elephant pants” hadn’t split though the crotch – nice…. (sheepish grin inserted here)
Probably what I love most of all, about Hoi An in particular, is the people watching. It is fascinating to watch the interaction between locals, and locals and tourists specifically. I could spend hours doing this.
We participated in purchasing two of the “must haves” in Hoi An. We bought a beautiful leather duffle for Brayden for his birthday, and I had a tailored suit custom made. I learned a lot about this process and also a lot about myself. I did lots of research, not just on TripAdvisor, etc. I also checked out some blogs of people like me who travelled to Southeast Asia. I had 3 pieces made for around $200 CAD. Some will say that I paid too much. But my research suggests that it is on par for quality fabric and workmanship, avoidance of sweatshop labour, and my size (of course).
I am happy with the way I was treated as a bigger person. I am not 100% happy with the product. My mistake (soft hearted that I am- it’s true), was going with our lovely tour guide, Emma, who obviously benefited from my purchase.
The fabric I chose was lightweight and beautiful – good for teaching in Japan. I chose a skirt instead of pants (fluctuating weight) and a sleeveless collared shirt. I love the jacket as it is tapered nicely instead of “hanging” from the girls. I am very disappointed in the skirt. It is not the same flattering style that I chose – the zipper was in the back instead of the side. In the photo I felt it was way too big and she did correct that for me.And the worst part, I actually think she made it with different fabric!
Having said all of this… I know what I did wrong and I know how to do a better job next time. I will NOT go to a personally recommended tailor because it is harder to bargain. I didn’t want to upset Emma (which is ridiculous).
With researching ahead of time, I am confident that we got an excellent quality bag for Brayden and a good price. But as far as bargaining goes – HA HA HA!! Watching our evolution would have made for some great reality tv!! Sometimes we still overpay (a bit) but always by choice.
Our tour guide, Emma was lovely and spoke excellent English. We spent a morning with her wandering and took in all the obvious Chinese and Japanese influences throughout.
Hoi An is beautiful and as the title says, hypnotic. Old Town is beautiful. All along the river there are floating candles with wishes and beautiful lantern filled gondolas.
It is filled with people, restaurants, and vendors. We have visited this area already 4 times since being here, at every possible time of day. Favs are morning (peaceful) and early evening (magical).
We finished off our last visit to this area with a couples (2 for 1) foot and leg massage!! So awesome - $15 each for 60 minutes… wonderful!!
Our hotel is great, nothing fancy, but lovely. Across the street we had an afternoon snack the first day and chatted with the woman who runs it. She knew I was wanting gel nails so she ran across the street to her sisters shop and made all the arrangements for me.
We’ve eaten all of the foods that Hoi An is known for as well as a wonderful wine and FABULOUS Camembert one night!! Restaurant owner moved here from Marseilles about 8 years ago – truly wonderful!! Our favourites to date are Bahn Mi (sandwich) and Bahn Xeo (savoury pancake)
We took a taxi a couple of kms to An Bang Beach and spent a few hours lounging on chairs and admiring the view.
Despite the constant interruptions from people peddling their wares (I bought pearls and Mark was so pleased), it was very lovely.
Hoi An is definitely a place I can see us coming back to. Only around 120,000 people and great weather in the winter. February is probably best as December is very rainy and is flood and typhoon season. “What a Wonderful World” indeed…
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