We were quite excited to visit Hoi An, a “charming little town on a river & canal system, known for its food & allure”, I think largely due to a downtown area lit up w lanterns at night. Day one we spent wandering the town and eating, per usual. As the day wore on, I grew a bit weary as the volume of tourists in the old town only increased. I recalled something Clare, a Brit living in Saigon for 2 years teaching English whom we met at Doc Let, said about the city… “It’s 100% devoted to tourism but somehow it’s the most amazing place that you’ll just love.” I was not loving it that night as tourists w their selfie sticks were in my way, vendors harassing me to send a lighted candle down the canal so a wish would come true would not relent, & the locals handing out happy hour flyers to all the ladies enticing them to enter their bars were like mosquitos to my sweet blood. I went to bed thinking I was in a nightmare bc we had already paid 4 nights hotel. I thought I was going to love it & I was initially disappointed; but I refused to give up that easy.  Thankfully, I grew to like & appreciate the city over the next few days & found during the day, it’s much calmer & less overrun w tourists, so we tended to be out & about during the day & simply parked ourselves at night for dinner & drinks to minimize annoyances.
The food. The food is ridiculous & made any annoyances w the city so worth it. Starting w lunch on day 1. Blew my mind. Dumplings, spicy grilled scallops, Hoi An special banh mi (pork & sausage) & grilled prawns in tamarind sauce. Up to this point, I’d probably lost 5 lbs on the trip due to the activity, despite all the eating, but based on this lunch, Hoi An, as the “food capital of Vietnam”, came fully into focus so I thought I’d pack those 5 pounds right back on. Happily.
The local specialty is cao lao – noodles w pork & greens & amazing sauce plus the chili spice you add. I loved it so f’g much that I ate it 3 times in 24 hours (Amy only 2x), including from an amazing street food vendor.
It’s not only about food, it’s also about expert immediate tailoring. Apparently the thing to do is to show a picture of a dress/suit/etc, pick out the fabric & these seamstresses churn out a perfect replica in 48 hours inclusive of a couple fittings. Jobless, w more suits & dresses than I can count, but who doesn’t need one more? I found a great dress in this Saigon shop, when the shopgirl wouldn’t negotiate on price (WTF… Amy laughs at my negotiation obsession… I have to do it & I always feel like I get a deal but I’m sure I’m still getting ripped off; I just love the dance so much so Amy lets me take charge there; I wish we did this is the US), so I sneaked 3 perfect pics of it to have it recreated in Hoi An. But the process seemed so overwhelming as I bet the city has over 300 tailor shops & it turned me off so much night one, that my heart just wasn’t in it so I didn’t get it made.
Instead, we hung out w our hotel neighbors. By day, it’s an empty restaurant/bike & motorbike rental/laundry storefront run by the cutest old Vietnamese couple. They did our laundry for us one day for 60 cents per kg. They hounded us to come for coffee/lunch/drinks thereafter so we finally relented & found that at night, their charming little place turns into the hottest bar in town, managed by their grandson. They gave us a dope table overlooking the street & river & the cute old man let me use the private bathroom upstairs vs wait in line w rest of bar patrons. I felt like we made it.