Hoi An

Hoi An is a surprisingly lovely town.  It boasts a quaint atmosphere perfect for long strolls, easy beach access, a small harbor for catching tour boats, a couple of islands for biking around, and of course, the best deals on custom-made silk garments.

The town was originally a tiny village, but a boom was created by American soldiers looking for a little R&R, making it into the size it is today.  The goods sought then remain the biggest tourist draw today.  These are the many tiny shops offering custom-made clothing.  In fact, Hoi An is still one of the few places for foreigners to buy clothes that fit our larger body sizes (Vietnamese sizes compare to children/junior sizes in the States), and the deals on silk are incredible. 

I took a long, slow stroll through town, finding hundreds of tayloring shops and a few cafes here and there.  Unlike other Vietnamese towns, Hoi An was a clean, unhurried place with comparatively little traffic.   
 

Silk Tie Display

Custom Jacket Samples

Find a shop (among hundreds) with the sample garments you like and choose from their fabric selection, or bring a photo and some fabric.  They'll make anything you want in one or two days. 

Like I said, you can get anything you want, but PLEASE DON'T get a dress that makes you look like a giant swirly cone.

Silk Lanterns

Relaxed street in Hoi An

Along the Harbor

Sitting out the afternoon torrential downpour--a Vietnamese staple.

Next blog:  More Hoi An Pics

Lost in Translation

You know your shoes are cheap, generic knock-offs when they are called GAG.

COCK!

Here's a craft store with a very unfortunate name! 

Shop 'Til You Drop

There is a neighborhood in Seoul called Dongdaemun that has some very good shopping.  In the daytime, there is a wholesale marketplace that covers a couple of city blocks with a lovely river running between the blocks.  You can purchase socks, yarn & fabrics, hats, books, shoes...just about anything.  In the evening, this market closes down, but simply cross the street to find several 7-story tall buildings chock-o-bock full of clothing stores.  The giant malls stay open until 5:30 am, so shopping until you drop is, literally, an option.  Coffee shops stay open all night, food is easy to find, and the metro opens soon after the malls shut down.  So, this is a worthwhile and slightly nutty (from sleep deprivation) adventure for tourists (who are small enough to squeeze into Asian-sized fashions). 



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Two views of the gate at Dongdaemun



Two views taken in the wee hours from a third-story cafe.



The river running through Dongdaemun has a nice walking path.



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Black Market Bounty

The black market is thriving in Hanoi.  The streets are positively cluttered with black marketeers selling everything from post cards to beef.  In fact, just outside my front door are five or six little old ladies selling fruits and vegetables.

Of course, the first thing is to determine which little old lady is going to give a fair price.  The ladies just outside my door are outrageously prices, so Kris and I head to the Old Quarter for my produce.  There we find one grayed granny with everything we need laid out in plastic baskets on the sidewalk.  After a minimal amount of bargaining, we agree to buy a bag stuffed with goodies for around $2 US. 

Except, half way through filling our order, the tiny gray-haired woman jumps up quicker than lightening, grabs all the baskets and runs into a darkened hair salon across the street.  We are left bewildered on the sidewalk, saying "WTF?!"  But it quicky becomes clear to me what is happening when a moment later a police van cruises down the street.  Once the cops are gone, the lady comes back with a smile and rearranges her goods on the sidewalk. 

We got our bag of groceries and several more along the same street from similar black market grannies.  At the end of the shopping excursion, we had bought a variety of fruits and veggies totalling about $6 US.  We also got a new copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam for $5. 

SIM City

One weekend, Darby, Kris, and I took the morning bus to Seoul on a  cell phone-purchasing mission.
Upon arrival in Seoul, we hopped on one of the busy city buses and headed into the neighborhood of Itaewon.  Itaewon is known as the "foreigner district" of Seoul (and possibly all of Korea).  It is one of the only places in Seoul where you can see up to 12 westerners on the same street at the same time.  This familiarity should be comforting, but for some reason that I can't quite pinpoint, I find the foreign presence a bit eerie and unnerving.  Hmmm...maybe it's the huge military complex across the road.

Anyway, we were counting on Darby to guide us to the tiny, back-alley, Nigerian-owned convenience store that has the cheapest cell phone deals in the country.  However, considering she'd only been there once, and that the neighborhood is littered with back alleys, it is no surprise that we got a little bit lost trying to find it.  We did get to wander around a great little area full of antique shops, so the search was nice even though we never made it to the destination.

We never did find the store that day, but returned the next weekend and found it with the help of a map, hand-drawn by a co-worker who is more familiar with the area.  The Nigerian was a nice and attractive man.  His store sold a smattering of foreign goods (dried chickpeas, Nutella, Campbell's soup, coconut milk, Guiness...) and an array of recycled cell phones.  Appartently, it's quite easy and standard practice in Asia to recycle a cell phone by simply switching the SIM card hidden behind battery in the back of the phone.  What a revelation!  The SIM cards access different satellite signals and come with a generous first helping of minutes.  I bought a Barbie-pink phone (the cheapest he had that day) with about 100 minutes for $25.  If I'd been there a day or two earlier, during his special cell SALE, I could have got the whole sha-bang for $10.  If I'd had a compatible phone, I could have just switched the SIM card for about $5.

The moral of the story is: When in Asia, skip the house phone, and just buy a new SIM card for your existing phone.