Our next stop was Hoi An and after refusing the first 2 hotels offered to us because of the extortionate rates (US$15!!) we settled on a room for a much more reasonable $7. We unloaded our bags and headed out to explore - we managed to get to the end of the street before being accosted by a slightly crazy local lady who wanted us to "look in my shop, just looking, no buying". The shop in question was a tailors and it was one of around 200 similar shops in the town (tailor made clothes are Hoi An's speciality). Considering how small Hoi An actually is we did quite well to get to the end of the street before being pounced on! So, we ventured into the shop, which was more like a factory with people running everywhere gathering material and women with their heads bent over sewing machines. We were given numerous books, magazines and the current Next catalogue to look through and mark the pages where there was something of interest. Then every part of us was measured - I think we can safely say that I would fall in the large category in Vietnam! Following that we had to select material for each garment we wanted. After that came the most important part.....the price. After much discussion, haggling, sweat and tears we agreed on a price. We paid a deposit, were told to come back for a fitting in 24 hours and quickly whizzed off to a friends shoe shop! After repeating the process to buy a pair of shoes for Steve and some boots for me, we found ourselves back on the street exhausted and totally bamboozled by the whole experience! After recharging our batteries over a drink we strolled around Hoi An and found it to be a real gem of a place. Its very relaxed and quiet when you ventured into the areas where the motorcycles were not permitted. There are loads of quaint little buildings amongst the backstreets full of art galleries and shops selling wood carved statues. It was quite refreshing that when you said no to a seller they just smiled and left you alone....it seems to be the Vietnamese way - a seemingly very gentle and happy people who just can't seem to do enough for you. The area around the Thu Bon River was bustling with fishing boats and a large market. A bit further down was a cafe quarter which was all lit up at night giving it a continental feel - we felt totally relaxed here despite the chaos of the tailors! The following day we hired a motorcyle (Steve did exceptionally well to weave through the traffic like a seasoned pro, despite me behind him shouting "slow down" and "beep the horn"!). We headed to Cua Dai Beach which was a real treat having been in towns and big cities for the last 5 weeks. We got in a few hours of pure relaxation before heading back to the madness of the tailors for our fitting. There was very little in the way of a changing room so it was basically a strip down to the undies job to try on the clothes! Steve's suits and shirts were brilliant - it was weird seeing him in a suit after 3 months of not working....the fuzzy beard was the only thing however that gave away his backpacking lifestyle! Most of my things were great although it was obvious that suits are their bread and butter when it comes to workmanship. We left the tailors laden with bags and went to pick up our shoes...again, Steve's were great but my boots were not what I expected. Never mind, I wont have to see them for almost 2 years as they are now on a slow ship back to the UK!