We had the most amazing time in Hoi An. It was our favorite spot in Vietnam. We bought & received the best souvenirs. We were fortunate to find ourselves in Vietnam during Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. To Kelsey's joy, we were celebrating entering the year of the cat. Our hotel was a bit closer to a homestay with the owners occupying an apartment on the first floor, so we were able to experience a bit more of the celebration. The days leading up to Tet had an increasing buzz of folks running errands in preparation. The first day is reserved for family visitors. There were several small kids, we're assuming cousins, dressed in the most adorably extravagant red outfits playing in our culdesac. The next day is for friends & our hosts truly understood the assignment. Our hosts and a few groups of younger friends we witnessed in cafes around town all played the same card game that ended with cards all over the ground. We received red cards with small amounts of cash or vouchers for restaurants everywhere we visited: our hotel, our favorite coffee shop, and even the KFC. We were careful to understand the traditions & have gifts for those that were appropriate. 


While the food was underwhelming to our high expectations, the coffee did not disappoint. We quickly found our favorite coffee shop a few minutes from our hotel. It was also home to the sweetest kitten who would always join us in an empty chair at our table for a nap. Kyle was a big fan of the egg coffee. Kelsey & Dwain preferred Bạc xỉu, an iced white coffee. We likely consumed more sweetened condensed milk in our few weeks in Vietnam than we had consumed cumulatively.


Our other main activity, outside of exploring coffee shops, was to have some clothing custom-made. Kyle led the charge with selecting a few shops for inspection, and we happily spent a day wandering through the UNESCO world heritage town talking to tailors. With Tet, some of the ones we had our eyes on had already closed up shop, but we were thrilled to meet the women of Bebe's II. It was extraordinarily fun designing every detail from silhouette to material, even down to the specific buttons. Kyle walked away with a custom suit; Kelsey & Dwain nabbed a few more items: formal dress for a few weddings this summer, trousers, matching linen set, linen shorts, and a few summer button-ups. Over the next couple of days, we had fittings to intermittently come back to & shockingly walked away with gorgeous, high-quality clothing within a matter of days. Kelsey might need to plan a few more trips back to Hoi An as this seems the only reasonable way to maintain her wardrobe.


On our last day, we finally had a sunny day. We spent our last few hours on a [look up the name] boat tour. Always big fans of amusement park rides, Kelsey & Dwain happily volunteered to hop over into the spinning boat. It gave us Disney teacup vibes, but lazier as we only had to hold on as the guide paddled intensely. A bit dizzy, we climbed back into our boats & headed onward to the airport. 


Reading

  • Kyle: Elephant Complex by John Gimlette

Listening To