Food Crawling - Hanoi, Vietnam

We arrived in Hanoi excited about what was to come. This was one of the cities I was most excited to visit in all of SE Asia, and I was ready to take it by the horns. Unfortunately, as we traveled up Vietnam, we noticed that the further North we got the more scams we encountered. People were trying to rip you off at every turn, from doubled cab fares, incorrect weighing of the laundry, to "accidentally" giving you incorrect change. We were getting a little tired of it and Hanoi, we had read, was the worst.

The most Northern city and the capital of Vietnam, a communist country with a bloody past with Westerners, Hanoi was wrought with scammers. I have very mixed feelings about my time in Hanoi, and even Vietnam. If the attitude towards Westerners was better, I would come back. Unfortunately for them, since tourism is about the only hope they have of a better lifestyle, I will not be returning to Vietnam, simply because the people are the worst I have met anywhere in the world.

We had read so much about the scams that we were able to protect ourselves from most. But on the train while having some beers with fellow Dutchmen (one of whom repeatedly told Sarah she did not pronounce her last name right), the waiter gave us incorrect change claiming that we owed him for an additional round that we had previously paid for. There was simply nothing we could do.

But Hanoi lived up to my expectations, despite the constant scam attempts. We had some of the best street food in all of SE Asia in Hanoi, and you can get anything there, i mean ANYTHING, from dog to still beating cobra heart. Plus, the constant buzz of motorbikes keeps the city alive at a pace similar to NYC. The Bia Hoi's are plentiful, serving up beers for 5,000 dong (25 cents), it's a deal you can't get anywhere else in the world. An even better deal was free Carlsberg draft beer all night for a bar's opening night.

Typical Old Quarter, Hanoi street. Very narrow with tons of motorbikes.

So many Motorbikes!

These are the kinds of things that happen while traveling. We were going to "take it easy" that night, until we stumbled upon this sign. We couldn't believe it, but we drank here for FREE all night. Carlsberg draft, Tiger, anything you wanted, for free...unprecedented in my life.

The first night and next day we decided we would dedicate our time to discovering the city by foot, and trying as many street food vendors as possible. That day we tried about 6 different dishes, including our Thanksgiving dinner of fried pork and fries!

We typically start our day with a bowl of Pho Bo (pronounced Pha Bo), which is a typical morning dish of beef noodle soup. This is one of our favorite soups in Vietnam.

Having my breakfast Pho Bo...and yes, I was tired in this picture.

I am not really a fan of fish, but I had a feeling that this restaurant did it right.

The grilled fish, it was a REALLY expensive meal for us at $7.50 each, but well worth the splurge.

Next, we visited a pagoda and bridge in the middle of Ho Kiem Lake.

We were accosted by literally 25 young Vietnamese and Chinese girls who were fascinated by our white skin. We had a photo shoot for the next 30 minutes.

We continued our food crawl with a bowl of Bun Cha. A sweet, broth based BBQ pork noodle dish, specific to Hanoi.

Next up was dinner, of Bun Bo Nam Bo, a beef based noodle dish without broth. This is the Bun Bo Nam Bo lady.

This was one of our favorites and we got it another 3-4 times in Hanoi.

And finally, the rats of the sky, PIGEON. It was very chewy and tough, not our favorite dish thus far.

The next few days we spent exploring Hanoi by foot. For such a fast paced city, filled with the buzzing of motorbikes, you take each day particularly slow. A Vietnamese coffee on the sidewalk can eat a whole hour out of your day. It was very nice to be able to spend a week in the capital of Vietnam. One night we went to a water puppet show, which was a very strange experience.

The spitting dragons

We took a day trip to Halong Bay, supposed to be one of the 7 wonders of the world. The problem is, that after seeing all of the rest of SE Asia, it pales in comparison. Nonetheless, it was beautiful.

Caves with florescent lights which made the experience feel like Disneyland. We were NOT impressed.

Finally, it was on to the Bia Hoi, Vietnam's famous fresh beer. For only 25c a glass it is one of the best things in Vietnam. The small red and blue chairs spill out onto the streets, vendors come by to sell you anything from donuts to nail clippers, and you just sit and watch Hanoi fly by.

We met up with our Canadian and English friends again in Hanoi and had a blast.

Around the corner from the Bia Hoi is the bathroom. There are 3 holes in the ground built on the back of an old mans house. He sits in his doorway, demanding 2000 Dong from you every time you walk by. He became known as the "Bathroom Nazi."

Upon returning home from the Bia Hoi quite late, we found our security guards (aka the hotel staff) asleep on the ground. I think this is where they live, and if you look at the handles of the door, they are secured shut by a sturdy broomstick.

Dare #15 Complete

My best friend, Elizabeth McCreary (Donaldson) is a HUGE Denver Broncos fan so she dared us to take a picture "tebowing" in front of the One Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi. Tebowing, apparently, is the signature move of Tim Tebow, the QB for the Broncos. There is a whole website dedicated to pictures of people "tebowing" here http://tebowing.com/.

We thought this dare would be super easy, I mean its just a picture in front of a pagoda, right? Wrong! There were sooo many people there and we felt and looked absolutely ridiculous doing this in front of everyone. When we looked up there were at least 10 people around snapping pictures of the random Americans kneeling in front of the pagoda. Super awkward! Thanks Elizabeth for the great dare!

Ben and I "tebowing" in front of One Pillar Pagoda

Just to give you an idea about how many people were there...this really doesn't do it justice

Ancient City Hue

We arrived in Hue by our Easy Riders guides, and set out to find a hotel. We settled on a luxurious place for $8 a night, a steal if you ask me. Hue is the capital of the old Nguyen Dynasty, so is rich in history. The most impressive was the Citadel, the Emperor's Forbidden City. Hue is also a UNESCO heritage site, and has a lot to see. So we rented a motorbike for a few days of sightseeing by day and relaxing and recharging at night.

In the Citadel, the Emperor's forbidden city.

The grandmother's quarters inside the Citadel

We also visited the largest Pagoda in Vietnam, Thien Mu. Everyone remembers the first monk to burn himself in Vietnam during the war? Well, the car that he drove to Saigon to do it, which appears in all the photos, is at this Pagoda site.

Ouch!

We saw much more in Hue...temples. tombs. old stadiums, etc. Hue was a great place to rest and step back from all the craziness for a bit. Also, Hue has really good Western food, so we got a break from the Vietnamese exotics before heading to Hanoi where we will dive right back in on trying new things.

Easy Riding from Hoi An to Hue

The Easy Riders...We had read about them on Tripadvisor, they were the #1 thing to do in Hoi An. We didn't think anything of it until one approached us while we were at a cafe in Hoi An. We listened to his schpeal and thought we would take a look online. It would be an adventure, off the beaten path, something most tourists don't do, a 2 day trek through the jungle on the back of a motorcycle. After researching the company, reading countless reviews about the different tour guides, we decided to give it a shot. So at 10 AM the next day, the two Vietnamese tour guides showed up on their Honda 125cc bikes, strapped our luggage to the back, and off we went into the mountains.

Our guides Anh and Cuong

I was assured nothing but the most luxurious of accommodations would be in order for the trip

Our first stop was Marble Mountain, which is...exactly that. A huge mountain made of marble with multiple caves.

The Viet Cong used to hide in these caves during the war and the Americans bombed them so there are bomb holes throughout the caves that let through natural light

"Happy Buddha" a Vietnamese man yelled at us 10 times pointing to this shrine. He then asked for money....THE NERVE

Cave Dwelling!

On a hike to the top of Marble Mountain, hoping that it would be worth it

We made it...view of Danang and China Beach, where the Americans used to surf and relax during the War

After hiking around Marble Mountain we went to this waterfall where we hiked over boulders to get to this beautiful swimming hole

Working hard in the green tea fields. See, this trip isn't all about play, we have to earn our keep too.

Next we went to a village that was completely off the grid in the top of the mountains, only about 4 km from the boarder of Laos, a place that most tourists dont go. This village was completely self sufficient, they did not even use currency! It was such a simple place, with different traditions, such as women and men marrying at 14-16 years old.

We got to visit the villagers kitchen, where they had chicks running around. They let us hold them. Sarah dropped it on its head shortly after this.

This is the village school. Outside looks very weathered, but the inside is the same as ours. Blackboard, desks, etc.

We arrived to the place we would be sleeping that night, a town of 350 people called Prao. We checked into our hotel, and our guides took us to dinner. Little did we know it would be a wild night. They bought homemade Vietnamese rice wine that was very strong (they said about 38%). And when they cheers'd us, we drank.

Yes, the booze is sold to you in an Aquafina bottle...$1.25 per bottle.

Somehow this came out later in the night. It is rice wine with a dead cobra and scorpian in the bottle. It was DISGUSTING. It tainted my mouth until the next morning, the most vile tasting thing I have ever drank.

The next morning we were up bright and early at 6 AM, and a coffee was in order. So, in the Vietnamese spirit, we got the traditional Vietnamese coffee.

Much thicker than regular coffee, this Vietnamese coffee was very earthy.

On the Ho Chi Minh trail, used during the war to get from the North to South.

We stopped at a rice wine making facility, aka someones house, and met these indiginous mountain people. This lady was so fascinated by Sarah's white skin that she walked up to Sarah and hugged her and rubbed her arms, and then literally stood there holding Sarah's hand for a good five minutes. Sarah was uncomfortable, I thought it was hilarious.

That day was spent driving through the mountains and jungle. It was absolutely gorgeous, waterfalls at every turn, wild goats, chicken, and cows roamed the road. We even got to see a Cobra.

Waterfall in the background

My driver almost ran over this Cobra. The end of its tail was about 6 inches from us when we drove by it. Only then did we realize its head was poised up in striking position and its neck was flared out. One of the coolest things I have seen in the wild.

This is Bun Bo. One with Chinese influence, hence all the carrot. A dough pastry stuffed with quail egg, pork or beef, veggies and sauce. Really good, and only 20 cents.

All in all our 2 day trek through the mountains was wonderful. We got to see a side of Vietnam we would have never seen on the tourist trail, and got to meet some truly wonderful Vietnamese people. It is reassuring to meet genuine Vietnamese people after dealing with the tourist industry touts who will scam you for an extra 10 cents.

Eating our way through Hoi An, Vietnam

After our amazing time in Nha Trang, we boarded a 12 hour train headed for Hoi An, which was to get in at around 11PM...the train was delayed, however, so it did not get in until 1AM. Good thing we had thought to book a hotel in advance or we would have been SOL for sure.

We are soooo excited for the train ride

We were staying at a hotel called Sunshine Hotel in Hoi An and we had heard that it had a great breakfast. The first morning there, even though we had not gotten in until 1Am, we woke up at 7 because we were so hungry. The breakfast buffet DID NOT disappoint.

We then went to explore Hoi An Old Town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hoi An has ample history and was used for decades by Chinese and Japanese merchants. There is still abundant Chinese and Japanese influences in the town, such as the Chinese lanterns that are strung all around Old Town and illuminated at night. It is also influenced by the French, from the burnt orange buildings to the narrow, cobble stone roads. Hoi An is definitely a must-see, but if you are not interested in getting tailor-made clothes there is not a whole lot to do except eat, cook, and relax.

One of the buildings in Old Town

The Japanese Covered Bridge

One of the big things to do in Hoi An is eat. We discovered that Anthony Bourdain, host of "No Reservations," had done a show on Hoi An, so we decided to watch it and go to the places that he went. Such a good idea!! Ever since being in Vietnam we have been disappointed in the Vietnamese sandwiches, called Bahn Mi. But, Anthony Bourdain went to the "Sandwich Lady," in Hoi An and raved about her Bahn Mi's, so we decided to give it a try. We found the place, located at the east entrance to the central market called "Bahn Mi Phuong," and asked for the deluxe, which includes a fried egg on top. Seriously, it was like a symphony in your mouth.

Best Bahn Mi EVER. If you ever find yourself in Hoi An find this stand and have the deluxe Bahn Mi...it will change your life.

Ben eating the sandwich like a local, sitting on the curb with a beer at hand to wash down the spiciness.

Another one of Ben's favorites here was Cau Lao, a dish special to Hoi An. He said he may even like it more than Pho, I, myself, am absolutely obsessed with Pho and cannot imagine going home and not eating it every day anymore so I will not sign onto his statement. But, it was tasty.

Bowl of Cau Lao. Noodles with pork, some fried pork bits on top, fresh veggies, and some spicy, beef based sauce.

The next day we decided to take advice from Travelfish and go to a cooking class, which is offered at virtually ever restaurant in Hoi An. We settled on Cafe 96 because it was the cheapest we found ($12/person) and they offered variations for people who don't like fish (ahem, Ben). We made spring rolls, spicy eggplant, lemongrass pork (fish for those that eat fish) and green mango salad with tofu (amde with shrimp for those that eat shellfish). It was a really cool experience and we would definitely recommend doing a cooking class here.

The restaurant. Located at address 96 on the river frontage road.

Rolling spring rolls, not easy...unless you are used to rolling things like cigarettes, etc.

Wrapping the pork in banana leaves to steam them on the grill. LOL at the guy in the background, so smug about being in my pic.