The main reason for our foray through Central Vietnam's countryside to this town is of course the countless tailors that jostle for your attention along most of the city's streets. Here, made-to-measure clothing with a turnaround time of as little as 24 hours, costs a fraction of the price that it costs back home. This was of course right up Kiwi Girl's alley. Unfortunately our tailoring experience came with a lot of highs and devastating lows which left us with bittersweet memories. You may not need to research Hoi An too much as a town, but for tailors it's always good to have a few shop addresses up your sleeve as its very easy to get overwhelmed and over-excited here. Tip: We strongly recommend bringing an image of the designs you would like to get made before you visit, the tailors are so skilled they can copy things right off the picture. You'll be even better off if you know what fabrics you want or that suit your design best. Lastly, BE FUSSY. You don't want to go home only to have your freshly-sewn clothes fall apart on you after a few washes. Lets start with the tailors we would wholeheartedly recommend: Oche We could sing Oche's praises for a lifetime. The shopfront looks more like a designer boutique and sets itself apart from all the other similar looking tailors on Tran Hung Dao Street. There are many off-the-rack pieces that can be bought and altered to fit you perfectly. Prices of course will be cheaper than having pieces made from scratch e.g. skirts start from $60 usd. Our assistant, Ruby, was delightful and very knowledgeable in the different fabrics that can be used for a particular design. You do pay for quality and superior workmanship, but only by about $10-$20 extra, for our orders at least (standard men's shirts start at $30 usd). So if you're looking to make more detailed or complicated pieces, we highly recommend Oche for peace of mind in knowing that the quality will be better than most. Bao Diep Tailor Kiwi Girl had some formal trousers she loved but could no longer fit (#holidayweight) and so she brought them here for them to copy off ($20 usd). She also had a styled business shirt done based on a photograph she saw ($20 usd). We have to say this was one of the more popular tailors probably based on their high TripAdvisor ranking. The service is friendly and everything from consultation to fitting is done at lightning speed. A minor gripe is that there is no changing room per se, you're left to fend behind a flimsy curtain that can be opened by other unsuspecting customers at any given time. In terms of quality we thought they did a really good job with our pieces, although they weren't to difficult to make to begin with. However when we left Vietnam, we did find the pockets on the trousers had not been sewn all the way so small things put in them would have dropped. Overall we think Bao Diep make good quality shirts and suits, and their range of fabrics for these are better than other tailors we visited. Just be sure to double check everything and pour over the stitching to make sure nothing will fall apart at the seams within a few wears. Now for our disappointing tailoring experience that taught us a fair bit about sticking to your guns:
Minh Ni Tailor As mentioned earlier, this was a tailor recommended (perhaps a little too forcefully) to us by our driver. This was his sister-in-law's store and you could tell we were not the first customers he had roped into buying from here. On first meeting they are incredibly friendly and you'll learn pushy is their autopilot. Kiwi Girl had a list of pieces she wanted copied, while Kampung Boy was happy with having 1 (or 5) shirts made. We were so excited about finally being in Hoi An and because our driver stopped here before taking us to our homestay, there was an added pressure to get our pieces made here before we could bid farewell to him. When we hesitated, saying we preferred to have a look around the town before we committed to such a large order, the ladies there dropped the price even further. So feeling a little better, we agreed and paid a 20% deposit. They promised "if no like, no pay." We were mighty impressed that they had roughly made up all the clothes we ordered the very next day. But the workmanship was shoddy at best, and details we requested had been completely ignored. On each successive fitting we would visit the store hoping all our money had not been wasted on poorly made clothing. It wasn't that we had asked for anything complicated, in fact our order consisted of standard dresses, shirts and skirts but it was only the day before we were due to leave that we really had to put our foot down. When finally they realised we were not going to pay for some of the more dishevelled items, they kicked it up their quality a notch and we left with the pieces we had hoped for (although by then our standards had dropped a little from the sheer stress of it all) and on better terms. Tip: Although you may get bulk discounts if you choose just the one tailor to make all your clothing, there is truth in the saying "don't put all your eggs in one basket". If you haven't personally tried the tailor out for yourself, you're taking a big risk in relying on that one tailor to have every single piece up to scratch. Instead it's best to do a few pieces over a few different tailors, that way you can judge the quality of each without having wasted too much on unwearable or substandard pieces.
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One of the things we loved most about our travel through Vietnam was the fact that no two places were alike. Each town we stopped in confronted us with a completely different experience that we came to appreciate as quintessentially Vietnamese. As we shared in our last post, we travelled to Hoi An via the notoriously dangerous but magnificently scenic Hai Van Pass by private car. Although we had reservations about our driver, we don't deny he was very knowledgeable and could speak English well. Along the way he made stops for photos overlooking the pearl farms, the huge stretch of Da Nang Beach and finally the Marble Mountains (15,000 VND pp). Tip: Support the locals who live on either side of the Pass by purchasing freshwater pearl jewellery. Our driver took us to one of the pearl stalls near the American bunkers and we came away with affordable souvenirs that beats any old keychain. Ah Hoi An Ancient Town...there are not enough words to describe this enchanting, albeit touristy, place. We fell in love upon seeing the lantern-lined streets coupled with the charming quaintness of this countryside village. What a contrast from the organised chaos of Hanoi and even more so, Ho Chi Minh! The town was voted "Best City on Earth" in the 2016 Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards. But we recommend saving yourself the trouble of researching too much about this place and therefore setting your expectations too high, it is after all a tourist town and with that comes the stronger than usual hustlin' on tourists. Let yourself be swept up in the magic of this town without any preconceived notions. Your experience will be all the more richer for it. Accommodation We highly recommend Blue Clouds Homestay. It's owned by a local family and run by their soon-to-be daughter-in-law. The rooms are only a year old and everything is super clean and modern. There was nothing better than coming back after a long day's worth of fittings to friendly faces and helpful recommendations on where to eat (not even clothes could shake our priorities). Bikes cost $1 usd per day and is a fun way to travel and see the countryside. Since we stayed here for 4 nights, we were invited to their family lunch on our last day and treated to mouth-watering home-cooked food. By then we had been on the road (literally sometimes) eating street food everyday so being able to experience a meal the locals eat with their families was a real treat. Also the street it is situated on, Hung Vuong Street, is a treasure trove of small food stalls selling the most delectable local Hoi An-ese food, you'll never be hungry! Food Quite honestly, you won't be disappointed wherever you go to feed yourself. But if we had to make some recommendations then: Pho 29, Hung Vuong Street - This place is situated about a 5 minute walk on the same street as our homestay. If you like your pho with a spicy kick, this is the place. Banh Mi Pho Co, corner of Le Loi and Phan Ding Phung - There are a few famed Banh Mi places in Hoi An popularised no doubt by Anthony Bourdain but we opted to try this little stall because it was right opposite the tailors at Oche. The pate is flavourful and who could resist the blast of chilli as you chow it down while limiting the fallout of crumbs. Sightseeing Unfortunately due to severe floods Cua Dai beach, northeast of Hoi An, was closed off when we visited. However nearby An Bang beach was still accessible and we took a day to cycle there and enjoy the ocean breeze. It's not the most impressive beach by any means, but it is a nice change of scenery. Tip: You may want to lie under the bamboo huts that lie along the beach but you have to pay to use them unless you buy a drink at one of the bars on the beach. Being the scrooges that we are (and not wanted to cycle back two sheets to the wind) we sunbathed on towels we had packed earlier. Visiting the Old Town requires paying 120,000 VND pp as a one-off entrance fee. Each ticket is valid for the duration of your stay and includes entrance to 5 points of interest. In all honesty we visited only 4 sites and felt that we could have skipped all of them.
We visited the Japanese Covered Bridge (too short to be considered impressive); the Fukien Assembly Hall (which to be fair, would have been right up our alley if we hadn't just visited Hue's Imperial City); the Museum of Trade Ceramics (informative but small); and lastly Old House of Tan Ky (the most tourist-centric of them all, be warned as you'll be pushed to buy horoscope medallions for $1 usd). The downside of Hoi An is the capitalisation of the tourist trade, so tourists are charged a premium for almost everything. So pay the ticket price to soak in the prettiness and charm of the old town (which is unmissable) but don't feel pressured to visit the sites. We're not sure what possessed us to choose to visit Hue, maybe it was the allure of learning more about our Asian history and heritage (something Kiwi Girl needed a lot more of) or maybe it was just because it seemed like a common stop on the tourist trail. Either way, out of all the towns and cities we visited, Hue was our least favourite destination. Don't get us wrong, it was a beautiful city and on any other day we're sure it would have fared better in our estimations. But the blasted rainy season hitting central Vietnam did nothing to quash our uneasiness on our visit there. In Hue's defence we were only staying one night and perhaps we needed to give the city more time to warm up to us. But as we walked to the Imperial City, we couldn't help but feel like we were goldfish in a very large fishbowl. Something in our manner screamed "tourists" which meant we were accosted by men riding traditional cyclos seeking business at every turn we took. It was a relief when we finally reached the main entrance way of the Citadel where only foot traffic was allowed. In terms of the actual Imperial City (150,000 VND pp), we were awed by the traditional buildings still in tact and equally impressed with the city's efforts at restoring the structures destroyed by the war. We opted not to use a tour and to be honest one wasn't necessary because everything is well documented and you could easily spend a few hours here. Accommodation
Hong Thien Ruby Hotel Although our reaction to Hue was lacklustre, we were however really happy with our choice of accommodation for the night. Every time we entered the hotel we were greeted with glasses of freshly pressed juice and we were even upgraded to a massive family room on the top floor. Service from the hotel staff were extremely friendly despite the slight undercurrent of pressure to join their tours. And the creme de la creme of the whole experience was their all you can eat breakfasts (included in the room rate). Tip: We booked our private car transfer to Hoi An ($55 usd) through the hotel. However we recommend caution! Although our driver was amiable and knowledgeable, every stop we made along the way to Hoi An seemed like an opportunity for him to accumulate commission from the various vendors. More importantly, he has a habit of pushing a visit to his sister-in-law's tailor shop Minh Nhi Tailor if you so even give an inkling of your plans to tailor clothes in Hoi An. [More on our Hoi An tailoring experiences in the next post]. Food In all honesty there is only one place we would recommend wholeheartedly for a meal in Hue and that would be at Hanh Restaurant at 11 Pho Duc Chin. Don't leave Hue without getting their set menu (110,000 VND pp) for 5 courses of traditional dishes that is so so worth the money. The staff speak quite good English and they are more than happy to teach lost foreigner's the art of wrapping rice paper. Due to our tight timeframe for our travels (mostly for Kampung Boy who had to go back to work, while Kiwi Girl could only foresee unemployment on the horizon), we opted to fly to most of the major cities we intended to visit. This was obviously a slightly pricier alternative and we were probably missing out on a very...unique...overnight train experience, but air travel was our only "luxury" in a trip full of budget compromises. Even so, we highly recommend booking with Vietnam Airlines. Book early and it can sometimes work out cheaper than flying Jetstar or Air Asia. The flight times are on point and the food on board is better than expected for aviation culinary standards. Tip We got the climatic shock of our lives when, after having left behind the scorching heat of Siem Reap, we were confronted with cold gusts of wind and intermittent torrential downpours upon setting foot in Hanoi. Even colder was our time in Ha Long Bay where the limestone formations weren't quite the effective wind barriers we had hoped for. The months of December through to February is what Hanoi residents would term "winter" so be sure to pack warm clothes and raincoats are a definite must have! Visas Currently Australians and New Zealanders have to pay for a Visa on Arrival which can be quite an arduous process if you're not sure what you're doing. But for now, you'll first need a "Vietnam Approval Letter" via an authorised agency (you can do it via your local Vietnam Embassy but you'll be spending more money than necessary). We recommend Vietnam Visa Pro - the website looks a bit dodgy but we can vouch for its trustworthiness and speedy response. This was one of the cheapest providers we found at $10 usd per letter. Upon arriving in any of Vietnam's International Airports, just hand over the letter, 2 passport-sized photos, the entry and exit form provided and finally pay the "stamping fee" in order to get a shiny visa in your passport. As of November 2015, the stamping fee for New Zealanders was $25 usd. Accommodation Hanoi Charming Hotel We loved the warm hospitality of the staff here, especially hotel manager Jenny. They point out all the best areas to explore if you're new to Hanoi and the rooms are fine for the price we paid ($23 usd per night). We recommend booking directly with the hotel as they sometimes have extras you wouldn't get booking on sites like Agoda and Booking.com. At the time we booked we were entitled to a free airport pickup ($18 usd) because we stayed at least 3 nights. But do note you will have to pay 1 night's deposit prior to your arrival to secure your booking. Ha Long Bay Scorpion Cruises Our hotel manager recommended this cruise operator based on previous guest experiences. For $125 usd pp (considered mid-range), we did have fairly high expectations. We chose a 2 days/1 night cruise and probably out of Jenny's magic we scored the best cabin on the boat with our own balcony! Ultimately, Ha Long Bay is gorgeous no matter which boat you watch it from, but if comfort is important then be prepared to spend at least $110 usd for good quality. We weren't keen on the Contiki-esque party boats that are magnets for backpackers, but that's not to say you can't still have fun and let loose on the more "mature" boats. It really depends on who your shipmates are and whether you're willing to mingle with others. We would say after having been spoilt in Hanoi for food choices, we weren't too impressed with Scorpion's meal offerings, but at least they were edible and sustained us for what was a full-on trip. Click here to see the itinerary Scorpion cruises provided us. Food We were most excited for the food in Hanoi and since this was our first introduction to Vietnam, Kiwi Girl went a little overboard on the food suggestions for our itinerary. But her OCD-ness is your planning mapped out because we've listed all the places we recommend and even better, they are listed by closest distance to the Hanoi Charming Hotel and other main attractions. In our opinions, close proximity to good food will always save you from an average holiday! Shopping While the shopping items one should look out for in Hanoi are listed in the link to the table above, an honourable mention needs to go to Minh & Trung: 90A Hang Dao Street for their perfectly made Northface jackets. We can't guarantee their genuineness but anyone who has been to Hanoi will understand the Northface trade is big business there. After having looked at numerous stores selling the exact same jacket, we found Minh & Trung's (on the same street as the night market) jackets to be of much higher quality than it's competitors and worthy of its price tag. Not to mention bargaining with the shop lady was real fun! Tip: In need of Vietnamese Dong? We highly recommend heading over to Thinh Quang (its a gold jewellery shop) at 33 Ha Trung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. It's a very short walk away from the hotel and gave us the best rates (on one day it was even better than xe.com!) for our US dollars. They speak in "calculator" so just punch in how much usd you need and they'll respond with how much dong that gets you. Hanoikids If you search up tours in Hanoi, Hanoikids is usually at the top of the list. These are free tours taken by usually college-aged students wanting to practice their English on you. It's a great concept and in return we get a free guided tour by a local. You only have to pay for your tour guide's entrance fees and any transportation costs if required. It's advisable to book these tours early as they are immensely popular. We booked two tours, one half-day and one food tour, to be done all on the same day. For the half-day tour, two lovely girls by the name of Kim and Tien Nu took us sightseeing around Hanoi. Because we were short on time, we limited our tour to the Temple of Literature (30,000 VND pp), Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Ho Chi Minh Presidential Palace (25,000 VND pp) as they were within walking distance of each other. We weren't having the best of days weather-wise, so our excitement for these landmarks were quickly dampened literally but torrential rain. However we enjoyed our interactions with the girls more than anything, and their enthusiasm for their city was infectious! Tip: We visited Hoa Lo Prison ($30,000 usd) on our own and would definitely recommend new visitors to make this one stop at the very least while in Hanoi. It's definitely a sobering reminder of the struggles and the eventual triumph this country has faced, and we came away with that much more respect for the Vietnamese people. The temperamental weather continued on into our food tour where another girl and a boy took over from the two girls in the morning. We have to say here that it's best to let your guides know if you have any financial restraints prior to the tour, which we did. However much to our chagrin this was ignored when the girl guide took us to a much more upper class restaurant than we were expecting. To be fair we did ask her to recommend a place we could have traditional Hanoi food, but we did not expect to be eating at a restaurant catered to expats. At the end of the day the food was beyond complaint so we chalked it up to lessons learnt and giving people the benefit of the doubt. As a final hurrah to Kiwi Girl's last semester at university (hopefully forever), we decided to celebrate by hiking up our backpacks and making the journey northeast of Kuala Lumpur to our first stop, Siem Reap in Cambodia. Side note: we had a super early morning flight to Siem Reap departing from the new KLIA2. We recommend using Skybus that departs from either KL Sentral or 1 Utama. They are the official bus provider for Air Asia passengers and you'll find you'll get a bigger discount on an already cheap ticket price if you buy it with your flights. The buses depart every half hour and this is honestly the best and cheapest way to get to the airport without the hassle. You can find their bus schedule here: http://www.skybus.com.my/schedule/ What was an uneventful flight turned into a rude awakening upon landing at Siem Reap International Airport. Most tourists (other than visitors from ASEAN countries) have to pay for a visa upon arrival ($20 usd - the preferred currency in Cambodia). Kiwi Girl's OCD tendencies meant she had pre-filled everything but her new visa number in the arrival form provided on the flight. Instead of giving her a chance to write in the number once she received her visa, an immigration officer demanded a bribe under the guise of providing a "VIP Visa" and ignoring her oversight. So be warned! Ensure you have everything filled out on your arrival card before handing it over to immigration counters. It's also important to bring some passport-sized photos with you as they will ask for one before issuing the visa. Money reluctantly handed over and still more than a little shell-shocked, we were picked up by what we would later describe as the best tuk tuk driver ever. Accommodation Siem Reap Green Home Guesthouse We didn't set out on this trip expecting luxury accommodation but the cleanliness of the place would be the one deciding factor for whether we would settle in for the night. This guesthouse had good reviews on TripAdvisor and our first impression upon entering the room was MASSIVE. It's practically a 1 bedroom apartment! While we wouldn't say the manager was particularly warm, the guesthouse did arrange all our temple tours at a much more reasonable price than elsewhere and for that reason alone we would stay here again. Room tip: We say pay the little extra for the rooms with the private seating area and balcony and email ahead to confirm a room preferably on the 2nd floor. There are no lifts here and the stairs are perilously narrow and steep, dangerous for Big Foots and heavy suitcases! Free airport pickup and breakfast is provided in the room rate, and we must say it was scrumptious and enough to fuel you for a full day of temple touring. Food Not used to the scorching heat, neither of us wanted to spend more than an hour outside under the midday sun. So in search of lunch we stumbled upon a traditional Cambodian restaurant on the corner of the busy intersection of Wat Bo Road (turn right from the Guesthouse and continue along until you reach traffic lights). We loved the Basil Rice so much we came for the same thing the next day! We recommend buying 1L chilled bottles of water here as it was cheaper than buying from the guesthouse. Tip: Expect to spend around $8-15 usd per meal for two including drinks in Siem Reap. Shopping
For a greater concentration of food places and general souvenir shopping, most will head to Pub Street, the equivalent of Khao San Road in Bangkok. Note it's not just the one street but a few streets clustered together (evenings only) selling everything from fruit shakes ($1 usd) to Cambodian silk pillow cases. You'll need to bring your bargaining A-game here as there is a huge amount of competition for your hard earned dollars. Tip: Massages here are notoriously good value for money but exercise caution when the offer seems too good to be true. We heard of reports of unclean premises and dodgy massage technique so it pays to do your research before being lulled into the temptation of $1 massages along Pub Street (yes, really). We recommend Lotus Dream Spa for a half hour foot massage ($5 usd) at the very least, you'll walk out with jelly legs in the best way possible! Most people have never heard of the city of Siem Reap. But the mention of Angkor Wat usually conjures up images of culture, history and pilgrimage. So it was no surprise both of us wanted to explore the listed UNESCO World Heritage Site and discover for ourselves the mysteries of the Khmer people and appreciate their ancient architecture. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world but what many don't realise is that it actually sits within an archaeological park that contains other unique ancient temples. Entrance to the park costs per person $20 usd for a 1 day, $40 usd for 3 days and $60 usd for a 7 day pass. The guesthouse organised our tour using their in-house tuk tuk driver at a very reasonable price. We opted for the sunrise tour at Angkor Wat ($5 usd) followed by the Small Circuit Tour ($14 usd) on our first day. Tip: It's recommended you hit the road by 5am to stake out your spot (one near the lake is best) in order to get the customary shot of the sun rising behind Angkor Wat. Our second day consisted of the Grand Circuit Tour plus Banteay Srei ($22 usd - touted as the prettiest temple of them all). So what can we say about the temples? Well, there is such a thing called being "all-templed out". While we wanted to immerse ourselves with the intricacies of each individual temple, the unending midday heat meant the temples would blur together by the end of each day. However there are a few must-sees that would be a real shame if you missed them: Angkor Wat, Ankor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, East Mebon, Pre Rup, Banteay Srei and our personal favourite - Banteay Samre (which we had all to ourselves as a reward for getting there super early). Surprisingly, the impressiveness of each of the temples was overshadowed by the genuineness and kindheartedness of the Cambodian people. Yes we met a few duds that lived up to their reputation of trying to fleece us for all we were worth but it was our tuk tuk driver who restored our faith in humanity. On our last day with him, we were travelling along the road to the next temple when suddenly he frantically started honking at the coconut-carrying motorbike in front. Dumbfounded and more than a little alarmed, we thought perhaps it was his friend that he wanted to catch up to. As he sped up to block him, all we could do was hold on. Finally the motorbike stopped and after a few words were exchanged, our driver came to us carrying two gigantic coconuts. Thinking he was buying it for his family we were absolutely stunned when he pointed to the two coconuts and back at us. For someone who makes little money driving tuk tuks everyday and who had no obligation to buy us anything at all, this one act truly humbled us. Despite the difficult history and circumstances of the majority of the Cambodian people, their kindness and generosity remains forever inspiring.
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AuthorWe're two Kiwi Malaysians navigating life in a modern global society. We love to seek adventure and are unashamedly food fanatics (without the pretentiousness). Most of all, we love connecting with others so please share with us your stories, opinions and recommendations! Archives
August 2017
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