Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

After having caught up on some much needed beach time at Hoa’s Place we made our way to Hoi An in an unofficial taxi driven by one of Hoa’s friends. We planned on staying at the same hotel as a couple of new friends so we got dropped off there.

We went into the hotel and set our bags down behind us as we started negotiating a fair price for a room. After asking the price of the room we turned around and all of our bags had disappeared – there was nothing there but the ring of water that my cold water bottle had left behind. We spun around the lobby looking and I dashed out the door to see if anyone was going down the street with our stuff. All was quiet. I even searched a taxi that was waiting for a customer outside on the street. We asked the lady behind the counter where our bags went and she told us the bellboy was taking them to our room. The room we hadn’t agreed to take. We demanded that she reurn our things and waited anxiously until the trolley returned with our things on board. Needless to say we grabbed our stuff and went down the road to the next nice looking hotel and checked in.

After we got settled in and secured our bags in the new room we went outside and walked around the town to get a lay of the land. We strolled through the market and found a nice restaurant along the water to have dinner. After dinner we went back to our new hotel and were pleased to find our belongings safe and untouched. I can think of few things more terrifying than losing all of your belongings while traveling. We learned our lesson and were able to move on. I think we had been lulled into a sense of security after having been on a quiet beach with such an honest hotel operator.

The next morning we got up and went outside to rent ourselves a motorbike. We only had a few things we really wanted to accomplish in the city and wanted the freedom of a motorbike to explore further outside the city. The traffic was easy to navigate and we really enjoyed having our own wheels for a change. We had a great time seeing ‘the real Vietnam’.

One of the things we wanted to do in the city was to get some clothes made. Brynn had a few things in mind that she wanted and I needed a new suit and wanted a couple of other things as well. I’ve never had tailored clothes before but it really is quite easy to do in Hoi An. First day is choosing and measuring. Second day is fitting for fine tuning and increasing your order because everything is so nice. Third day is final fitting and either shipping them home or taking them with you. I am not a big shopper but I can see how easy it would be to get carried away with tailored clothes. It is a totally different experience to have clothes that fit your body exactly instead of trying things on off the rack.

Hoi An is a great place for shopping but also has some incredible beaches nearby. You need to get outside the city to find the beaches and can either get there by pedal bike or motorbike. There are also plenty of decent restaurants in the town although most of them have just about the same menu and prices so you just have to pick the location you prefer.

I really enjoyed Hoi An and would put it high on a list for return visits or would at least highly recommend it to others especially if you are not doing extensive traveling afterward on a budget. The city itself was very touristy but still nice because you can break away to the beaches whenever you like. We also noticed that prices were slightly higher there because there are so many people coming there just to spend money. (The stores and beaches were bustling with Australians while we were there.)

The funniest memory I have of Hoi An involves two dogs being attached together after mating in the street in front of our restaurant one evening. I had no idea that occasionally animals can get locked together facing in opposite directions. The curious readers can either check it out on Google or ask a veterinarian for more information.