Adventures By Design

In which the travelers spend some more money

This morning we had several missions to spend more money. First, Gin has been looking for some nice black leather boots for, oh, the past two or three years now and has never found the perfect combination of style, comfort, and fit. In Hoi An, of course, you can have such things made to your specifications so we went to find a good cobbler. Eventually we found one we were happy with and Gin got measured up for her boots (which necessitated a bunch of ball point pens marks on her legs which looked a bit goofy for the rest of the day).

With Gin’s boots ordered we went to our next money spending destination: the bookstore. Gin is quite a voracious reader and goes through books like a squirrel goes through nuts (except that she rarely hides and forgets about them). Luckily southeast Asia is full of used bookstores, some better than others. We had seen advertisements for a bookstore on an island across from the central market so we headed over to see what they had. It was a hot and sweaty walk to get there, but worth it. Randy’s bookstore is actually in Randy’s house (complete with very welcomed air conditioning). The front room is lined with shelves, and the living room next to it has some more, as well as Randy’s easy chairs and TV. From here you can see into his kitchen, and there must be bedrooms upstairs. Gin is now rather taken with the idea of opening a bookstore in our house someday. Randy was actually out shopping for steaks when we arrived (he’s American and tomorrow is the 4th of July) so his friend was watching the shop. She was really friendly and welcoming so we ended up hanging out for a while and just chatting with her and Randy when he got home. Eventually we felt we should get going so we paid for our books and promised to spread the word about Randy’s shop… so if you’re ever in Hoi An you should go!

Next we had a leisurely lunch with a view across the river to the town and market. After lunch though we had to get back across the river, and didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the bridge, so we hired an old woman with a small boat to take us across. Once we got in, the boat was barely above the waterline, but the river was pretty slow and shallow. We figured if worst came to worst and the boat sank we could probably wade across.

On the way back to our hotel Ric bought five ‘silk’ ties for $28. They are really nice, but a little wrinkled; we’re hoping Gin’s mom can help with that! After a couple quick showers we went to the tailor’s to have a fitting for all our new clothes. We were more strict about any little problems this time and nearly everything we ordered needs some adjustments. Still, we’re happy with the quality so far, and we’ll go back tomorrow for a final check and to pick it all up.