SE ASIA Pt. 5 - Vietnam (Hội An)

I was pretty much a bastard to be around during my 6th day in Vietnam. Why? Answer - Because of the 12 hours of hell I was put through to get to our next destination, Hoi An.

Here's what happened.. we opted to take a sleeper coach which left Nha Trang at 7 pm. We knew the trip would take about 12 hours and we did infact arrive at the ETA (7am the folling morning), so that was all good. But during the 12 hour trip, I really f'ing suffered. Firstly, there was a slight issue with my bunk. I knew it wouldn't be the comfiest of things, but there was no padding in my bunk from my calf down to my feet. Therefore, I had to deal with a metal plate and wooden brackets in the area where the padding once was. Ive been in worse conditions, so I dealt with it.

The major problem was the elderley Vietnamese gentlemen on the bunk beside me (about 50 cm separation between bunks). Other than the fact that he consistently snored during his sleep, he was also having what I assumed to be nightmares. He would start talking out loud, and the next thing I know he was hitting me in my arm/head. He would wake up, look at me, apologise, and the get back to sleep only doing it again 30 minutes later. Why the fuck couldnt he bother his wife, who was on the bunk on the other side of him. Shit was ridiculous. I did feel bad for the guy (if the nightmares were war related - veteran perhaps?) but at the same time I wanted to choke him in his sleep (shit, I was tired ok).

So yeh.. got zero sleep, caught a cold due to the air con vent right above my head (which wouldn't close), and finally stumbled off the coach with sore calfs due to the wooden brackets digging into them for 12 hours straight. Ok enough with the rant...

Hoi An is another coastal town on the South China Sea, located in the Quảng Nam province. Hoi An is known for one thing, it's textile industry and the fact that every second store front is a Tailor. People come here for one thing.. to get fitted out with tailor made items at low low prices. Mike G, my mate I travelled with, ended up getting a pretty slick three piece cashmere suit tailor made, along with a trench coat and some business shirts. However, we didn't go to no ordinary street side tailor for this, we had to go to the BEST. It's how we do, haha.. :

And the best was Yaly!
We heard about this place as it was featured in the Top Gear Vietnam Special, that aired earlier in the year. Jeremy and the crew went to Yaly to get suits tailor made (which they totally destroyed later in the special).

This place was dope. You give the girls a picture of what you're after (have an extensive range of fashion magazines to designer lookbooks) and they'll replicate the piece to its most minute deatil - once you have been measured up and chosen the fabric of your choice (walls and walls of fabric, every designers dream).
Got back to our hostel after Yaly, and crashed for a couple of hours. Woke up to cop some dinner in the old town.
Fresh beer for 4000 VND, thats like 30 cents. Pitty I dont get my drink on.
Mmmm fried rice with vegetables and tofu - crack.
Went back to hostel and crashed till the next morning. Awoke, went and picked up Mike G's new threads and shipped them back home, then organised some transportation to our next destination (where we would be spending more than 1 night for a change) Hue!

To get to Hue, we had to catch a mini bus to Danang, then hopped onto a train for the final leg there. Total trip to Hue took about 4.5 hours and cost just under 15 AUD.
The next post will be a large one since we covered quite a lot during our stay in Hue. I'll get to it once I'm back from my Melbourne trip (28th July - 4th August). Until then I'll try to regularly update the blog with other randomness.

Peace out.