Next stop was the tailors. There are tailors everywhere in Hoi An all with pretty much the same designs of clothes on mannequins outside their shops. Inside there are walls of fabric to choose from and some old next directories to have a look through. They can make anything from catalogues, pictures, or from the internet. A few of our group had suits made and some trousers copied and also a wedding dress!
They also had shops where you could have prescription glasses made. You couldn't call them am opticians, but they tried to! Just a pace to get knock off designer glasses and also put lenses in. I got some knock off Ray Bans with prescription lenses for $40! They only took over night to make and I love them. I had to get them made darker, but now they are great. I also bought another pair of the same glasses without perscription lenses and a different pair too. All of these for $65, not bad!
In the evening we went out for dinner at this bizarre place. We sat out in an alley with scooters driving past and got the only thing on the menu, spring rolls - roll your own style! The waitresses came out with rice paper, herbs, grilled pork and chicken, sauces, and Vietnamese pancakes and you get rolling! They come and show you want to so and they were very entertaining! It was delicious and just kept coming! I should have taken a photo! Drinks on a boat on the river finished off a great day.
After collecting my glasses on our second day in Hoi An we took walk around the old town. It was so beautiful. All 2 storey yellow buildings with shops at the bottom and houses above on narrow streets. I'm not sure what period they were built but they were beautiful. The river was beautiful too with a pretty bridge and also the old Japanese bridge just off the river.
So beautiful! We had tea in a charity tea shop which is run by the deaf. It also had a shop which sells the most beautiful things made by disabled crafts people. I bought a beautiful brass hammered coffee filter and a jug for mum. It the tea shop we has the drinks served in items you could buy from the shop. It was beautiful! I wish I could have afforded a tea set!
In the afternoon we went on a bike ride through the countryside. We set off on the crappiest bikes, no gears and very limited brakes! We did some scary cycling through town, through junctions with no right of way and around badly parked vehicles and being beeped at my scooters constantly! We made our way out into the paddy fields and cycled through those for a while watching the farmers harvesting the rice.
It was really nice to be out in the countryside but we spent a lot of time off reading on these crappy bikes which was a bit terrifying and rather saddle sore inducing! We cycled through many herb gardens which were laid out allotment style, but with so much accuracy with the spacing between the plants was so precise it looked as if all the plants were laid with a ruler and set square. They were so beautiful.
We stopped off to have a ride on a water buffalo! As usual it seems that I can't help but want to ride the local wildlife! We clambered on and a guide led us around the paddy field.
The monsoon rain then started for the afternoon and it was a soggy ride towards the river past so many houses and fish fields. At the river I was so happy to get off the bike and sit undercover on the boat as to sailed back into town! After this we cycled back through the old town to our hotel.
In the evening we went out for dinner in a great restaurant called Streets which takes streets kid in and trains them to work in the hospitality or chef industry. We watched a video about how the charity works and how successful all the graduates have been. With such a booming tourist industry their skills are in high demand. The food was amazing too. I had a cao lau for main which was a noodle dish with fresh herbs, tofu and croutons. It was amazing. A Hoi An speciality.
On our final day in Hoi An we hired bikes and rode out to Cua Dai beach. It was a bit hairy cycling through town and though the free for all junctions! As soon as we got to the beach we were jumped on to pay for our parking and buy drinks and food and sun loungers, but once past that the beach was really nice. Lots of circular fishing boats everywhere and the sea was nice and calm. South China Sea, tick. It was quite overcast but good and warm.
I didn't stay for long, but of course by the time I'd cycled back to Hoi An the sun came blaring out! A final walk around the old town in the afternoon made my day and then dinner and drinks in the evening topped off a great few days in my newly favourite place.
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