7th - 10th July
.... Hoi An would be it.
So we were getting a sleeper train to Hoi An at the end of the last entry. At around 10am on Saturday 7th July (15 hours into the journey) we checked what time we were due to land, still 2pm was the answer, which was fine. At 1pm we were told to get off the train and, after much confusion, we figured out we had arrived at our destination a full hour early!! Whatever about a bus being dependent on traffic, not sure how a train managed to gain an hour!!
Anyways arrived in Hoi An and instantly loved it! If you have no interest in clothes or food look away now cos our few days in Hoi An only revolved around both! It was like paradise for me!
When we met Mark and Jennifer in Hanoi they gave us a map of street food restaurants to eat in and in particular a woman on a little wooden hut selling the Best Pork Sandwich in the World! When we arrived we were starving so decided to test it out, well he wasn't wrong. Amazing doesn't cover it and I didn't know a sandwich could taste that good! We had one every day, the picture below is our €1 lunch for the sambo and fruit drink!
The next thing we had to do was go around the tailors to see about getting clothes made. Ronan wanted a fancy suit for weddings and a work suit. I wanted dresses for Noelle & Mick's wedding and Niamh & Sean's. I had also found pictures of two jackets online that I could be tempted by if the price was right. I had done a lot of research as, like everything in Vietnam, there are so many scammers. I had an A4 page with details of good tailors for suits/dresses/jackets and ones to avoid all written out! So went to the first few and weren't happy with different things. Then we found a place called Blue, where we eventually ended up spending most of the next few days!! So on the Saturday afternoon Ronan ordered a really nice suit for weddings and a winter jacket and I got ordered two jackets and two dresses. Afterwards I was really apprehensive because of all I had read but we had ordered and paid a deposit so just a matter of hoping for the best!
We were due back for fittings at 2pm the next day. I was nervous and not sure what to expect but we were absolutely delighted with the results! There were a few nip tucks to be done but everything was looking great. It was very strange to be trying on jackets and nice dresses in 34 degrees heat. Worse still for Ronan was trying on a 3 piece suit! I thought he was going to pass out when the dressmaker reminded him that he needed to put his winter jacket over it to make sure it fit right!! He nearly decked her struggling out of it in his haste to get it off! Things were looking so good that Ronan ordered another suit for work!
I then felt more confident to order some more dresses from cheaper places so ended up ordering two from Kha Huy and two from Miss Forget-me-not! Ronan also ordered shirts from a place called Lana. So it was a successful afternoon but actually really tiring! After all the fittings, being measured etc we needed a break and did the decidedly un-backpacker and even un-flashpacker thing of going into a place for a glass of wine and a cheese plate! You all know how I love my cheese and was really missing it! While we were hanging in the restaurant Sally and John from the Halong Bay tour facebooked to say they had just landed in Hoi An aswell so it was really funny when we walked outta the restaurant and randomly met them in the street! We had a bit of a catch up and arranged to meet again that evening for dinner. Had a lovely evening and a few drinks before heading back to the hotel, at what we thought was a very reasonable hour of 11.30pm, to find our hotel completely shuttered up! So we had to rise the guy out for the count in the hammock on the front porch to get our room key. We were the last guests to get back and party animals we are not!
The following morning the alarm went off at 4.30am as we were heading on a tour to a set of temples called My Son, we booked this tour supposedly to see sunrise over the temples. What we didn't know was that we would be watching the sunrise as we drove around Hoi An picking up various other tourists at hotels and getting petrol! Bad start! We finally got to the temples at 7am and went to the first site. Then one of the tourists had an accident so the tour stopped and had to wait for her to get medical attention which obviously was fine. What was not fine was the fact that we were marched straight back to the bus afterwards and brought to multiple souvenir shops to make up the time so we were still gone on the tour for 5.5 hours having only spent 30mins at the temples! Not impressed!
We headed back to bed when we eventually got back to Hoi An ( not until we had indulged in a magnificent sandwich first though) to get some sleep before heading for more fittings! We went back to Blue first where there was a problem with one of my dresses but Ronan's work suit was looking fab. All the things we ordered on Saturday were finished and looking amazing. Then onto Kha Huy for two dresses, I was delighted at the quality as I only got them for going out but they are so nice I am saving them for good wear. The straps on both had to be slightly adjusted but everything else perfect. Next we had a half hour to fit in a break and a sneaky mojito before going to Miss Forget-Me-Not. When we got there the clothes weren't ready but I needed to try them as we were leaving the following day.
So I did possibly the most foolish thing I have done in 8 years of holidays/travelling and got on the scooter with her to head out to get house to try them on. I was on the bike before I knew it and only realised then that I had no money or phone.
Cue my imagination running wild about being raped or murdered (Ronan thought at most it'd be a couple of days working in a sweat shop)! Anyways got to her house (or what we would call a lock-up at home) and tried on the dresses. One needed slight alterations which were done on the spot and we headed back into town quite happy! We were gone 40 mins so I thought Ronan would be waiting worried about his wife but no sign of him (he'd actually gone around buying bits and pieces as carefree as you would like!). I was chatting with a family from UK in the meantime and said something the women in the shop didn't like so they called me outside and read me the riot act! I was not impressed. Ronan landed back at this stage having met John and Sally randomly again! I just paid for the clothes and left with a very bad taste in my mouth. Would not recommend this shop based on how quickly they turned over something tiny.
Anyways after this we had to go collect everything else so back to 3 different shops to try everything on again so arranged to meet Sally and John later on for drinks. Everything collected we were wrecked! We decided to do street food for dinner, not just because it was dirt cheap but because it tastes better than anything you would get in a restaurant. We had some amazing dishes in places like this.
We had 4 or 5 different things, big meals all for the princely sum of less than €4. Food hygiene is gone out the window - we actually don't care that someone isn't wearing gloves and touching our food! This is coming from the girl who wrote a letter of complaint to Tesco about their handling of meat at the raw meat counter in Carrick not 6 months ago!!!
After the fabulous street food experience we met Sally and John again. We were kicked outta the bar at 10.30pm so wandered into another small joint where we were basically in someone's sitting room! If you have a fridge or bike around here you can set up a business! Last ones back to the hotel again but it is known as being a town that finishes up early.
The following day, Tuesday 10th we had to check out of our hotel before heading to our cookery class. We did it at the Goian Cookery School where it was just us and an instructor. We got to pick 4 dishes to cook and better still, got to eat everything afterwards. It was brilliant and we were surprised at how easy the dishes were! Everything was delicious if I say so myself! Be prepared for Vietnamese themed dinner parties when we get home!
We finally collected the last of our clothes from Blue and headed to the post office with bags of clothes, books and souvenirs! The box ended up weighing almost 14kg! We were in behind the counter packing it and Ronan had to carry it to the sorting office out the back, he saw more of a Vietnamese post office than he ever saw of an Irish one!
We had one last pork sandwich for the road before getting the night bus outta Hoi An at 7pm! It was an amazing few in a fabulous little town and probably one of our favourite places we have been.
We didn't know what to expect on the night bus at all but I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. As we were boarding, the bus driver pulled Ronan's bag as he was walking up the steps to the bed and he fell backwards on the giant steering wheel and the horn started to blow really loudly! It went on for a really ling 5 seconds while he tried to get up. Everyone was already bedded down for the night on the bus so got a big shock at the noise, embarrassing or what as they didn't know the driver pulled him! Nice way to start 11 hours on the bus with these people!!
Ronan was all giddy and enthusiastic at the start when he saw that the bus was pretty nice and had no cockroaches but the novelty soon wore off when we was trying to sleep but the beds were too small.
Poor Ronan, being a giant is no fun at times!! He reckoned he only got 2 hours sleep whereas I nodded off around 8pm and a bus staff member woke me at 6am!! Nice 10 hours there. There was a Irish couple on the bus and Kay said she looked at me a few times curled up asleep quite happy looking! I woke a few times when we stopped and they turned on the lights but only for a minute or two! Was actually a grand journey and the beauty of it was saving on a night's accommodation!
.... Hoi An would be it.
So we were getting a sleeper train to Hoi An at the end of the last entry. At around 10am on Saturday 7th July (15 hours into the journey) we checked what time we were due to land, still 2pm was the answer, which was fine. At 1pm we were told to get off the train and, after much confusion, we figured out we had arrived at our destination a full hour early!! Whatever about a bus being dependent on traffic, not sure how a train managed to gain an hour!!
Anyways arrived in Hoi An and instantly loved it! If you have no interest in clothes or food look away now cos our few days in Hoi An only revolved around both! It was like paradise for me!
 |
| The "kitchen" of the World's Best Sandwich |
 |
| Lunch for a euro!! |
The next thing we had to do was go around the tailors to see about getting clothes made. Ronan wanted a fancy suit for weddings and a work suit. I wanted dresses for Noelle & Mick's wedding and Niamh & Sean's. I had also found pictures of two jackets online that I could be tempted by if the price was right. I had done a lot of research as, like everything in Vietnam, there are so many scammers. I had an A4 page with details of good tailors for suits/dresses/jackets and ones to avoid all written out! So went to the first few and weren't happy with different things. Then we found a place called Blue, where we eventually ended up spending most of the next few days!! So on the Saturday afternoon Ronan ordered a really nice suit for weddings and a winter jacket and I got ordered two jackets and two dresses. Afterwards I was really apprehensive because of all I had read but we had ordered and paid a deposit so just a matter of hoping for the best!
We were due back for fittings at 2pm the next day. I was nervous and not sure what to expect but we were absolutely delighted with the results! There were a few nip tucks to be done but everything was looking great. It was very strange to be trying on jackets and nice dresses in 34 degrees heat. Worse still for Ronan was trying on a 3 piece suit! I thought he was going to pass out when the dressmaker reminded him that he needed to put his winter jacket over it to make sure it fit right!! He nearly decked her struggling out of it in his haste to get it off! Things were looking so good that Ronan ordered another suit for work!
I then felt more confident to order some more dresses from cheaper places so ended up ordering two from Kha Huy and two from Miss Forget-me-not! Ronan also ordered shirts from a place called Lana. So it was a successful afternoon but actually really tiring! After all the fittings, being measured etc we needed a break and did the decidedly un-backpacker and even un-flashpacker thing of going into a place for a glass of wine and a cheese plate! You all know how I love my cheese and was really missing it! While we were hanging in the restaurant Sally and John from the Halong Bay tour facebooked to say they had just landed in Hoi An aswell so it was really funny when we walked outta the restaurant and randomly met them in the street! We had a bit of a catch up and arranged to meet again that evening for dinner. Had a lovely evening and a few drinks before heading back to the hotel, at what we thought was a very reasonable hour of 11.30pm, to find our hotel completely shuttered up! So we had to rise the guy out for the count in the hammock on the front porch to get our room key. We were the last guests to get back and party animals we are not!
The following morning the alarm went off at 4.30am as we were heading on a tour to a set of temples called My Son, we booked this tour supposedly to see sunrise over the temples. What we didn't know was that we would be watching the sunrise as we drove around Hoi An picking up various other tourists at hotels and getting petrol! Bad start! We finally got to the temples at 7am and went to the first site. Then one of the tourists had an accident so the tour stopped and had to wait for her to get medical attention which obviously was fine. What was not fine was the fact that we were marched straight back to the bus afterwards and brought to multiple souvenir shops to make up the time so we were still gone on the tour for 5.5 hours having only spent 30mins at the temples! Not impressed!
We headed back to bed when we eventually got back to Hoi An ( not until we had indulged in a magnificent sandwich first though) to get some sleep before heading for more fittings! We went back to Blue first where there was a problem with one of my dresses but Ronan's work suit was looking fab. All the things we ordered on Saturday were finished and looking amazing. Then onto Kha Huy for two dresses, I was delighted at the quality as I only got them for going out but they are so nice I am saving them for good wear. The straps on both had to be slightly adjusted but everything else perfect. Next we had a half hour to fit in a break and a sneaky mojito before going to Miss Forget-Me-Not. When we got there the clothes weren't ready but I needed to try them as we were leaving the following day.
Cue my imagination running wild about being raped or murdered (Ronan thought at most it'd be a couple of days working in a sweat shop)! Anyways got to her house (or what we would call a lock-up at home) and tried on the dresses. One needed slight alterations which were done on the spot and we headed back into town quite happy! We were gone 40 mins so I thought Ronan would be waiting worried about his wife but no sign of him (he'd actually gone around buying bits and pieces as carefree as you would like!). I was chatting with a family from UK in the meantime and said something the women in the shop didn't like so they called me outside and read me the riot act! I was not impressed. Ronan landed back at this stage having met John and Sally randomly again! I just paid for the clothes and left with a very bad taste in my mouth. Would not recommend this shop based on how quickly they turned over something tiny.
Anyways after this we had to go collect everything else so back to 3 different shops to try everything on again so arranged to meet Sally and John later on for drinks. Everything collected we were wrecked! We decided to do street food for dinner, not just because it was dirt cheap but because it tastes better than anything you would get in a restaurant. We had some amazing dishes in places like this.
 |
| Where all the good food is cooked!! |
We had 4 or 5 different things, big meals all for the princely sum of less than €4. Food hygiene is gone out the window - we actually don't care that someone isn't wearing gloves and touching our food! This is coming from the girl who wrote a letter of complaint to Tesco about their handling of meat at the raw meat counter in Carrick not 6 months ago!!!
After the fabulous street food experience we met Sally and John again. We were kicked outta the bar at 10.30pm so wandered into another small joint where we were basically in someone's sitting room! If you have a fridge or bike around here you can set up a business! Last ones back to the hotel again but it is known as being a town that finishes up early.
The following day, Tuesday 10th we had to check out of our hotel before heading to our cookery class. We did it at the Goian Cookery School where it was just us and an instructor. We got to pick 4 dishes to cook and better still, got to eat everything afterwards. It was brilliant and we were surprised at how easy the dishes were! Everything was delicious if I say so myself! Be prepared for Vietnamese themed dinner parties when we get home!We finally collected the last of our clothes from Blue and headed to the post office with bags of clothes, books and souvenirs! The box ended up weighing almost 14kg! We were in behind the counter packing it and Ronan had to carry it to the sorting office out the back, he saw more of a Vietnamese post office than he ever saw of an Irish one!
We had one last pork sandwich for the road before getting the night bus outta Hoi An at 7pm! It was an amazing few in a fabulous little town and probably one of our favourite places we have been.
We didn't know what to expect on the night bus at all but I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. As we were boarding, the bus driver pulled Ronan's bag as he was walking up the steps to the bed and he fell backwards on the giant steering wheel and the horn started to blow really loudly! It went on for a really ling 5 seconds while he tried to get up. Everyone was already bedded down for the night on the bus so got a big shock at the noise, embarrassing or what as they didn't know the driver pulled him! Nice way to start 11 hours on the bus with these people!!
Ronan was all giddy and enthusiastic at the start when he saw that the bus was pretty nice and had no cockroaches but the novelty soon wore off when we was trying to sleep but the beds were too small.
Poor Ronan, being a giant is no fun at times!! He reckoned he only got 2 hours sleep whereas I nodded off around 8pm and a bus staff member woke me at 6am!! Nice 10 hours there. There was a Irish couple on the bus and Kay said she looked at me a few times curled up asleep quite happy looking! I woke a few times when we stopped and they turned on the lights but only for a minute or two! Was actually a grand journey and the beauty of it was saving on a night's accommodation!
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