Vietnam: Hoi An

After having breakfast in a fog following my sleepless twelve-hour bus ride, I wearily climbed into bed for a nap. After waking feeling much more refreshed, Erin and I ventured out into he streets to get a taste of what Hoi An is famous: tailor-made clothing. We were recommended to visit Impressions, a particular shop near our hotel, and before I knew it, I had designed two outfits, chosen fabric, and swiped my flaggling Visa for $65. Little did I know, in my excitement, that this was just the beginning of a tailor-made nightmare!

After all the days's activities, Erin and I were wiped out, so we decided to have another girls' night in. After a few failed attmepts at watching a DVD in our room, and vegging out on entirely too much junk food (which, unfortunately, is becoming an all-too-common tradition for us here in Vietnam, as I am beginning to discover in my waistline!), Erin and I fell asleep.

Yesterday morning, I headed to the Impressions shop for my first fitting. I tried on the dress, along with an 80s outfit-thing I designed, reminding myself throughout the ordeal that this was only an initial fitting. Afterwards, I popped into a shoe shop to get fitted for some fancy sandals before finding myself in yet another clothing shop, designing a silk top. Finally, I forced myself away from the shops and onto a rented bicycle for the 5km peddle to the beautiful Cua Dai beach, what I consider the nicest beach I have seen in Vietnam. On the way back to town, I passed Mike, Max, and Evan, the American boys I have continued to run into while traveling (it was not a coincidence, as we have been e-mailing and planning for awhile to meet up in Hoi An). We made plans to meet later, I went through a more distressing second clothing fitting, and by 6:30 pm we were showered and the boys were at our place to take us to dinner.

Mike's parents were in town, so the boys, Erin, and I were unexpectedly and kindly treated to a delicious dinner beside Hoi An's riverfront. It was nice to spend an evening with Mr. and Mrs. Maziar...even though it was my first time meeting them, I thoroughly enjoyed being in the company of "parents," not to mention parents from Georgia. It actually was quite comforting to be around them in all the craziness of traveling!

After dinner, we kids said goodnight to the Maziar's and hungout at our hotel for a bit. Eventually, we headed to the Dream Bar on the edge of town, where we met tons of interesting new people, including a group of lovely English guys. Soon enough, we headed back to town, where I played a sad game of Texas Hold 'Em with the Brits. After losing out of the game, Greg, one of the Brits, and I took a scenic walk, finding ourselves by the riverfront just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. We wandered through the central market, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells with awe as the Vietnamese scurried about, preparing fo the long day ahead. We eventually left the hustle and bustle of the awakening market and found a bench by the water to watch the sun rise amidst the clouds of coral, pink, and blue.

Finally, exhausted, Greg managed to score us a free motorbike ride back to our respective hotels (the driver took pity on his broken flip-flop), we said goodnight, and I climbed into bed around 7:30 am.