So, I shall start by regaling the loveliness of Hoi An. It has been my favorite town on the trip, hands down, from it's colonial style little streets to the river, the lanterns dotting every storefront, restaurant and bridge, to our tropical little hotel. We loved it there and even booked an extra day, but truthfully, I wish we'd booked at least 2 more. Alas, our time in Vietnam is running down (we have a flight to Bangkok the night of the 12th), so we wanted to move on and see Hue and Hanoi and really wanted to leave time for Halong Bay in the north with its limestone karsts! Lots to do!
We made the most of our time in Hoi An with many leisurely strolls down the streets along the river, enjoying the lovely cooking smells coming from the eateries, the multi colored lanterns hanging across the street and in the open air store fronts selling all sorts of cute trinkets including scarves, placemats, jewelry, bags and the lanterns themselves. At least two of the shops I stopped in on my last day had families lazing around in the afternoon heat making the beautiful silk lanterns. Everyone from the grandma, gluing the frame, to the son, threading colorful tassels, everyone had an eye on their work, but also following the singing program on the tiny TV.
The whole city seemed to be filled with charm and something a little whimsical. We walked across the ornate Japanese covered bridge, and one day we took a tour by bus and then back by boat to My Son temple ruins. Much of that area was bombed heavily in the war, but it was a truly amazing setting up in the mountains with the clouds rolling over the tops. The ancient ruins paled in comparison to the awe inspiring temples in Ankor Wat, but it was a nice day, a good hike, and having a simple snack on the rickety boat that brought us back to town was a highlight.
That day we had just a short time to stop for lunch at one of the best meals we've had at a little place along the river. We noticed it just as the boat dropped us off, so we feel like it was meant to be that we stopped in. Mr. Kim called to us from the street, as they tend to do in Vietnam (we'd stopped at a little place on the opposite bank twice because the first time they had a happy hour drink advertised called the Jungle Jane, the second day because they remembered us and the cocktails were superb!) Anyway, I'd read about Mr. Kim and Cafe De Amis in my guide book, and it certainly didn't disappoint! There were three choices on the menu- seafood, meat, or vegetarian. These dictated the ingredients, but you got the specialties of the day as far as a soup, an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert. I had the vegetarian set and Ryan the meat, and both were unbelievably good. The Vietnamese spring rolls were to die for. We wished we'd had more room! Mr. Kim had us sign his guest book, which had rave reviews from all over the world! So glad we didn't miss Cafe De Amis!
I actually arrived in Hoi An with a long list of restaurants to try and not enough time to try them. Even the breakfasts in the hotel were good! Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken or beef has been good everywhere, but Hoi An had some specialties that were to spectacular. One night we had what they call a 'pancake', but it's more like an omelet that you wrap in a lettuce leaf and dip in a peanut sauce. It was amazing. Even MORE amazing than that was my favorite dish I've had so far called Cao Lao. It's another local specialty that has thicker rice noodles, a soy sauce and 5 Spice mixture in the bottom, mint leaves, coriander leaves and bean sprouts with a marinated beef. It's so yummy, I can taste it now!!!
Luckily, I won't have to miss it, because we decided to take a cooking class at a little restaurant called Gioan. Ms. Hanh was our chef/teacher, and another Australian girl named Angela joined us for our class. It was so much fun! The ingredients were so fresh, bought from the market that day, and Hanh was so cute and energetic, she had us singing things like "chop, chop, chop"! We totally loved her, and you could tell she loved her job! We chose to make 5 different dishes, including the Cao Lao, and they let us take notes in our personalized cookbook to take home. So, so yummy! We might have even rivaled Mr. Kim (shhh, don't tell him!) It will certainly be one of my favorite memories from Vietnam.
Another highlight of Hoi An was the tailoring. There were tailoring shops everywhere! I swear everyone in this town is an artist, a tailor, or a chef. I love that town! I had a purple wool coat made, and Ryan several suits and shirts. We selected the fabrics and styles and the rest was done, with one alteration fitting, within two days. How awesome is that!? I'll let Ryan give a more detailed account in a blog entry to come, but it was amazing, I'll vouch for that!
We left Hoi An (sniff sniff!) on Thursday morning and took a sleeper BUS to Hue, about 3 hours north. We didn't have long there, but we found a great deal on a very nice colonial hotel set in the heart of the city. They were very kind to us, and even upgraded our room for free. River view- yeah! We swam a bit in the pool, and had delicious French food at a recommended place down the street. Yesterday we booked a car and driver to take us around to a tomb, a pagoda and a citadel in Hue. The scenery was nice, the tomb more like a temple grounds, surrounded by lakes and lots of beautiful iron dragons adorning the rooftops. Very peaceful, but also VERY hot. After walking around for about 4 hours to the places above, Ryan was beginning to show signs of mild heat stroke (no bueno!!) so we went back to the hotel and got a room for a few hours so we could shower and nap before our flight at 10. Ryan was good as new!
We got in late to Hanoi last night. I had arranged for a driver to pick us up from the airport because Hanoi might be even more famous for their taxi scams than Ho Chi Min. I don't know if this was a good idea in the end, because, no lie, a family on a motorcycle ran smack into the car on the way to the hotel. That scared the #%^* out of me! I saw it kind of happen in Slow motion. A mom and dad had their 3/4 year old riding between them were on the motorcycle and pulled out of a side street just as we drove by. I've seen that a thousand times in this country, no one hardly looks where they are going, which is why God invented horns in Vietnam I think, but they just pretty much sideswiped the car. I thought that baby was a goner, but while I sat there with my hands over my eyes, Ryan said they were all sitting up and talking. No one was bleeding. They were all rubbing their legs, and the dad, I'm pretty sure must have broken his calf bone. I was really upset, but a lot of people came out to help. We didn't really get to see if they went to a dr. Because after about 8 minutes the driver got back in and drove us the rest of the way to the hotel. I guess I must have been pretty shaken up, because about half way through check in and a sip in to my complimentary orange juice, I started to tear up. The hotel apologized many times. They explained the area on a map, and then gave us a discounted price for our second night here. When we got to the room, they had decorate the bed with flowers, a bottle of wine and a little cake that said Happy Honeymoon! It pays to play up our newlywed status! That calmed me down. We had an amazing sleep on a super comfy bed (a cloud?) and then even though we slept past breakfast, they offered to bring us up tea, coffe and pastries. We ate on the little covered veranda in the room. Nice.
It's been kind if a lazy morning, but after all our tromping around yesterday in the heat, we needed a restful morning. There is lots to see in Hanoi, and tomorrow we go to Halong Bay for 2 overnights in a junk (large Chinese fishing boat with cabins and sails). I can't wait for that!
We plan to walk around the old Quarter of Hanoi today, try some local Pho and maybe see a water puppet show tonight. Until next time!
i want a lantern
ReplyDeleteDibs on some yummy Cao Lao when you get back! You can use our kitchen and our spare bedroom as a crash pad! :)
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