I love Vietnam. And I especially love Ha Noi, even with the bustling crowds of people, the incessant honking of horns, the noise (I'm not generally a big city person). The smells are fantastic, the food behind the smells even better. There is not the constant touting to buy that we experienced in Hue and Hoi An - because it is in the north, or proportionally fewer tourists I don't know.
But the food, the food . . . ..
The train was late arriving to Da Nang, and lost a little further time along the way, meaning that our planned 4:00am arrival was in fact after 5:00. The hard class sleeper was a cabin with 6 people/beds in it . . . Bob and I on the top bunks, a Vietnamese couple in their 20's on the middle bunks and an aging Japanese tourist on the bottom on one side, and a mother and her four year old daughter on the other. It was quite congenial, despite the need for the beds to be down, leaving us no where to sit after a very short time, with only the bunks to lie on (at 4 o'clock in the afternoon). I found that the adjoining cabin had only a single guy in there, so with sign language we sat with him and once again the garmin broke the ice as I placed it on the windowsill to get good coverage.
Along the route, we were joined by another Australian guy, Darryl, off travelling with his daughter's school group from Lismore on a 10 day tour of Vietnam. He was a Vietnam vet, Bob's age exactly at 58, and it was fascinating talking to him, which we did well into the evening until the cabin mates needed to go to sleep at around 9:00pm.
I slept surprisingly well on the train, and so we decided to walk to the Camilla 2 Hotel where Bob had stayed on a number of occasions last year on his cycle tour. It was coming light and there had been overnight rain and it was particularly pleasant walking the 2 or 3 kilometres through the streets which were coming alive with motor scooters and food vendors. As we arrived at the Lake there were thousands, tens of thousands, of people of every age exercising - some jogging around the perimeter; many walking, some with walking frames or pushing wheelchairs; other groups had set up weights benches; or took part in group calathensics. It was very exciting and heartening to see.
We did not sleep at all during the day on Thursday, as Bob introduced me to some of the most magnificent food we have yet had on the trip; lunch in an alley adjacent to the market where we had a giant bowl of flavourful noodles with tofu, loads of green vegetables and snails (we think) for a total of 16,000 dong for the two of us (about $1.30 AUD). I chinese dumpling style bun winked at us nearby for 'dessert' (5,000 dong). Later that afternoon, glasses of mixed fruits (mango, jackfruit, pawpaw, pineapple, kidney beans, avocado) with condensed milk and coconut cream set us back 10,000 dong. You add crushed ice to the glass and eat/drink/slurp. It was spectacular! (and almost good for you too).
Did I say I loved Hanoi?
The 10th party congress in on during our time in Hanoi, and the streets are awash with red and yellow banners, flags and great patriotic posters. After Bob and I sat on a corner having (fresh draught beer without preservatives) for an hour or so (the total for rather more than a skinfull was 12,000 dong, about $1 AUD - I abstained), we toddled off to a local come-by-night street eatery where we had beef with noodles (not like anything in the local Chinese/Thai/Asian-Australian restaurant), Squid with garlic (the eel with citronella and chilli was 'off'), and a mass of stir fried mustard greens with 4 or 5 different types of mushrooms. A great feed. Great food. and with a (relatively expensive Tiger Beer - 10,000 dong) it came to 58,000.
Rad had rung us during the afternoon as we were exploring the streets in the French Quarter, heading up to the Opera House to see what performances may be on whilst we were in town. It was wonderful to talk to him, although he confirmed that the weather was cold, not something that I am looking forward to! The Opera House was pretty quiet while we are here, however in honour of the party congress (think bicentennial celebrations), there was a performance of martial arts and acrobatics on a stage set up in the middle of the road near the lake. We wandered down after dinner, and managed to secure a good position at the railing for the 8:00 pm start. It was great fun and we really enjoyed ourselves, the streets and always busy intersection coming nearly to a standstill during the performance. The symbolism was great in the martial arts display - the 'girls' (dubbed Miss Toughy by Bob) had Red belts and always beat the big guys up when outnumbered.
But the food, the food . . . ..
The train was late arriving to Da Nang, and lost a little further time along the way, meaning that our planned 4:00am arrival was in fact after 5:00. The hard class sleeper was a cabin with 6 people/beds in it . . . Bob and I on the top bunks, a Vietnamese couple in their 20's on the middle bunks and an aging Japanese tourist on the bottom on one side, and a mother and her four year old daughter on the other. It was quite congenial, despite the need for the beds to be down, leaving us no where to sit after a very short time, with only the bunks to lie on (at 4 o'clock in the afternoon). I found that the adjoining cabin had only a single guy in there, so with sign language we sat with him and once again the garmin broke the ice as I placed it on the windowsill to get good coverage.
Along the route, we were joined by another Australian guy, Darryl, off travelling with his daughter's school group from Lismore on a 10 day tour of Vietnam. He was a Vietnam vet, Bob's age exactly at 58, and it was fascinating talking to him, which we did well into the evening until the cabin mates needed to go to sleep at around 9:00pm.
I slept surprisingly well on the train, and so we decided to walk to the Camilla 2 Hotel where Bob had stayed on a number of occasions last year on his cycle tour. It was coming light and there had been overnight rain and it was particularly pleasant walking the 2 or 3 kilometres through the streets which were coming alive with motor scooters and food vendors. As we arrived at the Lake there were thousands, tens of thousands, of people of every age exercising - some jogging around the perimeter; many walking, some with walking frames or pushing wheelchairs; other groups had set up weights benches; or took part in group calathensics. It was very exciting and heartening to see.
We did not sleep at all during the day on Thursday, as Bob introduced me to some of the most magnificent food we have yet had on the trip; lunch in an alley adjacent to the market where we had a giant bowl of flavourful noodles with tofu, loads of green vegetables and snails (we think) for a total of 16,000 dong for the two of us (about $1.30 AUD). I chinese dumpling style bun winked at us nearby for 'dessert' (5,000 dong). Later that afternoon, glasses of mixed fruits (mango, jackfruit, pawpaw, pineapple, kidney beans, avocado) with condensed milk and coconut cream set us back 10,000 dong. You add crushed ice to the glass and eat/drink/slurp. It was spectacular! (and almost good for you too).
Did I say I loved Hanoi?
The 10th party congress in on during our time in Hanoi, and the streets are awash with red and yellow banners, flags and great patriotic posters. After Bob and I sat on a corner having (fresh draught beer without preservatives) for an hour or so (the total for rather more than a skinfull was 12,000 dong, about $1 AUD - I abstained), we toddled off to a local come-by-night street eatery where we had beef with noodles (not like anything in the local Chinese/Thai/Asian-Australian restaurant), Squid with garlic (the eel with citronella and chilli was 'off'), and a mass of stir fried mustard greens with 4 or 5 different types of mushrooms. A great feed. Great food. and with a (relatively expensive Tiger Beer - 10,000 dong) it came to 58,000.
Rad had rung us during the afternoon as we were exploring the streets in the French Quarter, heading up to the Opera House to see what performances may be on whilst we were in town. It was wonderful to talk to him, although he confirmed that the weather was cold, not something that I am looking forward to! The Opera House was pretty quiet while we are here, however in honour of the party congress (think bicentennial celebrations), there was a performance of martial arts and acrobatics on a stage set up in the middle of the road near the lake. We wandered down after dinner, and managed to secure a good position at the railing for the 8:00 pm start. It was great fun and we really enjoyed ourselves, the streets and always busy intersection coming nearly to a standstill during the performance. The symbolism was great in the martial arts display - the 'girls' (dubbed Miss Toughy by Bob) had Red belts and always beat the big guys up when outnumbered.
TO BE CONTINUED . . . .
More tales of your wonderful adventure, FD...I look each day to see if there's a new one! Great reading!