12 Dec. 2011: TINKER, TAILOR, SAILOR #1 of 2

Hoi An has been a trading port for 2,200 years! Chinese and Japanese especially sailed down with the prevailing winds.until 1637 when the Japanese government forbade contact with the outside world. It was also the first place in Vietnam to be exposed to Christianity ---- in fact, a 17th century missionary devised the script for the Vietnamese language, based on Latin not Chinese. You can read up on the complicated history here, but the trading activity had died out by the 1990's. Then BAM! the oldest section of town was designated a UNESCO site in 1995 and the tourists started pouring in. More than 800 historical buildings have been preserved, so it looks like it did several centuries ago. Restrictions on alterations, building height, no cars, and traditional yellow paint on all exteriors. The best walking streets since Havana.

Hoi An has become the fast-custom tailoring and shoe making centre of Vietnam, better than Hong Kong. There are more than 500 tailor shops in a few blocks. You can get any style or material made in 2 days or less, Bring in a picture of a shoe or a dress, no problem. And cheap, especially for silk. Just incredible how one shop after another is strewn with samples, and foreign customers. The secret is that all the actual sewing is done at night by roomfuls of girls at old treadle machines!

Hoi An's river is still the chaotic transit hub. Ferries, barges, fishers, and tourist sampans clog the curb. The harbour streets flood in the monsoons and every day at high tide. Absolutely captivating town.