Reflecting Back to Hoi An

From Hue, we traveled to the sea side town of Hoi An. After hearing so many
positive reviews we were all excited to have three days to explore the
area! With its quaint streets lined with tailors, colorful shops, delicious
restaurants and its close proximity to the beach, we were soon all in love
with the town!



Many of us had clothes made - ranging from winter coats to summer dresses,
suits and shoes. It was exciting to see the clothes take shape from picking
the style and fabric, to being fitted and having alterations made. When we
weren't busy at tailor appointments, a few of us hired bikes and cycled to
the beach (or ran, in Josh’s case – brave!). The bikes were hired from a
lovely family across the road from our guest house that were always pleased
for the business and always saw me off with a delicious cup of Vietnamese
tea! The generosity of people here – even those who have very little – is
incredibly humbling. At the beach we had some much desired chill out time
and enjoyed cooling off in the sea. I particularly enjoyed walking around
at night. The tea lights floating in the river which runs through the town,
and lanterns and lights lining the streets making beautiful reflections in
the water were magical, and made for some stunning photographs.



We were also lucky enough to spend a morning at the Life- start Foundation,
a charity which helps disadvantaged Vietnamese people to become
self-sufficient through training and by providing them with resources to
make handicrafts to sell. After watching a video and listening to an
interesting talk from founder Karen, we split into two groups for workshops
run by staff at the Foundation. Half the group made lanterns while the
other painted cards. We all enjoyed the change in activity and our finished
products will make fantastic mementos!



Our three days were concluded with a fashion show when we had an
opportunity to show off our tailor made clothes to one another.



Our time here is flying! Tam Biet!



Jenny Ward