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We woke up from our 3rd overnight train feeling well rested - we were well-seasoned train travellers by now and being on a train no longer kept us awake. The guys we were sharing a cabin with seemed to have little concern and / or awareness of anybody else. One of them had used my bottle of water (each passenger was given one each) to brush his teeth, even though he had a 1.5 litre bottle next to him. I spent the rest of the morning commenting on the water bottle thief, while he employed his selective understanding of English. Edd and I chatted, ate our cheese baguettes and napped until 1pm, the time the train go to Da Nang train station.
We jumped off and made our way to the exit. I spotted a father and son backpacker duet and asked them where they were going; the dad said they were headed in the direction of Hoi An and were going to look for a taxi. We decided to join forces and Edd worked his bargaining magic to get a good deal. It took an hour and a half to get from the train station to Hoi An. We were completely over travelling at this point; I wanted nothing more than to unpack my backpack into a cupboard for a few days and live a semi-normal existence.
The taxi driver dropped us off at our guesthouse (they call them Homestay's here, but they're actually just guest houses). We consulted the room options and chose a room on the 1st floor facing the back of the hotel - the front facing rooms had the issue of horrendous street noise and I could do without that, thanks. The guesthouse was about 2km's away from the centre of the 'city' which enabled us to access the madness at will, as well as escape it quickly.
We unpacked, showered and settled into what was going to be our home for the next few days. Edd got hold of both pairs of trainers and the washing powder we'd bought in Kanchanaburi, a few weeks prior. He scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed some more. They still stank of burnt wood, but were a vast improvement from being able to smell them while you wore them; we stuck them on the balcony to dry and air them out, we were going to be here for at least 4 days so figured it was ample time for them to lose their stench.
We went downstairs and grabbed 2 bikes to cycle into the old quarter (everything is called old quarter here, no halves or wholes or city centres, new mystery). Edd experienced first hand how useless I am on a bike as we weaved between the mopeds, buses, cars and vans; the traffic here wasn't a fraction of the madness that was Hanoi, but it was still a precarious exercise with no western rules of the road and all the socially unwritten norms. How I didn't get myself killed was anybodies guess; we parked as soon as we go to what seemed to be a road filled with shops so as not to tempt fate.
We were told that this was the tailoring capital of South East Asia and it was a good idea for Edd to get a suit made here. We decided to have a look around at the different options and get a feel for it, we were probably going to come back the next day and make the order, with today being a day for sussing out the city.
We had lunch in a little restaurant where an old Vietnamese man walked around shirtless with is pot belly hanging out, way into his future. I ordered a G&T and got one in a pint glass, considering the usual tumblers I was given and overcharged for, I was ecstatic with my large helping. The food was absolutely amazing, calamari that melted in your mouth, garlic prawns and then the usual noodles and rice. It was a late lunch, early dinner; we were ravenously hungry and scoffed the lot!
Edd and I continued to walk around the streets and eventually got pulled into a tailor that had a 5 star rating on Tripadvisor. We decided to order as now was as gooda time as any and they were in the reasonable price bracket we'd sussed out. He spent a large amount of time contemplating the material, the lining and the style, constantly telling the assistants to leave him alone while he had a deep, meaningful think. I sat and flicked through catalogues looking for dresses that I liked and they could make for me. He eventually called me with the winning combination and it was a stunner to say the least. Got a good eye, this boy of mine.
We spent over 2 hours selecting styles, material and lining; in the end we walked out quite pleased with ourselves and excited for the next day when we would try them on. Yes, the next day! We are convinced that these people have little pixies who work tirelessly through the night to create beautiful garments, from pictures. No patterns, just measurements. Homeward bound we went for a good sleep, motionless and private.
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