Historically Hoi An in a merchant town and today that tradition is well in effect today. One does not go anywhere and not encounter shop keepers and street vendors trying to relieve you of a little hard earned moola. There are tee shirts, souvenirs, peanuts, candied ginger everywhere. Also there are tailors and shoe makers.
I resisited the above tempations (some were not so tempting actually) pretty well up to a point. Finally I caved in to the idea of custom made shoes so I decided to look at least. First I was presented with a huge display of shoes from which I could select the style I wanted. Then I was given a choice of leathers. Now came the time to negotiate price which started at $48. I explained I had a budget of $25, but I would consider going to a maximum of$30. After a persistent but low pressure discussion I agreed to "help out" the salesgirl and we settled on $33. She was good! I was measured and told to return the next day for a fitting. About 24 hours after my first contact I walked out of the store with my new shoes (but not wearing them because the glue had not set). It was kind of empowering to custom design shoes and I felt a bit Donald Trumpish.
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