Eating in Hanoi

After a long night of sleep, and forcing ourselves to stay in bed until morning local time, we were ready to hit the streets in search of adventure and of course, food!

Our first discovery of the was the local coffee shop. Adults slurped up tooth-achingly sweet coffee on ice. Kids discovered "iced cocoa"! This little place was just around the corner from our hotel. It was the local hangout and we were a fun spectacle for sure. There were about ten, tiny, two foot high tables inside the shop. On our second visit there all the tables were filled so the young server/host simply grabbed a stack of plastic stools and whisked us out to the sidewalk and under a nearby awning (it was raining off and on) where he quickly set up a gaggle of stools to both sit on and use as tables. He brought us exactly what we ordered the day before, even though we tried to order something different, and we did not care. There was something not surreal, but extra real when we were out there holding fort on our flimsy plastic stools, smiling and pantomiming with people walking past us, or sitting on neighboring stools. It was not the caffeine or the sugar that woke us up, it was the energy of the street.

For lunch we sought out the city's best Bun Cha. This is probably the most ubiquitous dish in Hanoi, and we had a recommendation to eat at a very particular restaurant that only served this, and the often accompanying spring rolls. It was a crazy trek down windy back roads, but we found it, and we ate well. One great thing about this little local cafes and street side restaurants, is that the service is pretty instant. If all you serve is coffe, or noodles, or kebab, then that whole dance of welcoming guests with menus and waiting for them to decide what to eat is gone from the equation. Instead, just the act of walking into a place tells everyone that you choose to eat or drink what is served here, so hurry up and put it before us, or we will choose to go somewhere else!

 

Dessert ended up being a joke. There are hundreds of woman walking the streets carrying beautiful baskets filled with donuts. Anytime they spotted us the pitch was always the same:"Hello Madame, you like? For children very good!". Our standard reply was "kong, cam on" (no thank you), at which their script must read : Follow tourist family with basket of sweet for at least 20 feet while holding basket right in front of children. We resisted many times, but gave in once. They tasted just greasy and sweet, not much fun and ended up costing more than our perfectly wonderful lunch! You have to let yourself be a sucker every once in a while.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Where is Here

Hanoi is unlike any place. Huge, busy, smells of unknown origin, and steamy. We took our first walk about while our hotel was prepping our room. We went with the flow in search of a recommended afternoon treat.

We nibbled on salty, sweet, sour, spicy mango slices, as we walked south along Hoa Kiem Lake.

 

Gus found Valhalla, until he realized that the prices were about the same as home. Spirits dwindled as our jet lag set in but when we found the sweetest little corner store everyone perked up.

 

Sweet sticky rice with coconut ice cream, and che (a crazy concoction of beans, sweet agar gel, coconut milk, and ice) refueled us for the walk back to our home in Hanoi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Getting There...

Getting out the door is sometimes the hardest hurdle of a trip. The anticipation. The checking off of mental lists. The last minute snuggles with the animals. The goodbyes. But we did it.

A few bumps along the way:

The island truck was not up for the trip, but we were able to turn back around, swap it for the family wagon, and still made it in time to drag our bags aboard a ferry on the way to the other side of the world. When we arrived at the airport we were informed that our flight was delayed for the third time and spent a few hours waiting in the airport, in the middle of the night, before our first plane was finally deemed ready. However, after we finally boarded we were spoiled with lots of okay airplane food and movie consoles in each seat:

Two meals and three movies later, we landed in Taipei where the kids learned just how fast you can run on those moving walkways when your connecting flight is waiting just for you! Our second flight was quick, but still long enough for one more plane meal, and we were so so glad when we landed in Hanoi.

And then to cap off a day of travel, we were treated to an amazing, non-newtonian ride to our hotel.

 

We made it. Good night from the backside.

 

Posted with Blogsy