Hoi An, what a surprise!

Wow, this place is amazing! We arrived this morning around 6:45 am after a slightly miserable 12 hour night/sleeper bus. As usual, we didn't know what our plan was, but we were pretty exhausted and didn't feel like doing a tour/sightseeing. We found a hotel in our guidebook and took off. As soon as we walked about 5 blocks we realized we were going in the wrong direction but we happened to stop in front of another hotel (you really can't escape them in any of the towns along the open bus tour) and for $10USD we were sold. We had to wait a little while for a room to be cleaned but we were able to use the internet and book our return flight to HCMC from Hanoi. Mom, dad and Derek, we will be arriving into HCMC around 8:30am on Saturday the 18th, so if mom and dad get in on Friday they can have the sleeper sofa, or whatever. I think we're just gonna catch a taxi to Derek's from the airport, but let us know if you guys have alternate plans and we'll meet you wherever.

Anyway, so we met an American while we were waiting for our room, Dan, and he joined us on all our adventures. FIRST, Randy got a suit made IN SIX HOURS!!!! That was by far the highlight of the day. But before I get carried away...we had to get breakfast, so we roamed the already-bustling streets and got a bowl of pho at a street restaurant:





The meat was absolutely delectable! By far the best meat I've had since I've gotten to Vietnam, and you can see what kind of restaurant we were at! Anyway, we sat at the table with an older VN lady, who quickly started chatting us up in quite good English. She said she had a clothing shop down the way where she could make a suit for 80-150USD, so when we finished our bowls of soup we followed her to her shop. (Hoi An is known for making excellent clothing, tailored to fit your exact specifications)

Randy and I were sat down and we perused some books of photos of suits and dresses. He picked a very dapper looking suit and then selected the fabric, a charcoal pinstripe.





As he was being measured, the lady pulled me aside and told me she would make me an Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) for $40 instead of $50, as I had been resisting for the duration of our time at the shop. She had been very hospitable, and I was actually considering getting one for Derek and Duyen's wedding, so I gave in and was measured as well. The ladies told us to come back around 3pm so we decided to rent bikes for $1USD and venture to a nearby beach.

And OH BOY was it beautiful. First, the bike ride proved to be absolutely amazing, as we were able to check out more of the town and ride over several bridges that crossed some really pretty rivers. As we neared the beach, the streets became more palm tree-lined and the houses turned to ornate resorts and street-side cafes. Check out my janky rig and some pics of the river:









Once we neared the water, we were instructed to park our bikes and walk the remaining distance to the beach. More cafes and dress/suit shops littered the sidewalks as we approached, to find a truly gorgeous beach:





More warm water and clean, soft sandy beaches welcomed us as we sunbathed/burnt for a few hours, passing the time until we were supposed to go try on the suit. After we visited a market and ate lunch at a riverside cafe:









We ordered a couple traditional Hoi An dishes, White Rose and Fried Wontons...I don't really know what was in either...fish? meat? deliciousness!





Okay enough putting it off, we went back to the tailor and Randy tried on his suit. This is what it looked like without any adjustments or anything. This is amazing (by the way, this is after SIX HOURS):



Pretty amazing right??? I forgot to mention that the shopowner promised to take us to lunch when we came back. She told us this dish, Cao Lau (pronounced KO-low), was really tasty, and we found later that it is a local Hoi An specialty. We were taken into a little kitchen where we were treated to a seriously delicious bowl of noodles, with lettuce, sliced pieces of roast pork, fresh pork rinds, cracked rice paper, bean sprouts, and a small amount of broth and spices, tossed together in a bowl:



Now we are resting, and we're going back to the shop so I can be fitted in my Ao Dai. Tomorrow we are heading to Hue, briefly (four hours), before continuing on another 12 hour sleeper bus to Hanoi. Then HA LONG BAY!!! Soooo excited!!!! Til then, hakuna matata :)