Hoi an shopping- Hoi an clothes made

Southeast Asia is packed with would-be Buddhists, travelers on a real spiritual mission espousing lives of detachment from material desires. These folks usually walk away with just the "one suit, two shirts, trousers, and a tie package" when they leave Hoi An. Shopaholics wander the streets in a daze.

Hoi An is a silk mecca. The quality and selection are the best in the country, and you'll have more peace and quiet while fitting than in Hanoi. Silk suits are made to order within 24 hours for about $35; cashmere wool is $45. There are countless shops, and the tailoring is all about the same quality and fast. A good way to choose a shop is by what you see out front -- if you see a style you like, it'll help with ordering. Make sure you take the time to specify your style, down to the stitch (it can come back looking pretty cheap without specifics). Try any of the shops along Le Loi; to recommend one in particular would be like recommending one snowflake over another. The tailoring is very fast, but not always great, so plan to have two or three fittings. Be choosy about your cloth, or go to the market and buy it yourself (Hoi An Cloth Market is at 01 Tran Phu St.), and haggle. It's not a bad idea to bring an actual suit or piece of clothing that you'd like a copy of. Get measurements from friends and relatives for good gifts.


Yaly Couture at 47 Nguyen Thai Hoc St. (tel. 0510/910-474) is a good answer to selecting your own tailor from the many budget places. Yes, the prices are higher, but quality comes with more of a guarantee and similar efficient service.

There are also skilled cobblers who make custom shoes at affordable rates. Find them near the market on Tran Phu Street.

Tran Phu Street is lined with art galleries and the good pottery and carved-wood vendors. Along the river, lots of places sell blue and white ceramics. However cumbersome your finds are, like those lovely Chinese lanterns, shopkeepers are masters at packing for travel and to fit in your luggage, and will do so before you've even agreed on a price or decided to buy. Haggle hard.

Que Noi Gallery (83 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.; tel. 0510/863-184) is exemplary of the fine high-end galleries springing up in town.

Hand-painted Chinese scrolls make a great souvenir, and Mr. Ly Si Binh (21 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.; tel. 0510/910-721), can script you anything from Peace or Determination to your best buddy's name (if it's wrong, he won't know the difference anyway). And it's fun to watch cheery Mr. Binh at work, too.

Bambou Company (96 Nguyen Thai Hoc St.) produces unique T-shirts of local theme and design, all Western-size cotton shirts.
 

Hoi An
  
Hoi An town is small and peaceful, the kind of place where you may get stuck for a few days, whether it is intentional or not. Originally known as Faifo, this antique town is bordered on its southern side by the Thu Bon River, along which there's a number of small cafes. Despite the fact that it is now a tourist haven, the artistic atmosphere and local friendly people create an inviting environment.

Hoi An was an important port developed in 17th century and remained so for a long time. There used to be canals parallel to the streets, so merchandise could be loaded straight from the back of houses onto the boats. Hoi An’s continuance as a port lasted right up until the early years of the 20 century, when the river became silted up forcing the cargo ships to call at Da Nang instead.

In the past Hoi An has been used by the Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, French and the large remaining Chinese community where all sorts of produce and wares were traded. Remnants of these past traders’ influences can still be seen lining the streets of Hoi An. There are nine different types of historical sites in Hoi An with an average age of 200 years. They include private houses, family chapels, community halls, communal houses, temples, pagodas, bridges, wells and tombs. Many of these buildings have been maintained close to their original form, allowing you imagination to recreate a prosperous trading town. The houses are small and colorful with wooden doors and two round "wooden house's eyes" above, window shutters and ornamental furniture. A pleasant change from the iron bars and metal grates of other towns.

  
Hoi An is full of shops selling artwork, from lifelike memorial family portraits, to stylized images of Hoi An houses and streets. Next door to the art shops are places selling souvenir statues, ceramic plates, and ‘antique’ bowls. At the market place beside the river, you can pick up almost anything you want. Tourists are often being lured into the markets to buy silk and to have quality garments tailor made. You can have anything from dresses and trousers to shirts and hats made for a cheap price.

Another noticeable quality of Hoi An is its relative silence. There are few cars and people do not feel the urge to use their horns every two seconds. The streets are filled with the hum of voices, motorbikes and the shuffling of thongs along the ground. Hoi An is small enough to get around on foot, and you will need a set of wheels if you are going to Cue Dai Beach, or on a day trip to the Marble Mountains or Da Nang.

A relaxing activity around sunset is to hire a boat from the waterside by the market place. Many of the locals will wait on the river and offer you this service throughout the day and night 
 

Merchant Houses
  
Many of the old merchant houses are lived in by the locals, but fortunately are beautifully preserved. They ca be typically described as having a narrow and lofty interior with a barrel vault ceiling. The street entrance has a shop front where the merchant used to display his goods. This is still used for his purpose n modern Hoi An with its numerous galleries and antique shops. There is also a back room where the merchant’s family, apprentices and servants lived. The entire inside of the house is made of deeply polished hardwood. Walls, columns and entrances are decorated with poems, words, symbols, and patterns. Much of the heavy ornate furniture are originals, however some pieces are replicas. Private houses in this style open to travelers include Tan Ky House that has staff that speak fluent English and French.
 

Japanese Bridge (chua Cau)
  
This bridge was built in 1953 by the Japanese, although this may be hard to pick by its name! Its base is made of stone and the rest of ironwood, jackwood and other hardwoods. The bridge’s purity has been ruined over time with Chinese and Vietnamese ornamentation. There is a pagoda built into one side of the bridge. The bridge is still used as a popular thoroughfare and is on the western end of Tran Phu street.

Phuc Kien Community Hall
  
This is a Chinese Community Hall, but has other uses as a temple, shrine, place of ancestor worship, and a venue for conferences. The Chinese maintain practicality in their worship but since most things in life ca not be guaranteed, superstition also plays a large part in their religious beliefs. The rear contains an altar dedicated to the three gods of health, wealth, and longevity. Three is even a goddess who will stop your baby crying for a sufficient tip. Other community and assembly halls include: the Hainan Chinese Assembly, the ChaoZhou Assembly Hall etc.
 

Assembly Hall of the Cantonese Chinese Congregation

This is beside the Japanese Bridge at 176 Tran Phu street and is a very well maintained, bright and colorful assembly hall. It was founded in 1786 and shoes must be removed before entering.
 
My Son Sanctuary 
  
My Son has what is arguably the best collection of Cham art and architecture in a natural setting in Vietnam. It is somewhat of an arduous journey to get out there, but is well worth the effort. It is easier to get there than going to Angkor and if you do visit My Son, you will have a taste of what Angkor must look like. Though some of the monuments were destroyed during the war or taken by thieves, what remains is still considerable. Many of the structures are overgrown with dense vegetation but you can still enter some of them.
 

Cua Dai beach 
  
This beach is the closest one to Hoi An. It is very beautiful and is well worth a visit to cool off from the heavy heat. The only eyesore are the bizarre changing huts and bungalows. It is an incredibly long beach with loads of room to wander off to do a bit of personal reconnoitering. If you spend a day at the beach and should decide to use one of the deckchairs available, you will be asked to buy either a baguette, a tasty pineapple or a drink. Otherwise you will have to pay for the chair rental. All the prices sought are inflated, but the pineapples in particular are delicious.