Back From Vietnam

Shelley and I  flew via Air Asia on Wednesday to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Wednesday night. We stayed over at the Windsor Plaza Hotel (highly recommended) that night and we were up early the next morning and flew JetStar (not highly recommended) to Hoi An. It was raining buckets when we arrived in Hoi An and continued to do so 24/7 for the next 3 days.

The weather really did not matter as Shelley was there to shop. It was monsoon season and there was flooding but nothing we could not handle in our crocs. Shelley wimped out and purchased a plastic rain coat but I made do with my folding umbrella. The benefit of being there in the rainy season was the turn around time for custom tailored clothes and shoes was very short (24 hours).

I lost track of what Shelley purchased but I hade 3 pairs of leather shoes custom made for me for $200 U.S. and I also purchased 2 leather belts for $25 each.

It turns out Vietnam has a huge women garments industry. I would estimate that there are about 750 designer womens' cothing stores in a town of 100,000 people. To get to Hoi An you fly to Danang (about 1 million people). Saigon has 11 million people. From Danang to Hoi An it is about a 45 minute cab ride.

We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel recommended by jaime for about $25 U.S. a night. A suite could be had for $50 a night if so desired.  There is quite an expat community springing up in the area and restaurants are plentiful.

We were to fly back via Jetstar on Saturday night to Ho Chi Minh but when we arrived at the airport they had cancelled our flight and had notified us by email. Of course, being on vacation, we Shelley was not checking her email. They did refund us our money and we rebooked with Vietnam airlines for an extra $70 U.S. per person. When we arrived back in Ho Chi Minh city we booked into the Windsor Plaza where they upgraded us to the exexcutive floor at no charge as we were return customers :-) The next morning Shelley went shopping and I relaxed with a book. We flew back via Air Asia at 5:30 pm and arrived back in Kuala Lumpur at 7 pm.

We will return to Vietnam as it is a lovely country. I have decided that the poorer the country, the happier the population is and Vietnam is both. Hoi An needs about a full week and a couple of thousand dollars to appreciate the shopping. If you are a guy in search of suits, you would be better off in Bangkok and I have a tailor to recommend.

TTYL,

Jim