Hoi An has probably been one of the nicest towns in South East Asia we have ever visited and we have both decided it is a destination that we could easily have stayed in for a few weeks. It is everything you imagine Vietnam to be and is full to the brim of charm; complete with a lovely large river, temples, traditional style buildings, fancy bridges and lots of bright decorations, there is something that captures your attention on every street. We arrived in Hoi An hearing great things about it and especially that it is well known for their Tailors. Knowing that the wedding is approaching we decided that this is the place to go to have my dress and Jonathans wedding clothes made. We arrived in Hoi An after a very uncomfortable bus journey; The sleeper buses in Vietnam are very different to South America. Basically the buses are lined with super small bunkbed/seats which recline to a nearly flat position, One bed above and one bed below. The journey probably would have been fairly comfortable if it had not been for the bumpy roads, the mad driving and the constant honking of the horn. Also due to the very limited/no space you get there is nowhere at all to put your smaller rucksack, so you have to lie with your bags on top of you... Not very comfortable after a while! Anyway it turns out that our original bus was broken so for the first part of the journey from 6pm till 9am we was placed on a different bus. Arriving in Hue we was then told about this breakdown and also that we then had to swop buses again to get to our final destination of Hoi An. The only problem was we had to wait for four hours for the bus to turn up. We wasn't too happy being tired and hungry so we settled down for the wait. After a spot of lunch it was finally time to resume our journey and after one last four hour bus journey we eventually arrived in Hoi An a few hours late.
After googling the tailors in Hoi An and reading the reviews we decided to visit a shop called Peace. Searching through the books I found a dress style that I thought might remotely suit me. However this style looked quite complicated so I was very apprehensive if they could make the dress as well as the picture. Discussing the style she quite nicely pointed out that due to me being a little fat round the middle I should have a certain shape to the dress! (I thought id lost weight!) I guess in comparison to the ultra tiny Vietnamese women they would probably see westerners as being bigger, however she was around six months pregnant so I think she won the fat contest! After choosing Jonathans clothes and looking at all the different fabrics we was then strangled with tape measures and sent on our way with instructions to return the following day for our first fitting. Next to the shoe shop... Again searching through the books we found shoes that we thought would go with our outfits. Custom made shoes (made in the same fabric as my dress) and bag for me, and belt and shoes for Jonathan, we thought we was on a role! Retiring for food and sleep we awoke the day after and headed straight for the Jewellers. Again in Hoi An we had heard it was a great place to get custom made Jewellry. A chance to get anything I wanted for a quarter of the price that I would pay in a shop. I finally settled for a White gold ring with diamonds and a sapphire. Jonathan also chose a ring with a karate tiger symbol engraved on it! Our whole wedding Is definatly unique and now having our Clothes, Shoes and Jewellry made especially for the day makes it more special... Something that we can keep forever and also the memories of choosing them and having it made especially for us.
So we was all set with the wedding plans which left us five days to explore beautiful Hoi An.
We spent our time wandering around the town, the fabulous markets and we also dedicated a few days to the beach. If it had not been for one straight 4km road to the beach I wouldn't have hired a moped. However $4 for a days rental we set off and even though the roads are alot quieter in Hoi An you still need eyes in the back of your head. Mopeds zoom everywhere and even though the journey was fairly straight forward, they still managed to cut us up a few times. Arriving at the beach I was glad to get off the moped, however we saw some amazing landscape on the way there: Locals tending to their rice fields and fisherman netting the river.
The beach in Hoi An is one of the prettiest beaches we have ventured on so far within our trip; Golden sand, little ornate shells scattered around and clear warm water which is ideal for paddling and swimming in. There was not one scrap of rubbish on the beach either, it was very beautiful. A few hours a day relaxing we felt very revived and I had worked up a nice pre-wedding tan. Collecting everything we had bought we was finally ready for our trip to Nha Trang. One more nightbus to go and then we will finally see our family and friends, Can't wait! Hayls and Jonathan x