Hanoi: A Change of Pace

Vietnam has been a great change of pace. Every morning I order a breakfast sandwich and a salted coffee, and Hannah gets a fruit smoothie. The whole thing comes to about $5 USD delivered, and it's the best breakfast combo I've had, I've had it every single morning.

The roads out here are pretty wild. There's no such thing as lanes. You've got the road, a horn, and your brake, and somehow no matter how chaotic it looks, it just works. A Grab from our Airbnb runs about $4 in a car for a 30-minute ride, but where's the fun in that? I'd rather be on a motorbike, fully trusting everyone around me. With a helmet, of course.

We went to this restaurant yesterday that was an experience in itself. You walk in under the entrance banner and find yourself in a long hallway. A concrete wall on your left, the open kitchen on your right with food being made right there as you pass. Nobody greets you. You just keep walking to the back where the seating is and find an open table. In our case, the table we found still had the last customer's meal sitting on it. We sat down on these stools that are about a foot off the ground while they cleaned up around us. Before we could even figure out what was happening, food just started arriving. A plate of noodles, a plate of 4 fried spring rolls, and a plate of garlic and peppers. Then they asked for our drink order and came back with the drinks and a bowl of meat in soup. The restaurant has a menu, but it's only for drinks. The food is one dish. Everything I just described. It's called Bun Cha 74 Hang Quat. The dish is bun cha (grilled pork with vermicelli noodles) and it's delicious. The broth is sour and spicy, the toppings are generous, and the seasoning is dialed in just right. You can dip the vermicelli straight into the broth and eat it with a piece of grilled pork, which is honestly the move, or you can build your own bite with vermicelli, vegetables, and pork all together. The staff move fast, the tables and chairs are clean, and even with the chaos out front the seating area is airy and comfortable. The whole meal for the two of us bun cha, a can of Saigon beer, and a glass of soy milk came out to 200k dong or $7.59 USD. I'd go back tomorrow.

I'm getting my last wisdom tooth removed on the 2nd, which will be fun. No more enjoying food for a while... straight smoothies. After that we're headed to Ha Long Bay. We've got a suite booked and a day cruise to tour around the islands. We might find time to ride the Hai Giang Loop when we get back, but we'll see. I've got a lot of projects I need to work on, and constantly moving around doesn't exactly help my mind focus.