Viet Nam the fourth: Day 9 Da Nang – Hoi An

The historic village of Hoi An sits about 25km south of Da Nang. Even 10 years ago, there as a definite undeveloped space between the two. These days, the coast south of Da Nang is full of new resorts, and resorts under construction, so it’s hard to say where Da Nang ends and Hoi An begins.

If you want something made, go to Hoi An: clothes, shoes, glasses, jewellery, you name it, they can probably find someone who makes it. Las time we were here, not long after VN opened up post-covid, it felt like we were almost the only western tourists, many shops were closed, and street vendors made things a little uncomfortable. Happily it seems the town has bounced back, all manner of tourists abound, and we don’t stand out at all.

I woke up with a headache, probably a mix of not enough water, a mattress too hard, pillows too soft, and my body realising that it’s only been getting a single cup of coffee a day (strong though it might be). So it was a slow morning, pottering around in the hotel, reading a little, before checking out and our driver arriving to take us south. On the drive south we saw at a distance the very large Lady Buddha statue out on Monkey Island, and the beautiful beaches of Da Nang. We also had a brief stop so that our driver could meet up with his wife to transfer luggage from his car to hers. Sometimes it’s easier just to shrug.

Our very friendly hotel staff member checking us in did the usual of starting to tell us all of the things to do and see in Hoi An, until we then let her know that this was our fourth visit, so we’ve seen the Japanese bridge and may other places. She did mention a newish attraction, a historical show that takes place nightly and has a cast of over 500 performers, that may have only started in the last 5 years, and might not have been operating last time we were here. But other than that, there are still many places we know for food, shopping and getting clothes made.

First stop was for lunch, so we found a small place near the ancient town where I had a good bowl of cao lau. Cao lau is a local noodle, firm, quite large and round, and served with a small amount of broth and usually pork, along with greens and crispy deep fried squares of cau lau. Then it was time to go clothes shopping.

We went to one of our regular tailors, Be Be, who have maybe 3 locations in Hoi An. Last time we had wonderful service at a different location, this time they were good but a little less helpful. Maybe it’s because I’m not likely the most usual of customers: I want to be let loose to wander the various fabrics and grab the ones that look cool, and then ask L if they will be okay for the purpose (she’s the one who knows how fabrics behave, if they need ironing, will shrink, etc), rather than be led to the blue fabrics then pick out some for business attire (though I have actually gone for a couple of blue shirts this time, as I don’t have any that aren’t Hawaiian). So I did my best to wander the stacks with my shadow, who tried helpfully to point out fabrics that to me would be better as table cloths (if ever you see me in a standard check pattern it’s likely a cry for help). Even semi-supervised I was able to rack up a stack of shirt fabrics.

After a break back at the hotel, my headache still being present, we headed back out to our other regular tailor, Yaly. The nearest one to our hotel is the largest, but it’s more of a showroom for off the rack, with only a small selection of fabrics to choose from (similarly, the staff were a mix of busy and inattentive today, so we were able to get in and out without anyone trying to serve us). We instead headed to another location in the ancient town, where we recognised and were recognised by a couple of the staff members, so were looked after. I figured it was time for a new suit, so after much fabric speculation think I’ve managed to come up with a combo that will be fairly respectable but with a bit of individuality. We’ll see. In addition to having many parts of me measured, I was also 3D photographed, so for all I know they’ll be creating models of me — at least i didn’t leave a water bottle behind so they don’t have my DNA for cloning, be thankful.

All shopped and measured out, we headed for the Market Bar, an upstairs cocktail bar where L could finally have her long delayed NYE G&T. She was happy. I went for an alcoholic version of ca phe sua da, which was good, but with an additional chocolate flavour that isn’t found in the regular. It does have me thinking that it should be possible to do a ca phe sua da twist on an espresso martini, if ever I’m feeling like a mixologist.

Dinner was close to the hotel at a place recommended for their my quanh, which is a local dish I’m yet to have on this trip. Sadly they are obviously well known for this, so by the time we arrived around 8pm they were all sold out, so instead they gave me more cao lau, but with prawns and quail eggs instead of pork. While it was very nice, the search for my quanh continues.

Tomorrow we’re off to a coffee making/drinking workshop, and a clothes fitting, with maybe a massage as well (though possibly after we’ve stopped twitching from the coffee). It’s good to be back in Hoi An, and good to see the town back to something other than a bit of a ghost town.