The Tailors of Hoi An
Hello again!!
We’ve just finished our trip through Vietnam, and once again we had a great time. Kendra and I both feel that Vietnam has its own distinct vibe that sets it apart from the other SE Asian countries. This could have been because of our recent 2.5-month stint in China but seriously it did feel different and we loved it!
From the last update you may or may not remember that we were in Ninh Binh (just south of Hanoi) on motorbikes touring the countryside. Next we headed south along the backpacker trail to Hue - Hoi An - Nha Trang - Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City depending on your politics) - and the Mekong Delta (check out the map link).
In Hue we spent a day touring the Perfume River visiting ancient tombs, pagodas and watching the local river life. We also walked around the old town, which much to my eternal happiness was another World Heritage site (check). Here we saw our fist real evidence of the Vietnam War as we walked past old American tanks and armored units “captured” by the Viet Cong near the end of the war in 1975. We also saw an old American bunker along the city's Ancient Citadel walls and a site of several battles. We would see a lot more reminders of the War before we left Vietnam.

American Tank in Hue. The sign says (and this is exactly whats written same spelling and grammar)
"M48 Tank with artillery of the US equipped to puppet soldiers for raiding and killing the people. In the spring 1975 campaign. Captured by the liberation army at Phu Bai on 25 March 1975."
Different perspective.

Kendra snuck a nice picture at a market in Hue.

Ming Mang Tomb in Hue on our day trip down the perfume river.
We stayed in Hue for a comfortable 3 nights and headed to Hoi An. Here we encountered the world famous Tailors of Hoi An...dun dun dun... they definitely deserve special mention. Tailors are everywhere in Hoi An. Custom made clothes is the business and business is gooood! For us, this was one of the reasons we were there, and like most travelers we met, we were a little wary/nervous of the whole process. First thing first, we had to pick out a shop. This took some time but eventually we found one based on an off hand reference from another couple. We dove in. For the next 6 days we would be there twice a day everyday (except one). The closest thing either of us has had for a job in months (hehe, sorry to rub it in, not really :) ). We started out with a little feeler to see if shop was any good. For me they made one pair of pants and one shirt (yes Kendra helped pick out colours) and Kendra had one dress made. This went well and we started our main order, which consisted of several suits, shirts, pants and dresses (I only got one, the Tailor said it brought out my eyes...ha, cheesy). The fitting process was sometimes fun, but mostly painful, like I said we were there every day making sure we got what we wanted, we did our best but we knew nothing about tailor made clothes, material, stitching, floating canvas's, French cuffs, plackets, English style, lining, burn tests....the list goes on. Our greatest fear was that because we've lost so much weight (a shocking 9 kg each), when we get home the clothes wouldn’t fit. Of course the obvious reply is, don't gain the weight back, thanks, but just in case, we hammered it into the tailor every day that they had to fit when we got home...we'll see. You should have seen us...the fittings were pretty comical; we'd walk into the store like the travelers we were, sandals, swimsuits, and t-shirts. We would get all dressed up, talk about nipping here, and tucking there...it was like we were in some parallel universe. Afterwards we'd step back outside and resume our backpacker role by checking out the beach or site seeing. At one point we were both in our suits and got shivers down our spine as it looked like we were about to head off to work, yikes. In the end the clothes looked good and we were happy with them although the whole process took its toll on our enthusiasm. Oh and just a heads up, Mom, you’ve got several packages on its way home from Vietnam; hope there’s room (Dad?).

Getting fitted at the tailors and yes, that is a look of confusion on my face.

Kendra in a nice new skirt and one of her new shirts. She looks happy!
Hoi An wasn't just about tailors and clothes, it also boasts two, count them, two, World Heritage sites. They are:
1) Hoi An Old Town: made up of a mixture of Chinese, Japanese and European Architecture. There are temples, cafe’s, theatres, craft shops and of course tailors.
2) My Son (pronounced - Me Sun, meaning – Beautiful Mountain): are Cham ruins with buildings dating back as far as the 7th century AD. Cham is the historical name for the ethnic group that settled the area and which still makes up a large portion of the population. This area was a religious center from the late 4th century and was occupied until the 13th century – the longest period of development of any monument in SE Asia (including Angkor Wat, or so says the guidebook)! The jungle has had a few centuries to reclaim the site which gives the area that much more appeal. Despite its significance (and probably because of it) My Son did not escape the war and we saw evidence of destruction from the fighting including a massive crater near one of the biggest groups of buildings.

"My Son" ruins outside of Hoi An. In the bottom right quadrant you can see a bomb crater from the Vietnam War.
Other than tailors and heritage sites, much to Kendra's happiness we spent some days on the fantastic nearby beach, our first few official beach days since we left Koh Tao at the beginning of April! (and Kendra thought we’d be beaching it all the time, it wasn’t so bad, right babe :)?)

The beach at Hoi An. Brings a tear to the eye.
Nha Trang was our next stop where we also spent time on a beautiful beach. One day we did an island tour, snorkeling, diving, beach volleyball. Who could forget the floating styrofoam bar or the call from the server, “Hey everybody, we-got-f’n-shitty-ass-wine, but-don-worry-is-free!!!”. A nice surprise here was on our last day when we met up with our long lost friends from Tibet, Warren and Jody. We caught up with our respective travel stories since we last saw them and reminisced about our Tibet adventure, it was good fun (not to mention some solid Frisbee on the beach)
Finally after spending almost two weeks (half our total time in Vietnam) in Hoi An and Nha Trang we left for Saigon. Our Visa was running out so we couldn’t really explore the city much. We did get to spend 1 day at the famous Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War though. Here we crawled through tunnels made by the Viet Cong, got a lesson on how guerilla warfare works, and even fired an AK-47. The whole day was an eye opener on how the Vietnamese had to live during the war. We didn’t have long to think about it though as the next day we were off to Cambodia on a 2 day trip up the Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh.

Cu Chi Tunnels. That is the standard entrance into this extensive system built by the Vietnamese. This was just before I went into the tunnel which hasn't been changed since the war. There were bats hanging from the roof, which was only about 4 feet high, and several corners to get me turned around. A humbling experience considering that some Vietnamese lived in these tunnels for several years at a time!

A booby trap devised by the Viet Cong. This would obviously cause a lot of damage, they had several others equally as leathal.
The trip began early in the morning. Once again this was in a “tour format” which we generally don’t like, but time constraints and the fact that it guaranteed we’d make it to the border the next day proved its worth. Actually the trip was a pleasant surprise. It started out with a bus and then a boat ride to an island in the massive delta. We spent the next two days going up canals on several islands and visiting little cottage industries such as coconut candy villages, honey bee farms, and floating houses with fish farms underneath. We spent one night at a border town on the Delta called Chau Doc, and then headed up the Mekong river to Phnom Penh. What an amazing trip. The Mekong delta is huuugge, we only saw a fraction of it in 2 days. It was particularly special for Kendra and I as we had crossed the river in 5 of the 6 countries it flows through. We saw its beginnings in Tibet, its middle in Laos/Thailand and its end in Vietnam and Cambodia!! A travelers dream!

Travelling down a small canal on an island in the Mekong Delta.

Typical Vietnamese house along the Mekong Delta.

Taking in the view as we headed to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I feel long winded (as Kendra says) today so I thought I’d go on a little bit more with insight into something about traveling that you don’t usually hear about, other travelers. When we write back home, update the website, or tell stories of where we’ve been, its obviously much more interesting to tell everybody about the locals, the funny stories, the different cultures and traditions of the area. However, when reporting travels back home one tends to ignore the fact that we are also meeting people/foreigners from all over the world.
In Asia the typical way you meet travelers is either on the bus, or in the restaurant. You might find yourself having dinner with a couple of people from your latest overnight bus. Once you’re at dinner conversations usually begin with innocent questions about where you’re from, or where you’ve been. It gets interesting next when, depending on the people, the conversation might develop into a discussion about the continuing crisis in the middle east, or maybe an analysis of censorship in communist countries versus western countries, even better the pros and cons of traveling over long periods of time vs. a short period of time. Inevitably there is always mention about US foreign policy (they dip their fingers in everything). You better believe it, traveling doesn't just give you an excuse to take photos of everything, ride on the back of motorbikes, dodge insane traffic, and have a banana shake every day, it also gives you the chance to debate everything from traveling to terrorism, politics to religion, or, the "you-don't-have-to-eat-local-food-at-every-meal" debate (most of these are not actually debates, it seems that the people we’ve met at least generally have the same opinion on things, ie. its OK to order a Pizza). You meet so many people from different parts of the world who for the most part seem to love conversation. I'm sure we've saved the world 3 times since we've left, or at least stopped injustices in 2 African countries (the best results come over beers after a good meal). In Vietnam, it also helped that it was so cheap we could actually afford a room with a TV. We were able to get caught up on recent news, wars, crisis, and what-not (still can’t believe the Tour de France) that we have missed. Its one of those things that you don't often hear about from traveling, the conversations, ideals and personalities you meet along the way. It’s as much about people as it is about places. Ohhh, the nostalgia is setting in.
OK so after all that I’ll just say that Vietnam was a place of bus tours, boat trips, tourist traps, heritage sites, beaches, history, great people and good food, the whole package! A vacation from a vacation. Now we’re in the home stretch for Asia, another 4 weeks and we’ll be basking in the Australian sun. Take it easy back home or wherever you are.
Mike and Kendra
2 Comments:
Bravo! Bravo!
Another great update. The bit about meeting other travellers and discussing all issues was great! You've managed to find another way to make us feel like we're actually there...sort of. Obviously we're still at work bitter :-)
With Care,
Pablo & Sue
Kendra,
Are you finding jobs for all of us in Asutralia or are you coming home? I would really like to have you back so, I can keep your chair warm if you want it. Let me know.
R
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