Lunch at Hội An markets.
Hội An Cho (markets) where you can buy anything from trinkets and souvenirs to meals, fruit, veggies, fish, freshly carved meat (slightly off-putting at the end of a hot day) and offal.
Hội An is beautiful. It's a ancient town making a living by catering to tourists and it does it well. You can see Hội An on foot or hire a cyclo rider to take you around for a small fee. Be sure to barter. I reduced the fee of one cyclo rider by two-thirds by bartering.
Prior to leaving for Vietnam I'd decided I wouldn't have any clothes tailor made. J had a bad experience in Thailand where he wasn't happy with the end product and consequently never wore his suit which eventually ended up at the op-shop. You can read scores of bad experiences online about tailors in Hội An.
So when I changed my mind (its hard when, in Hội An alone there are over 400 tailors) I decided I wouldn't compromise. After all if I was going to spend a portion of my holiday time at the tailor I wanted the best. I asked around in our hotel and a woman recommended Yaly Couture.
It wasn't going to be the cheapest place to have clothes made but I knew it would be cheaper than Australia and costs usually does reflect quality.
According to the recommendation Yaly has a 'label' (and she was literally referring to Yaly sewing their own label inside the clothes) and have operated in Hội An for thirty years. Yaly has three shop fronts and I went to Yaly 2. Once I showed interest in having clothes made I was shown a tower of magazine clippings and from there I literally tagged a few designs I liked, chose fabric, they took measurements and I was on my way. I was paired with Rebecca who was attentive and competent. Each time I visited (four times over two days) Rebecca would be there to take onboard suggestions for example the collar on the silk blouse looked much better in the magazine and was removed and replaced with a low cut round neckline in an hour.
I came away with 2 silk dresses, 1 chiffon dress, two silk tops and a cotton skirt for $280 AUD. All are fully-lined and the best thing about the silk is that I can wash it in my machine on a gentle silk cycle.
Yaly Couture
47 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hội An, Quang Nam province, Vietnam 
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