We did the food tour on Saturday morning led by our new best friend, Binh (pronounced Bing). We had typical Vietnamese breakfast which is Pho Bo (beef and noodles). Binh chose one of the oldest establishments in Hanoi which was a pattern he continued throughout the tour. The noodles are served with fresh scallions, marjoram, coriander hot peppers, and fish sauce to season to your taste. It was amazing and Finn now plans to pick some of this stuff at Larriland and understands why visitors used to take so much of these 'weeds'. Binh offered historical and cultural insights along the tour like explaining the differences between the US-influenced liberal South Vietnam who travel and spend freely and the North who save, marry young, and stay local. We went to the Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem which is the center of activity in Hanoi before having a egg coffee at Cafe Linh. This cafe was started by the daughter of the inventor of egg coffee. I must have misheard Binh the other day because it was excellent -- very sweet with a custardy creamy top. We walked all over the Old French Quarter and he showed us where he is opening a coffee shop and with two homestay (airbnb) units on the railroad track.
My Airbnb host is contacting me during the tour since I asked her for help booking a cycling tour in the countryside for Sunday. However Binh said it would be better to go to the Ninh Binh province to do a bike ride there and boat ride on Tam Coc. He set it up for us right then to get picked up on Sunday at a better price and that will be the subject of the next blog entry.
The food tour continued with stops for coconut ice cream at the oldest stand in Hanoi, custard, beer & raw peanuts and finally Bun Cha. This was actually the best Bun Cha we had on the trip and Binh claims better than the Obama restaurant. We would have had tea but a storm threatened so we ended our 4 hour tour.
We went to mass Saturday night at St. Joseph's Cathedral which was packed. I always like that you can follow the mass in a different language. Sign of peace was a head bow which is something I think the West should adopt and not just during flu season. After mass we went to the night market but we're not seeing much we haven't seen in Bangkok or Hanoi tourist shops so we just walked around the lake checking out the street entertainers which include university choruses, dance troupess, acrobats and other acts. The place was packed with families and they close the streets in the town center each weekend which makes it pretty nice.
From there we trekked to the nightspot street that Finn had researched on the internet. It was pretty similar to Kho San in Bangkok with lots of backpackers and under-25's. We had a few Saigon beers and then Finn checked out some places on his own while I got a foot massage. Finn especially likes the beer prices which even beat Blacksburg at 30,000 VND or a little over a $1. He met some people from the UK and said the backpacker hostel bar was crazy. We met afterward and started walking back when it started to rain. Taxis try to sell us a ride but Cheap and Cheaper Jr. refused since we're less than a mile from the place. We then get lost. When we finally get there our alley gate is locked and manuevering to unlock the padlock which is on the other side of the gate is a challenge when you are wet and full of $1 beers. We succeeded and were able to get inside and get some rest before the next tour day.
My Airbnb host is contacting me during the tour since I asked her for help booking a cycling tour in the countryside for Sunday. However Binh said it would be better to go to the Ninh Binh province to do a bike ride there and boat ride on Tam Coc. He set it up for us right then to get picked up on Sunday at a better price and that will be the subject of the next blog entry.
The food tour continued with stops for coconut ice cream at the oldest stand in Hanoi, custard, beer & raw peanuts and finally Bun Cha. This was actually the best Bun Cha we had on the trip and Binh claims better than the Obama restaurant. We would have had tea but a storm threatened so we ended our 4 hour tour.
We went to mass Saturday night at St. Joseph's Cathedral which was packed. I always like that you can follow the mass in a different language. Sign of peace was a head bow which is something I think the West should adopt and not just during flu season. After mass we went to the night market but we're not seeing much we haven't seen in Bangkok or Hanoi tourist shops so we just walked around the lake checking out the street entertainers which include university choruses, dance troupess, acrobats and other acts. The place was packed with families and they close the streets in the town center each weekend which makes it pretty nice.
From there we trekked to the nightspot street that Finn had researched on the internet. It was pretty similar to Kho San in Bangkok with lots of backpackers and under-25's. We had a few Saigon beers and then Finn checked out some places on his own while I got a foot massage. Finn especially likes the beer prices which even beat Blacksburg at 30,000 VND or a little over a $1. He met some people from the UK and said the backpacker hostel bar was crazy. We met afterward and started walking back when it started to rain. Taxis try to sell us a ride but Cheap and Cheaper Jr. refused since we're less than a mile from the place. We then get lost. When we finally get there our alley gate is locked and manuevering to unlock the padlock which is on the other side of the gate is a challenge when you are wet and full of $1 beers. We succeeded and were able to get inside and get some rest before the next tour day.
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