Once again, we arrived in a new city in the evening and had a chance to wander around a bit in the dark. We love the feeling of discovery that first night, and without fail, it feels new again the following morning when we start exploring in the daylight.
The area near our hotel was interesting and we saw a few cool things but it seemed very quiet, which after Ho Chi Minh was very welcomed but, we were a little skeptical about.
We walked a little farther and there it was – the waterfront – with the lanterns, the food carts, the restaurants, the night market and the PEOPLE!!
The next morning, we were very thankful that we had appreciated the walkabout the previous night because the rain had arrived! We pulled out our rain jackets for the first time, borrowed some umbrellas and headed towards our first pampering destination: Kimmy Tailors.
We had heard from several sources that Hoi An was THE place in Asia to get custom clothes made but we weren’t convinced we would join the craze. Soon, however, and to no one’s surprise I’m sure, we had each thought of a few items that would come in handy when we got back home and decided that maybe we should go for it; we are in Hoi An, the weather was crummy and we promised to be present and aware of our surroundings.
Jump forward a couple of hours and we had been measured and paid for a number of pieces each.
Well, of course they have a handmade bag and shoe store connected to their business and… my sandals had broken in my little tripping incident in Ho Chi Minh so… I was measured for new made-to-fit sandals.
They said they’d be ready in an hour and a half so, why not a coffee? But, on the way we discovered Alley Spa, so we changed gears and got a massage for me and reflexology for Paul.
With time to spare, we found a cool little coffee shop at the end of the alley and, though I had to hop out twice, once to try on my sandals and then again to pick them up, I enjoyed my first ‘egg coffee’ in Vietnam.
A couple more visits to Kimmy Tailor, 1 more visit to the same spa and coffee shop, an amazing cooking class, several walks in the rain, watching Vietnam and Thailand face off in the final football match of some big competition from an Irish Pub on the waterfront, the discovery of a great family-run roadside breakfast place and before we knew it, our Hoi An visit had come to a close.
We didn’t do what we had expected to do in Hoi An but, we adapted our expectations, went with what was presented to us and in the end, it all turned out great.
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