Day 3 Hanoi
Writing this from day 4, on top of a boat cruising Halong Bay.
Yesterday was food food food. Morning was an early start, down the lobby at 745am for a quick stroll around the corner for breakfast pho. A perfectly civilised breakfast it is too, with extra doughnut crouton type thing. Yummy soupy goodness.
Next stop was some local coffee, VN is one of the world’s biggest exporters of coffee, and we had a taste of the local brew. Not too bad, nothing too special but I think a bunch of that is down to the drip brew.
We followed this with a stroll through the markets, quite busy, some folks like to shop for groceries without getting off their mopeds. The markets were full of fun colours and smells, lots of fresh herbs, vegetables, banana flowers, all sorts of butchery, seafood of various shapes and sizes, river snakes, snails, and some big bags of still hopping frogs.
In our wanderings we found a woman sitting by herself with a large pile of durian, some cut up, so the group bought a tray. My first thought was that it didn’t smell as bad as I’d been led to believe, I was expecting to smell rotting corpses for miles, when the smell was mildly savoury, a little rough around the edges but not nauseating. Durian is a tasty meal, creamy, not too sweet but not savoury, a mild cheesiness to it all. Not sure what the fuss is about, it’s yummy creamy goodness not nearly as stinky as some cheese I’ve eaten.
Next stop was a little squidgier, foetal chicken eggs being sold by the side of the street. Wasn’t sure I’d try, but after another tour member managed some without instantly hurling I figured I’d try some. The verdict: looks worse than it tastes, it’s possible to see the chicken form. Taste-wise, it was a bit like eggs cooked in chicken broth, no bony texture, just a slightly stronger egg taste. Been there, done that, don’t need to do it again.
Had some sort of rice pancake filled thing, with a sauce made from essence of water bugs.
Other foods included fried prawn fritters, a bit like a doughnut with prawns on top, works well with the ubiquitous fish sauce, chilli and garlic garnish. Also had a very sweet tapioca coconut cream dessert, with lotus seeds and little tapioca balls with coconut centres.
The tour involved a tea-house with a celebrity tea expert, and he told some stories and took us through how the King used to take his tea. Had some ginseng?? tea and then a bit of a herbal fruity something with lots of fruit and bits in it.
Afternoon was some free time, getting massages etc, before heading out to a cooking class. Made caramel pork in a claypot, seafood spring rolls, and a fabulous salad from sliced banana leaf. Am beginning to get the whole balancing of sweet, salty, chilli and sour. When they work together they are fabulous, it’s just getting the balance.
Finished the evening in the hotel bar, where L had a go keeping her bargaining skills sharp with a woman selling t-shirts. I now have a Tintin in Vietnam shirt.