Hoi An

After Mui Ne, we rushed 900 km north on an overnight bus to Hoi An (central Vietnam). We were trying to get from the south to the north in three weeks, and decided to skip some of the more touristy areas of the south-central coast. We've since decided to extend our visas for another month, so in retrospect there was no need to rush.


Hoi An is one of the most touristy places we've been to, but we didn't hate it. The old city of French colonial buildings is very well preserved, and each building now houses either a restaurant, shop, or tailor. But mostly tailors.


Aside for the historical nature of the city, it is known for its tailors. You can get an entire suit made for $100 at a good tailor or pay $40 to get a suit made that you'd never wear - it's still cheap. Janet had a dress and a skirt made for $15 each. I had four work shirts made from a budget tailor for $9 each and one shirt and two pairs of pants made from a quality tailor ($16 and $20). Just choose the fabric, tell them what you want (or bring a picture), get measured, and pick up your hand-made clothing the next day. I'm normally not the type of person to do this, but since I'll have to buy work clothes eventually anyways, I figured I might as well save some money and get stuff that actually fits.

We've both absolutely loved the food in Vietnam. The taste, the quality, the price, and the fact that you can get a meal at any time of day can't be beat. I think I speak for Janet too, but this is my favorite eating country in Southeast Asia. No offense Rudy & Amelia - if Penang was a country and not a city, it would top my list.

cao lầu

One of the regional specialty foods in Hoi An is cao lầu noodles (pronounced gow lao). As far as I can tell, it's made of thick noodles with some greens, crouton-like crispy bread, and pork, with some beef broth poured on top. It's really tasty.

Being such fans of the food, we decided to take a cooking class! It was fun, but I appreciate our Thai cooking instructor Yui even more now. Our Vietnamese instructor was no Yui! (if anyone ever goes to Chiang Mai and wants to take a cooking class, we've got the best recommendation).

The prep'd food reading for cooking.

We made Vietnamese [papaya] salad, which actually tastes much different than Thai/Lao papaya salad, Hoi An fried spring rolls, grilled fish in banana leaf, and grilled pork in banana leaf. And then we had a feast.

Grilled fish (open) and grilled pork (not yet open).

The amateur chefs - me, Janet, and a friend we met on the overnight bus.

To top off a good night, we went out for "fresh beer." This is beer brewed in Hoi An and it's surprisingly good. One of these 350 ml glasses costs 3000 Vietnamese dong, which is approximately $0.15. If beer was this cheap in America, it would be difficult to not be an alcoholic. You'd often find yourself thinking "I have 30 cents. I could buy this pack of chewing gum, or I could go get two fresh beers." Tough choices.

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