Hue & Hoi An New Photos
 

Hi,
Attached is the link to view new photos of Hue and Hoi An that relate to my trip report "SE Asia: It's So Hot" posted in April.

This is in a slide show format...but I had to click the arrow on the middle right of the screen to advance them....maybe it's because I have a Mac.

Please let me know if you have trouble viewing. Thanks!

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/pho...AlbumKey=J4qtk

Barefoot,

I am quite a fan of your photos by now. Thank you for providing them and for triggering wonderful memories of our time in Hue (especially) and Hoi An. I was there in July 2008 -- I can see from your sensational photos that restoration work at the Citadel has continued since that time.

Your photos of your cooking school market tour are a treasure. I am supposed to be doing something else right now but I am going to go back and look at them again!

I really enjoyed seeing your pictures. We were happy to learn last night that our pictures were not destroyed by the computer virus we picked up. We were going to have to download your pictures and photo shop you out, replacing our pictures in your place! Fortunately, now we can spend endless nights arguing over whose pictures are best, eliminating those we don't want, and editing the keepers. Hope to post our pictures soon.

simply fabulous.... anxious to go... november is almost here...

marya,
Thanks so much! I'm glad to hear that there's been so much restoration in the Citadel that you can actually tell from my photos. I thought that the best thing about the Red Bridge Cooking school was the opportunity to take so many market photos unimpeded...usually, we'd be hassled to death by then or people wouldn't have been so accommodating. My husband took the meat and poultry photos...I didn't want to look too closely!

dgunbug, so glad to hear that your pictures survived. It does take forever to combine and edit two people's photos....especially when my dear husband had an incorrect date setting on his camera, so they don't load close to mine in the computer. I have to adjust his date settings, then delete most of his (he defers this to me, luckily...we use his smaller point and shoot digital camera for night scenes, potentially wet ones, or sometimes in cities when I don't feel like lugging mine around all day...or for pictures of me!) Can't wait to see your photos!

rhkkmk....thanks again for looking at all these and being so complimentary. You're so lucky to get to go to Asia twice in one year!

Gorgeous photos, I really enjoyed them and being inspired to plan a trip soon, thanks!

barefootbeach, still loving your photo album!

I'm curious, I noticed you stayed in Hoi An at the Hoi An Life Resort. Were you pleased with this hotel, and the fact that it's close to town (as opposed to, e.g., the Victoria Hoi An, which is on the beach, but further from town)? It looks very lovely.

Glorious photos!

I stayed in both hotels and I thought both were lovely. How good to see both towns in the sun--I don't think I saw more than one ray of sunshine in my days, during January!

Great work, thank you!

Thanks so much Shangainese....Vietnam is very fascinating.

sf7307....glad you're liking the photos. We thought the Hoi An Life Resort was fine...comfortable if not luxurious, but it doesn't have the charm of other places we stayed...maybe a bit sterile. Ask for an upper floor room overlooking the pool area...better view and more privacy. Don't think the extra cost for a river view room worth it with the cycle noise from a little road that runs between you and river.
Especially wasn't crazy about the breakfast experience...hostess made you sit in a certain area...not very accommodating. But, I do think it's the best place to stay if you're visiting Hoi An because you walk outside the resort and you're at the end of the tourist area of town. You still need to walk about 15-20min to get where most of the restaurants and shops are....but there's always a cyclo you can take...or the resort has free bikes for you to use also. We didn't get to the beach so I can't comment on the Victoria. If you're going to have any clothes made...multiple fittings are needed and that would be a pain from the beach area.

ekscrunchy, thanks for the compliment! I'm glad we had sun too....makes such a difference in how a place looks and feels.

<<<it doesn't have the charm of other places we stayed...maybe a bit sterile>>>

Would you mind sharing the places you stayed that you DID like? (We'll also be in Hanoi, Hue, HoiAn, HCMC, Siem Reap, Hong Kong)

<<<If you're going to have any clothes made...multiple fittings are needed and that would be a pain from the beach area>>>

Is the quality as high as the better Hong Kong tailors, or is it just "the thing to do because it's there"?

sf7307,
in Hanoi we stayed at Sofitel Metropole (very luxe but still friendly), Hue...La Residence, HCMC....Caravelle (great location...basic kind of business hotel rooms but very helpful), Siem Reap (Residence d'Angkor...loved it!)...didn't stay overnight in HK. For details about the hotel experience, look up my trip report "SE Asia: It's So Hot". Hope this helps!

I didn't go to Hong Kong so don't know about the tailors. My husband's suit was very well made and excellent fabric (silk/cashmere blend but lightweight for summer)...my silk dress was well made, but I didn't love how it looked on me...more my fault for choosing the style. The self-belt doesn't stay at the waistine well....if it had a stiffener in it, might have been better.

sf7307,
I didn't complete my thought about Hoi An tailoring....I do think it's more of "the thing to do"....a lot of the styles you see in the windows aren't blow-away....if I had to do it over, I wouldn't have done this and gone to the beach instead! But, my husband did get a great custom-fit suit for $190...that's a great deal.

Thanks bfb! Your posts (along with dgunbug's and others) have been so helpful. We're planning to make our hotel reservations this weekend, and some of our intra-Asia air (particularly the Siem Reap to Hong Kong air, since the only inexpensive carrier is Air Asia and there's only one flight a day -- Siem Reap to Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong -- and we have to get to Hong Kong....first of all, we planned to have 3 or 4 days there, but also, that's where our trip back home starts!)

Just for comparison purposes, if you were going, say, to New York, or San Francisco, where would you be likely to stay?

Barefoot - you are making me look bad posting all your pictures before I even get a chance to download mine!

sf7307 - unless you want a beach vacation, I would not stay at the Victoria in Hoi An. While the beaches are beautiful, the hotel is quite a way from town and all the activity. We did not have clothing made for us, but loved wandering the streets of Hoi An.

dgunbug, where did you stay in Hoi An?

sf7307,
We haven't been to NYC in about 15 years, but the last place we stayed was The Lowell, but it was on a work trip. We would probably search out a boutique hotel that was in the middle price range.
In SF, we were last there about 5 years ago and stayed at the Petite Auberge Hotel, a boutique hotel near Union Square.
In Asia, we often stayed at hotels that were more luxurious than we'd stay in the States...but wanted the comfort factor of relying on safe food and water.

dgunbug....I haven't begun to post all my photos! I still have HCMC and the Mekong Delta...then Siem Reap and Thailand....I'm working backwards.

Tailoring in Hoi An is not remotely up to the quality that can be found in Hong Kong, in my experience. People get things tailored mainly because it is cheap. Do not go with tremendous expectations. Bringing along a garment to copy will improve the chances of a good result.

Sf7307 - We stayed in the Vihn Hung Resort Hotel, which was only a 5 minute walk to town. It was just outside the city gate - very conveniently located. The room was large and modern, the grounds were pretty and there were two pools (the larger one is much nicer to stay near). We only swam once since the water was so warm. We found that the pools throughout the trip were not very refreshing as they were too hot (and I like warm water). The buffet breakfast was decent with lots of choices. Each afternoon around 4 pm there was a free food tasting on the lawn. Free internet service and computers were provided in a business center. Over all we thought the accommodations were quite good. The hotel was on the river and there was also the option of taking the boat into town.

Barefoot - we still need to go through our pictures from Sapa, Hue, and Hoi An before I can post them.

Ekscrunchy - While I was not planning to have clothing made, I was surprised by the clothing displayed in the windows. There was not a lot that appealed to me in either the fabrics or styles displayed.

<<<Tailoring in Hoi An is not remotely up to the quality that can be found in Hong Kong, in my experience. People get things tailored mainly because it is cheap. Do not go with tremendous expectations. Bringing along a garment to copy will improve the chances of a good result.>>>

Thanks, we're going to Hong Kong, too, so if we want to do this, we'll just wait. Thanks.

<<<We would probably search out a boutique hotel that was in the middle price range....We often stayed at hotels that were more luxurious than we'd stay in the States...but wanted the comfort factor of relying on safe food and water.>>>

Thanks, that's so helpful in understanding your reviews!

<<<Sf7307 - We stayed in the Vihn Hung Resort Hotel, which was only a 5 minute walk to town.>>>

I appreciate the report!