We rolled into Hoi An on our bus watching the sun rising above the rice paddies, seeing the kids going to school, people opening their shops, having coffees before going to work, the fishermen coming back from sea, with their boats full of fresh fish.
It was really lovely see that. People looked genuinely happy with what they did and what they had.
From the bus we walked to the Hostel that was recommended to us. The Sunflower hostel. It was recommended partly because of an amazing breakfast buffet.
Fair enough, I usually am not the breakfast man but since I was awake for a while already I was able to have a good bite as well.
Again, since we arrived so early we couldn't check in yet, so left our bags at reception and went for stroll around town.
Basti had planned a special treat for is in this place. We were going to get suits made.
Tripadvisor has one specific shop it praises and that was Bibi Silk. We quickly found it and indeed, it looked very professional and the taylor girls hovered around us like bees, showing us material, styles and examples of finished suits.
I decided to go for one two-piece suit and three shirts... all tailored to suit me.
Aside from being very reasonable priced it was an really cool experience to get measured for a suit. I felt like Barney Stinson.
After we got the measurements in the shop where the material and different styles were displayed we went on to the actual tailor shop where the guys were sitting and producing the suits.
They measured us again and then we were sent off and told to come back the next day around 11am to check the suits.
Since we were already in the UNESCO protected old town of Hoi An we decided to take a walk around and check out some of the Chinese assembly halls that were left from times where this town was a large Chinese trading post.
The old town consists of a couple of streets with well preserved buildings that create a really nice atmosphere. Obviously most of the buildings now house souvenir shops, restaurants or booking agents, but it is all done in fairly decent way. At least we did not see a huge McDonald sign sticking out of the wall.
While walking around I looked at some shoes and a pretty feisty old lady saw her chance to sell me some tailored shoes. And while I'm here and get my suit done, I might as well pick up some custom made black leather shoes that go with it.
After this exciting morning it was time to go back to the hostel and check in. We didn't spend much time there but got some bicycles and rode to the beach to get some lunch and go for a dip.
It was a bit of a ride so we were hungry when we got there. Relaxing on the sunbeds with some fresh spring rolls and a view onto the sea was well deserved after the action of the last couple of days.
At 5:30 I should go and pick up my new shoes. They were slightly wide around the ankle so, the women took note of that and told me to come back the next morning.
The evening program was to be some dinner with three Americans and then a walk to the famous Japanese Bridge and the area where all the colourful lamps are lit along the river.
It was quite a sight to see and nearly impossible to capture the atmosphere on a photo.
We thought it was the end of the night, but when we came back into the Hostel dorm room a bunch of people sitting on the beds, drinking Vodka Coke dragged us into their conversation and later out on the street.
We tried to just get a beer or two locally but all the restaurants and bars around the hostel were closing down.
As the clubs and bars in Vietnam are very business driven, they send out scooter drivers to pick up thirsty people along the road. So we go some guy offering us a free lift to the a place called "Why not?!"... how could refuse an offer like that? So our answer was "Why Not?" and it was three of us on a scooter going to this place (very quick).
Once again (and not surprisingly) it was one of these headshot places, where you pay 5 USD and can drink as much Vodka Red Bull (or Barcadi Coke) as you like.
I stuck to beer and headed home around three.
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