Feeling no worse from the kerb side banh mi from the night before, we woke up to the stifling heat and humidity of Hội An as we headed out to explore the old town. First stop was to Be Be Tailor 3, to upgrade the wardrobe before going home. An hour later, we left having picked our material and had our measurements taken, 20 in total for Craig's suit! After all that hard work, we went for a coconut coffee in Coco Box, a coffee, juice and farm shop, rolled into one. It was lovely to sit and watch the life of the street go by as motorbikes, pedestrians and cyclists hustled and bustled past, sipping on our very trendy coffees. We then wandered around the old town, cutting down streets and lanes that were full of tailors, cobblers, clothes shops selling all the North Fake, Abibas, and Tick gear you could imagine. There was also lovely coffee shops and restaurants, it really is a nice town just to walk and explore. All that walking meant we required some sustenance so we headed into Tap House, a bar that had good beer on tap and very tasty charcuterie boards! We left the restaurant at 13:30 and the combination of the heat and humidity was unbearable so we returned to the safe haven of our air conditioned room although we both needed to have cold showers! The afternoon was spent at leisure between the bedroom and the balcony as the sun started to set. With Katy's stomach still feeling tender, we had some western food for dinner. Seeing the old town lit up at night with its different coloured lanterns strung up above us, gave it a very charming character. The next morning, and the day of Emmet's arrival, we headed back into the old town with the intention of booking a river cruise dinner as an early birthday present for Emmet and getting our UNESCO tickets for the historical sites of the old town. Sadly, both, along with a wide range of other tourist attractions throughout Vietnam, had been closed for the next 14 days in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and disinfect the venues. We were a bit gutted on both counts, so stopped for a coffee at Hội An Roastery and Craig ordered quite possibly, the most obnoxious coffee ever, a Pour Over. A wooden box, open on 2 sides, was placed in front of Craig with an empty coffee mug on the bottom and a mug with filter paper holding ground coffee, with a hole in the bottom, on top and hot water was slowly added to the top. In effect it was a DIY espresso machine. It was a really good cup of coffee, that was delicious taken black. We also shared an egg coffee and were surprised as to how sweet it was! After spending a couple of hours in the coffee shop, we returned to the bedroom and got ourselves organised for Emmet's arrival, who appeared at 16:15. After dumping his bags in the room across the landing from us, we sat out on the balcony with some cold beers as the sun set. After catching up we headed back to Be Be where we would try on our garments and Emmet would start the process with his suits. It really is amazing to think that 32 hours after we had left the shop we would have something to try on! Everything needed tailoring but, for a first fitting, we were very impressed. After some dinner, we headed back to the room for an early night. The next morning we went back into the old town to explore the streets and lanes with Emmet. This included a trip to the cloth market which, in all reality, was a sad place to walk through. The downturn in tourists due to the virus meant that most of the little shops inside were shut and those that were open almost begged us for business. Going here meant we were close to Be Be Tailor 1 so we got to have a peak inside the factory where our garments had been made and were now being altered (Katy's jacket pictured) As we wandered the streets we took a stroll along the river and inadvertently along to the fish market! After all that walking and smelly fish we were all in need of a coffee, so we went back to Hội An Roastery for Emmet to try his first egg coffee. It was sweeter than he expected as well. After some lunch we returned to our rooms to hide from the heat. Another fitting followed in the late afternoon, Katy's garments were finished, Craig had some minor adjustments and Emmet got to see his for the first time. For dinner and in lieu of the river cruise, we took Emmet out for a steak dinner instead! Hội An Steak House certainly put on a good spread and probably lived up to their tag line of being the best steak in Hội An. As it was a celebration, we went out drinking and, as it was for an Irishman, we went to an Irish (themed) bar. There was a couple of beverages consumed before being kicked out at closing time! Somewhat unsurprisingly, the next morning was a bit of a non-starter really. We managed breakfast but didn't move beyond the room other than that. At 13:00 we braved the heat and sunlight and headed to our final fitting for our garments. Although Emmet required a final visit later on in the day we were all sorted and then braved some lunch from Burger Craft! The afternoon was also quiet other than a trip to the tailor for Emmet's final fitting for Craig before we headed out for dinner to Morning Glory for a lovely final meal of street style food from central Vietnam! Tomorrow we take the Hải Vân Pass to Huế!
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