Hanoi City

10 03 2010

We arrived back in Hanoi from Halong Bay on a Sunday and after learning that all the museums and some pagodas would be closed the following Monday (like any other Monday) we decided to visit the Perfume Pagoda, which is up in the Marble Mountains, about 70 km. outside of Hanoi.

The perfume pagoda is a natural limestone cave with a fully fledged altar and everything.  To get to the pagoda we took a bus for two hours, went in a rowing boat for one hour and walked up the mountain for forty minutes so you can imagine the anticipation.  I’ll let the pictures speak on how beautiful the pagoda really is.  Going to the Perfume Pagoda to pray and give sacrifices to Buddha is supposed to give you good luck, good health and prosperity for the whole year and if we get any of that, the effort is surly worth it. 

The main attraction for us on this trip though was to watch all the Vietnamese tourists visiting the pagoda.  The guide said that the days before our visit the pagoda was visited by over fifty thousand people each day but we were visiting on the twenty third day of the newly started lunar year and odd days are not as good for visiting the temples according to local legend so we escaped the crowds.  We were especially interested in the many restaurants that lined the pathway.  The local specialty here seemed to be some kind of soup with fresh meat in it and the meat was was on display in front of the restaurants so that the guests could ensure its freshness.  For the soup there was a choice of beef, deer, cats and dogs – all sounding delicious but we took a pass for this round.

There are a lot of trips that you can make out of Hanoi, either daytrips or 2-3 day trips but we have been told that the city it self is nothing special.  Never the less we walked a bit in the old town and visited the Temple of Literature (where they, like professor Dumbledore, seemed to like the Phoenix an awful lot), which was nice, but in the end we totally agreed with what we had been told.  Hanoi is a bit like an overgrown village with endless narrow streets where people are selling anything and everything and scooter after scooter.  Hanoi has no big city feel to it event though there are five million people here, at least not where we went.

We had planned to stay until the eleventh but changed our flight ticket to Laos and we left two days early for Luang Prabang in Laos – town we have only heard the nicest things about .


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

Hue and Halong Bay

8 03 2010

Last time I left you, we were on our way to Hue to see the Emperors Palace and the Purple Forbidden City.  In short, we only stayed in Hue one day and the palace and surroundings were a big disappointment.  I had read that during the Communist era most old ruins had been left to rot or at least not restored nor properly maintained.  The goal of the communist revolution is/was to build a new, better society that is not hampered by the burdens of the past.  The citadel was also heavily bombed by the Americans during the Vietnam was and maybe the Vietnam government wanted to keep the place in a bad shape as a monument of the destruction by American bombs?  At least the whole citadel was a bid depressive but at least we could see that now they have stared on a big restoration project so hopefully the site will be back to full glory in a few years time.

We took the fourteen hour sleeper bus up to Hanoi that arrived just before seven in the morning.  We moved quickly and booked a three day, two night trip to Halong Bay, departing at eight o’clock that same morning. 

Halong Bay is about 170 km. from Hanoi.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a beautiful bay with just under 2,000 majestic limestone-cliff islands scattered around the bay.  We took the bus to Halong City (with a stop in a souvenir store of course) and there we boarded a nice three star Chinese junk with eleven other passengers and a crew of six.

 

At first it felt like stepping into a ski-lift, going out on that boat.  At any one time there are about 300 similar passenger boats sailing around Halong Bay and they all have similar schedules so we could always see a few boats behind us and a few ahead of us, all heading in the same direction. 

But we were quick to shake of the ski-lift feeling.  Sailing around the bay in those old looking boats is soooo relaxing and nice.  The bay is very quiet and the scenery is so astonishing that you get the feeling of moving around in slow motion.

We visited a big cave on one of the islands, went kayaking and visited a floating village where the people live in houses build on rafts and underneath they have enclosures filled with fish, squid and lobsters that they feed until they are big enough to eat.

The first night we slept on the boat but on the second day we went to Cat Ba Island and stayed in a nice new hotel in Cat Ba town.  In hindsight we should have stayed two nights on the boat though.  The hotel in compared to how nice it was on the boat.

We were picked up the next morning and sailed quietly back to Halong City where we took the bus back to Hanoi (with a stop in a souvenir store of course).

All in all the tour was great, the scenery was fantastic, the food was good and the accommodation cozy and nice.  Our only complaint was our tour guide.  I’m not really sure that he knew that he was our tour guide, he acted more as a cowboy herding us, the money cows, from place to place.  He never told us anything interesting, never informed us of the schedule until the last minute and was just plain rude at times.  But he wasn’t enough to ruin a great trip though.  For people considering to take a similar trip I would recommend taking the two day one night on the boat option on a three star boat or even three days two nights on the boat option.


Comments : 11 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

The Hoi An tailors

4 03 2010

We are now on our way to the city of Hue – home to the emperors and kings of the past – so we are back on the trip route, check on the right hand side of the blog.  Hoi An is behind us and we hope that all the clothes are on their way Hanoi-Paris-Reykjavík and will be waiting for us when we arrive at home on the first of May.

Below are some advice to those that might be going to Hoi An and what they can learn from our experience but first I’ll tell you what we got.

I ended up getting two suits, one in silk and one in cashmere wool, three cotton shirts and one silk to match the suit and one sport jacket (Thong Phi).  All that added up to just over $300 – the price I would pay for cheapest suit and shirt in H&M in Europe.  I was extremely happy with all of my items as all of them turned out great.  I just hope that the quality turns out to be as good and the clothes will last a while.

Elínborg got four dresses, a white cotton shirt and classic black trousers made.  She got one really sexy black cocktail dress that we both love :)  Very nicely fitted and the quality was decent after asking the tailor to fix a couple of things.

There was a gray everyday jersey dress with a hood.  The dress looked really nice but she had to have them redo some of the stitching so we’ll see how that one lasts.

The third was a yellow satin dress that turned out nicely, Elínborg is though thinking about shortening it back home but we’ll see.

The last dress was a silk gown that she found in a celeb magazine worn by the cheerleader in heroes.  That one didn’t turn out quite the way it was in the magazine so Elínborg isn’t happy with that one.  Maybe it looks better when she is all blinged up back home – I hope so.  On top of the dresses she got some classic black trousers and white shirt.  Both fitted perfectly and looked very nice.

Below is a review of the tailors that we used and advice to those that want to go to Hoi An and have some clothes made.  I hope this can be of some help.

  • Yaly (Tran Phu 47) – The best tailor we tried for sure.  Very professional and well managed.  The sales girls didn’t seem as enthusiastic to sell you stuff but they are very professional and give good advice on the whole process.  Quality is extremely important to Yaly and clothes are not shipped out unless everything is perfect.  They might be more expensive than some others but when we really dug into it we found them on the same level as most of the better ones
  • Phuoc An (Le Loi St. 6) – A very good tailor with very good quality.  I was extremely happy with my suite but unfortunately Elínborg was not happy with her dress.  The sales girls didn’t give her good advice on material but in the end we had no complains about the quality or the service.  We found them a bit too pricy but maybe we were just bummed that the dress didn’t turn out well.
  • Thong Phi (Le Loi St. 28) – A decent tailor all in all.  They were quite cheap and did quite well.  Everything fitted nicely but the quality and the finishing was lacking.  If you want things a bit cheaper we could recommend them but remember that by going cheaper you get less
  • Thu Linh I (Tran Phu 34) –  A decent tailor as well.  The sales girls there was very nice and Elínborg did one dress there for $20 and it turned out exactly as expected with a decent quality.  The only complain that we have is they over promised a bit on time so we had to come back in an hour but that can always happen.

So what did we learn from the whole process?  There are certainly a few things that we would address differently if we come again to Hoi An and also a few things that worked well for us.  Below are a couple of points:

  • Take your time – measuring cloths can be a lengthy process so don’t allot too little time.  If you want top quality it can take at least 3-4 days.  The more expensive ones take more time and in turn produce better quality.
  • Don’t tell them when you leave so that you can be in charge of controlling the process – not them.  You set deadlines, otherwise some of them might count on you being in a hurry at the end and forget or simply don’t have the time to make more changes or check the quality.
  • Negotiate the prices, ask around to know the going rate.  Asking the locals at your hotel might be a good idea.  There were mostly fixed prices at Yaly but still I got $35 off a suit by talking to different sales girls – they also have different branches so check there.
  • Ask for prices of cheaper materials, you might like them just as much or even better.
  • Better to sacrifice material quality than workmanship.  There is no fun in having a fancy silk dress that doesn’t hang together.
  • Be really precise in what you want both in the beginning and also during the later fitting sessions.  If you want to change something, even if it is different from what you had initially asked for, just ask them – there is no harm in asking.

We ended up dealing with four different tailors and my garments ended all out being great but Elínborg’s dresses were of varying quality.  If we were to repeat the process we would order everything through Yaly – no doubt.  They might cost a bit more than some of the others but you definitely also receive more in better service, better advice and a better end product.  The extra money is well worth it!

If any opinions change after we get home and start wearing the clothes I’ll update this post and let you guys know.

If you have any comments, questions or remarks – don’t hesitate to shoot.  English, German or Icelandic is fine :)

——————————

UPDATE:  Now I’ve been at home for a while and have used all the clothes that I bought so I thought an update on the quality and usability could be helpful for people that are planning to have something made in Hoi An.

I can’t remember if I wrote about the shipping on the blog but we had everything shipped from Yaly.  The postman came there and took care of everything for us.  All the clothes arrived in perfect condition, everything was neatly packed and looked good when we came home.

So I’ve used some of the items that I bought quite a lot but others less.  The only complain I can really make regarding quality is the quality of the material in my black suite.  I though I was buying a good quality wool but when I compare them with my other suites it is obvious that the quality is not quite the same – not bad but not great either.

I’ve used my sport-jacket and my shirts a lot and everything has been just great, no loose stitching or a signs of poor workmanship.  I’ve used the silk suite a couple of times and it looks great, I use the jacket more and it’s really cool with jeans.  Same goes for the black suite, I’ve used it a few times and the jacket is also very cool with jeans.

My only regret now is not having more clothes done, especially casual everyday clothes like the sport-jacket.  If I would work in a suite all days I would also have liked to have a couple of plain and versatile suites made from the highest quality wool .  The suites that I had made are more for special occasions.

As for my wife, she has used the gray and the black dress quite a lot and is very happy with those.  The other two have not been used so far but I’m sure the yellow one will be used given the right occasion next summer – it’s perfect for a summer wedding or something like that.


Comments : 16 Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

Hoi An sights

3 03 2010

Between fittings at the tailor shops we have tried to see the sights here in Hoi An.  As I said before this is a cozy little town with a lot of old houses that have been nicely restored.  The Old Town is a protected area so there are no new buildings there and the atmosphere is quite special.  There are both traditional old houses on display as well as museums, pagodas and assembly halls. 

We have been into a few of the old houses and even though nothing is quite spectacular, everything is very cozy and nice.  There is one thing worth mentioning that puts a big mark on the houses here.  Hoi An is build next to a big river so every year during the rainy season, there is a flood and the river grows enormously.  Therefore every house is on two floors so that people can move all the furniture and other stuff from the ground floor up to the second.  In most years the flood is modest and might not even get into the houses but in others the flood can be as much as two meters high up in the the houses on the river bank.

One evening we were eating at this restaurant when we were approached by a man called Mr. Phong.  He told us that he organized tours to his village that was near by and handed us a big book with references and great reviews from people that had joined him at the village.  We decided to visit him the following day.  In short the visit was fantastic!  It was great to see visit a proper Vietnamese village, even though he said that his village was above average in wealth, and to be able to talk to a local.  He went through the Vietnamese war from a Vietnamese perspective, talked about communism, he educated us on the religions of Vietnam and told us about the daily lives in the village.  All fascinating stuff to us

We went with him to a couple of families in the neighborhood and to the market and the looked at all produce of the village: tobacco, moonshine, fruits, vegetables, herbs, rice, pigs and so on.  When we got back to his house his wife had prepared a great big lunch for us including tuna in tomato paste, shrimp spring rolls, fried morning glory, melon soup and rice of course.  We would highly recommend Mr. Phong’s tour to anyone visiting Hoi An.

Mr. Phong’s full name is Nguyen Ba Phong and he can be reached at Quang Than Restaurant on the corner where Le Soi Street meets the river every evening between 18:00 and 21:00 if anyone is interested or by email at nguyenbaphongvn@gmail.com.  The whole tour, including lunch, was only $,10 if we got us to the village at our own cost, otherwise $15.

In the next blog I’ll tell you about the results from our visits to the tailors.


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

Hoi An – the tailoring capital

1 03 2010

Of two days of soaking up the sun in Nha Trang we took the night bus to Hoi An.  Hoi An is a really cute little town that is mostly famous for all the tailors that live and work in Hoi An.  We have heard that there are somewhere between 300 and 500 tailors here and you can’t really turn without hitting one of the many stores selling custom made or made to order clothes.  Most of the clothes are just copied from the celeb magazines or from department store catalogs.  As a spin-off there is also big shoe making industry developing in Hoi An that copies shoes for the customers.

We arrived just after six o’clock yesterday morning and wasted no time.  We quickly found our selves a hotel room close to the charming old town by the river and after a small breakfast we went on the lookout for tailor-made clothes.  We had done some research online regarding what we wanted but were complete novices on price and the quality of fabric and workmanship.  So we visited somewhere between twenty and thirty stores, all selling similar stuff from similar catalogs but the price varied greatly.  I was offered woolen suits with silk lining anywhere from $45 to $200 and dresses were available from $20 to $200 or more.  Now we had a big problem of where to go.

After lunch we did a bit of online research, reading reviews on Lonely Planet and from customers that had gone to Hoi An before – and now we felt ready to start negotiating.  Five hours later – after a lot of deciding, negotiating, fabric choosing, measuring and deposit paying – we stood with orders from four different tailors.  I bought a silk suite and a shirt from Yaly Couture ($120), another suit and shirt from Phuoc An Cloth Shop ($135) and a (Icelandic) summer jacket from Thong Phi ($40).  Elínborg bought three dresses, one silk dress from Phuoc An Cloth Shop ($60), one jersey dress from Thong Phi ($30) and one silk-satin from Thu Linh I ($20).

We are set for a second fitting for all the clothes today and are very excited to see how it all went.  Two of the firms seemed very professional and we are not worried about their part, more just excited to see how everything turned out, but the other two are more of a question mark.  I’ll keep you updated on how it all goes in the end but it is not uncommon that it takes two to four fittings to get everything exactly the way one wants it.

We have not seen any shoemaker that seems to be able to produce quality shoes that are worth the risk.  It seems just a better option to go to a shoe store and buy mass-produces shoes – at least here in Hoi An – but this could all change if we see something exciting.

Do you have any stories of tailor-made clothes?  Stories of horrible impulse buys?


Comments : 7 Comments »
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

Back on the coast

25 02 2010

We are back on the coast, off the route map on the right, in Nha Trang to be exact.  You can locate it on Google Maps by clicking here.  Nha Trang is like Benidorm’s kid sister, it is a long long beach with pristine waters.  Along the beach you have a bunch of hotels and restaurants and tourist shops but as you get further from the beach you can find some “real” people, shops and stuff.  There are a few mega hotels here and at least three are being built so I suspect that in a few years the beach will be covered with mega hotels and resorts just like Benidorm in Spain.  The town even has its own amusement park – Vinpearl Island – situated on an island just off the coast that is connected to the mainland with a cable car line.  And the park has all the attractions that an amusement park needs.

We have been here for two days already and have had plenty to do.  There are beautiful Cham towers here in the middle of town that we loved exploring.  The Cham people or the Champa kingdom flourished from the second century to the fifteenth.  They fought the Khmers and the Vietnamese back in the day but not they are a small minority here in Vietnam.

We also went on a snorkeling tour this morning where we sailed around the islands out of Nha Trang (they have seventy one of them laying around) and snorkeled at the best spots.  There was a lot of beautiful coral and a lot of different tropical fish.  We were most impressed with a few Squids that we spotted – they looked mega cool!

To celebrate my birthday last week we went to a spa where we had a body scrub, massage and a facial.  The treatment was absolutely wonderful and we feel absolutely rejuvenated.  Since we are always getting better and better in haggling about prices we got a free foot massage on top of our treatment and went for that today and it was heavenly.  You should all go and get one!

Tomorrow the plan is to do absolutely nothing but soak up the sun.  The beaches are getting fewer and fewer on our trip so we really need to use the opportunity.  Our next stop will probably be Hoi An, which is famous for the many tailors that operate there.  We are still pondering what to have made for us and all suggestions are welcome.  What will be fashionable in the coming months?  What are the celebrities wearing?  Any ideas???


Comments : 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , ,
Categories : South East Asia

« Previous Entries Next Entries »