Shopaholics Anonymous

I know it's rather quick for another post... but I just had to share my experiences in Hoi An. Hoi An is a short 4 hour bus ride away from Hue. (well, probably three if we left on time and didn't make a super long pit stop where we could spend lots of money...) But it's a nice little town - another UNESCO heritage site. After this post, I'm going to go check out the town before we leave at noon today. I haven't really had time in the last few days b/c I've been busy shopping.

Ladies and gentlemen... Hoi An is the shopping mecca of Vietnam. This small little town is jam packed w/ tailor shops all eager to make ANYTHING you want. So about $160 USD later... and 8 shirts, 2 cords, slacks, shoes.... Damn, I look good in my new clothes, esp. after 9.5 weeks of wearing Dri-fit clothing. I am officially sick of wearing the same clothes every day and I can't wait to wear my new stuff in Australia. We're posting it all to Phil's home b/c we can't carry it all. I don't think Phil could even tell you how much money he's spent in total here in Hoi An. A whole bunch of us were sitting on the patio of a restaurant bar last night and at various points during the evening, people would get up for their fittings or go to buy more clothes impulsively. Even Phil had to hold me back from buying another shirt...

It's a perfect town. Very pretty. You get up, have breakfast, go shopping and pick out your fabrics, have lunch, head to the beach for a few hours, come back into town, do your fittings, have dinner, and drink at a bar w/ Happy Hour. Life really doesn't get much better than this. Especially since I heard that it snowed in Vancouver. Can't wait to post some pictures of the beach here. And it's a really nice beach - apparently Southern Thailand is way better, but I won't be getting there on this trip. So I'll take blue skies, white sands, waves, palm trees, and vendors selling fresh fruit - thank you very much.

We've been meeting lots and lots of awesome people along the way. And our group keeps getting bigger as we head south. Tomorrow, we're all headed to Nha Trang - a sort of Vietnamese Phuket I imagine to celebrate a girl's birthday on an island hopping boat tour- aka "booze cruise."

Food in Hoi An is great as well. THey have lots of local specialities that you can't get anywhere else in Vietnam. And the local beer here - "Larue" is the best beer that I've had in SE Asia. It tastes more like a North American beer.

Not too many days left in Vietnam. I leave for Cambodia on Monday for my last country on my SE Asia trip (2006 trip, that is).

December 1- this Friday - is World AIDS Day. I'll be sitting on some beach in Vietnam drinking beer... but I will remember. In fact, I need to get my hands on a red ribbon somewhere. I hope that you guys will take some time to remember World AIDS Day this year. Wear a red ribbon, make a donation to an AIDS organization or something. Wish I was back in Vancouver to commemorate the day. It's interesting to note that there are signs and banners w/ red ribbons and the words "HIV/AIDS" even here in Vietnam so I wonder if there will be any events going on. Feel free to visit my website www.onedayforaids.com and/or pass it along to a friend.