Hoi An after dark is a magical place. The hanging lanterns across the river bridge and in the shops and restaurants over-looking the river, accompanied by lantern festooned boats and the smell of incense make the whole place marvellously atmospheric.
I find myself back in Hoi An to collect a suit from the same tailor that Lexi and I frequented when we were last here. More of the suit later. So while a few adjustments are being made Lexi and Trixie are having their nails done, a kind of Mum and Daughter holiday tradition and the boys are catching up on a bit of hotel TV I have a few moments sitting by the river.
Our Danang hotel has an evening shuttle bus each night into Hoi An which I used to get in. On the way I started to ponder the current developments in Danang. Having just finished reading "The Girl In The Photo" by Denise Chong it is abundantly clear that there has been, and continues to be, massive development in Vietnam in the past 25 years. Hoi An is still just as charming as it was when Lexi and first visited in 2000 but Danang is reaching for the skies and the sea at the same time. Our hotel is very close to the sea but not quite close enough not to have other high rises being built in front of it. Within 500 metres of our hotel six high rise blocks are under construction. Admittedly the pace of construction is slow but they are being built. Our hotel has 18 storeys and is certainly nowhere near full in this, the relatively chilly off-season. I really do wonder where the projected tourist numbers to the area will come from to justify such expansion. All on the coastal road from Danang to An Bang, where we stayed in October, there are signs pointing to development projects, many of them luxury hotels, to go with the already existing world brand hotel resorts that populate the coastline. Surely no-one in their right mind believes that there will be such a massive surge in tourist numbers in this part of the world? The only possibility could be Chinese investment in the area unless there are darker, money laundering forces at play. Given that Vietnam clearly doesn't have much to invest of its own money (the Japanese Government is footing the bill for most of the new Ho Chi Minh metro) it is a reasonable to ask where the investment dosh is coming from.
And so to sartorial matters. Each year I thoroughly enjoy co-hosting and helping to organise an interhouse arts festival at the end of term three. The annual Eisteddfod is a super way to end the year and brings out the creative fun in the students and staff. It is a bit of a hassle to get the build up and rehearsal time right but the end results always justify the means. The houses have red, blue, green and yellow as their colours and to make sure that I showed no bias as host I had a red, blue, green and yellow suit tailored for my first hosting, nearly five years ago. Times change and so do fashions so I thought that it was high time that I updated my silly wardrobe and so have had a new suit made. The results look fabulous, I reckon. I have still gone for the same four colours but in a Chinese patterned, silky material with a tail coat jacket and the Ali Baba pants. Photos to follow. I am very happy to anyone who wants it the name and number of my tailor.
Well done and thank you to Hanh Hung Clothes Shop (hanhhung@dng.vnn.vn).