Vietnam the third: day 12, Hoi An

Today certainly had marked similarities to the last couple of days: shopping, eating, sweating.

A chunk of the day we spent outside was doing various fittings. Trying on shirts and pants and jackets and shoes and dresses (L for the last two). All of our clothes are looking pretty good, some are even finished.

I had one of those moments when I had an idea, an interesting customised pressie for a few folks back home, so I presented this to one of the shops. They thought they could do it, but at a bit of expense (I mean we like the folks these will be for, just not that much!). At the same time, L had an idea for something else that the shop wasn’t able to do, but they recommended we try one of the markets.

Hoi An is a bit quiet, not many foreign tourists shopping, and the markets are definitely feeling it. Just stepping inside, every stall was trying to get our attention. We eventually selected one that didn’t seem too pushy, pushy but not too pushy, and outlined what we were after. I noticed they did canvas shoes, so I put together an idea for a pair that they said they could do. I also went through the gift idea, and they said they could, but the price was quite a bit more than we felt comfortable paying, given that we’re expecting ok quality, but it probably won’t be as top notch as the other places we’ve been dealing with.

We went back and forth, and they gave the absolute lowest they could possibly make them for. Still too high, so we said don’t worry. L had to go and choose some material, so the other assistant then asked me, what would be the highest price that we’d pay. I picked a number, and then the conversation was, if I go up a little, she’ll ask the makers if they can do it for that, and if not they won’t make. I said okay, as this price was a solid 25% lower than the lowest they could possibly charge. So we shall see, but given that they were quite happy once we concluded, we’re guessing that they’ve got a good deal out of us/screwed us over a little.

And because it’s Hoi An, they then tried to lead us to another stall to buy some clothes from them. It took some doing, but we squirmed away as we had another appointment, and they didn’t have what we were after (though if they do find durian print linen and then find me, I could be in trouble).

Dinner was banh xeo, Hoi An rice pancakes. These are delicious pancakes, filled with chicken, bean sprouts and prawns, that then get greens added (lettuce, mint, Vietnamese basil) before being wrapped in rice paper, dipped in nuoc cham and shoved straight into the mouth. While possibly not the best I’ve had in Hoi An, they were still delicious when paired with Larue beer. L went the Com Ga and coconut juice.

On the way back, I stopped at one of the street vendors, as I’d been curious about the battered things on sticks she was selling. It turns out they are either battered cheese, or battered sausage. I went with the cheese, with a squirt of mayo and sweet chili, and it was okay. Crunchy, definitely more batter than cheese, but a couple of these with a couple of beers wouldn’t go astray.

Tomorrow will likely be much the same, finalising some more orders, eating, and sweating. Tomorrow is forecast to be a little cooler, 37 degrees down from 38 today, so don’t expect too much additional excitement.