Hanoi

Hello from Vietnam,

Although sad to leave the sun behind, we were both excited to reach Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Needless to say, food was at the top of our list of priorities so we couldn’t wait to visit the hundreds of roadside restaurants/ street food stalls. We had found a list of the top 10 street eats in Hanoi so wanted to try them all in the two days we had. We think 8/10 and a few extras was a solid effort. Our first stop began as soon as we stepped off the airport bus. We ate sticky rice topped with various pieces of miscellaneous meat (we think all pork). It was unlike anything we’ve had before but very nice all the same. 50p for a bottle of beer to accompany it was a bargain too, especially when drink has been proportionally expensive so far on our travels. ‘Bia Hanoi’ and ‘Saigon Special’ were equally as good. Although we went to the wrong hostel (same name), our journey wasn’t wasted as we stumbled across a stall selling banana fritters on the way. By the end of our two day street food crawl, we had also tried:

• Bun Cha - pork cooked two ways in a sweet and salty soup with vermicelli noodles

• Crab Nem - spring rolls

• Banh Coun - rice crepes filled with minced pork

• Pho - beef noodle soup

• and Banh mi - spicy pate baguettes that deserve a whole blog post of their own!

All exceptionally delicious and totally different to the cuisine of anywhere else we have visited so far.

Ross was very happy to be reunited with good coffee. He took the first opportunity to sample a strong, back Vietnamese coffee in a local cafe. The following morning we sampled a regional special - egg coffee. This is a strong, black coffee topped with whisked foamy egg yolk and condensed milk. Absolutely delicious. We enjoyed this in a cute coffee shop with a friend Danielle met two years ago when visiting Vietnam on a family holiday.

Refusing to let tea be overshadowed, Danielle took Ross to a traditional tea house that she had been to on her last visit. Sat crossed leg around a small ornate table, the tea ceremony began using an adorable, child sized tea set. The lady serving us poured water between the cups before presenting us with thimble sized ‘cups’ of Jasmin tea. To accompany our tea, we had peanut brittle and green bean ‘cake’, which actually reminded us of a crumbly fudge.

We did manage to do more than eat and drink during our visit though. Wondering through the old quarter, we saw the city at work. Each street is dedicated to particular items; a whole street of electricals, another of spices, one of baby clothing. Most of our time was spent down the cookware street - an unlikely tourist choice. Here Ross brought a large selection of carbon steel chefs knifes. These are very expensive back home but we were able to pick these up for a couple of pounds each. Some stalls were even selling Christmas decorations and Santa outfits - by the hundred!

The colourful daytime markets turned to a beautifully lit city by eve. The roads around the cities central lake were closed off and the streets were filled with locals playing a game that resembled group keepie-ups using a weighted shuttle cock thing instead of a football. The famous Red Bridge and the temple it leads to looked even more impressive by night.

The Vietnamese WiFi seems to be more reliable than what we found in Sri Lanka, so hopefully these posts shouldn't take quite so long to reach you.

Love R and D xxx