Hoi An. The City of Tailors

The bus arrived in an area of flat land for which the word "station" would be an overstatement...

Little did we know that this was to be yet more pure pleasure: the freedom not to be at work…From Hue we snaked down the long S-shape of Vietnam towards Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon). Since there were no flights available, we gladly decided to stay for a few extra days in the little town of Hoi An. 

This former port town nestles on a charming little plain, where a lake-like river reflects the light onto the historic buildings, blue wooden fishing boats bob on the water, and harmonious rows of humble homes line its banks, spanned by a curious little Japanese bridge. We breathed in the quiet life of its picturesque terraces that tinged the atmosphere with the warm calm of spring.

The old town is a World Heritage Site, with its craftsmen's workshops, its paper lantern stores, the bags zigzagged with hand-stitched embroidery, the smell of roasting corn cobs and citronella, and stewed sweet potatoes sold in scorched clay dishes. The coffee shops in Hoi An are among the best in the region.

The temples delighted our imagination once more, the incense that burns for months on end, the dragons that leap out from nowhere into these peaceful spaces. Knowing that we had a wedding to go to when we returned home, we had the perfect excuse to get some beautiful clothes made up for us by the famous tailors of Hoi An.

The experience of choosing the fabrics and constructing a price with them was a fascinating one...

We spent our last day in Hoi An on mopeds, wandering around all day with no particular destination in mind, having acquired that wholesome and splendid sensation of having no place to go and no times to keep...

Elia Giovacchini & Nicole Yumi Mastromarino "THE PANCIATICHI'S WAY"