day thirteen: 28 dec Hà Nôi to Sydney

What a trip! We managed to fit in so much and make enough time to relax and reflect on our holiday too - the people we met, the places of significance and the bonding of the family that happens when you travel together. 

Our final morning in Hà Nôi was merely enough time to pack our suitcases and hunt down a French patisserie we'd spotted from our cab the night before. Anh Hòa was a couple of blocks walk from the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel where we were staying and inside its doors were baguettes long and short, amazing cakes and mouth-watering pastries. We ordered a couple of pastries for morning tea and a couple of baguettes 'for the road' before heading across the street to a cafe J had noticed. 

 

Out on the street we ordered "Vietnamese coffee" which, I must tell you, is strong, dark and incredibly sweet. We asked for milk and it wasn't until the last mouthful that I understood where the sweetness had come from. When we ordered 'milk' we were asking for sweetened condensed milk. The coffee and pastries were still very pleasant and we were made to feel very welcome by the host,
N.M.Tri and his family.

Sticky-taped to a wall adjacent to Cafe 183A was this 'American dollar bill' which we assumed was another form of 'war propaganda.' N.M. explained that the cafe was popular with cyclists and it was a bike pump - not bomb pump as we'd thought. We remarked how easily, at times, you can make assumptions.

Within a day we were home again, in suburban Sydney. You know what it's like when you've had an amazing experience and you return to your routine life and you feel as though you've changed but nothing around you has?

The kids managed to get about four hours sleep on the overnight plane ride home. I had half an hour and J didn't sleep a wink. Jet lag caught up to us rapidly and we all slid into our own beds for a three hour sleep. Feeling somewhat revived I headed to our local Harris Farm markets to source some fresh ingredients for a Vietnamese chicken soup. Can you imagine my disappointment when there was no Vietnamese mint - and none in any of the supermarkets I tried over the following few days?!

I had to remind myself of our incredible country - a relatively high rate of employment; a good economy; access to world class education and health care; a melting pot of cultural diversity; some of the freshest, cleanest food in the world and of such a variety thanks to all our global influences, including Vietnam.

This was my lasting memory of Vietnam......

Anh Hòa bakery

Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, 
Vietnam +84 93 650 52 99


Cafe 
183A Phung Hung,
Hoan Kiem Dist, Ha Noi

day twelve: dec 27 Hà Nôi

The streets of Hà Nôi were adorned with these banners. The North Vietnamese were commemorating forty years since the end of a ten-day American bombing campaign over Christmas in the city. We spoke with locals about the anniversary and whilst it resonated as an important date on the calendar there wasn't a thirst for revenge. People just seemed to think that acknowledgement of the date was important and that, as they say, "life goes on."

It was strange to think that these banners, that celebrated the end of the American (and Australian) invasion of Vietnam could be viewed as propaganda too and, as they say, "there's always two sides to a story."

This morning we took a walk along the lake to 'Book Street' (Ba Trieu) and visited a 3D trick exhibition. The street is also lined withbook stores where we had fun perusing English and, mostly Vietnamese, books.

 

Sun Handicrafts was a discovery we made while walking to lunch. Fabric necklaces (200VD = $8AUD) hats, scarves, women's clothes and fabric buttons are all made onsite. I was particularly taken by the handmade quilts - single, double and pram sized - but I knew we couldn't fit them in our case on the trip home.

 

We headed to Xôi Yên for lunch which had a great view of the street. They served a few variations of a rice dish and I settled on Gà luôc. Against all instinct rubbish is thrown on the floor during a meal and so your feet are surrounded by used paper napkins and pieces of gristle.

Gà luôc

Sticky rice (savoury) with grated beans (possibly butter beans), crunchy fried garlic, shredded chicken pieces, served with cucumber pickle on the side.

Cucumber pickle

According to many websites we simply had to visit Ca Cha La Vong for dinner. Ca Cha La Vong has a cult following, probably due to its inclusion in the Lonely Planet guidebook. We arrived at Ca Cha La Vong just on 6:30pm and were seated immediately. Moments later the restaurant was full and within an instant we were served the dish that has made Ca Cha La Vong famous and given the restaurant its named because it is the only dish you can eat there. Fried fish.

What makes Vietnamese food taste so fresh are the stacks of fresh herbs and greens. This dish needs more of them. Although tasty, I found it very oily, but the greens did give the dish a slight 'I don't feel like I just drank oil' feel afterwards. Accompaniments also included roasted peanuts, chilli/garlic oil and steamed rice. The beer we ordered also helped to cut through the grease.

At the end of the meal we asked for the bill which came to 360,000VD ($18AUD) which was far than we were expecting, more than we were carrying on us and too much for a meal for two. J literally tried five nearby ATM's before he was able to withdraw cash while we waited for his return.

We finished the night with dessert at Green Tangerine with our very own chocolate truffle fritters perfumed with tamarind and the red fruit flower sauce! Fortunately, for me, that wasn't the end of my night because I was lucky enough that J offered to take the children back to bed at the hotel.

Meanwhile I SUPER indulged in a package at SF Salon and Spa which had been recommended by our hotel while their own spa was under renovation. The coconut pre-sun package included 3.5 hours of blissful attentiveness.

"Freshly-grated coconut is used to smooth and moisturize the skin with a gentle exfoliation, leaving it in perfect condition to receive the sun. A great start to your holiday! For all skin types, this treatment is also a perfect preparation for a Body massage and also ideal combined with a facial care.
– Steam Bath or Sauna or Jacuzzi
– Massage Therapy with Coconut Oil
– Coconut Exfoliation
– Facial Care by Coconut and Cucumber
(Offer free coconut juice)"

Are you enticed? Believe me, this was the very best final night on a brilliant trip. The package set me back abut $60AUD but a package like this here would cost hundreds. My skin was left feeling rejuvenated and silky soft and I slept like a (well rested) baby!

Xôi Yên
35b, Nguyen Huu Huan Street, Hoan Kiem Ward, Hà Nôi City Province
(04) 3934 1950

Sun Handicrafts
46 Hang Be, Hoan Kiem, Hà Nôi

Ca Cha La Vong
14 Pho Cha Ca Old Quarter
Phone 04 3825 3929
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/vietnam/hanoi/restaurants/seafood/cha-ca-vong

Green Tangerine
48 Hang Be Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hà Nôi, Vietnam.
Tel : +84 4 3825 1286 Fax :+84 3828 9167.
Email: enquiry@greentangerinehanoi.com
http://greentangerinehanoi.com/

SF Salon and Spa
16 Hàng Buồm, Hoan Kiem District Hà Nôi, 
Vietnam‎+84 4 3926 2032
http://sfcompany.net/

day eleven: dec 26 Hà Nôi

On the morning of our eleventh day we took a tour of Bat Trang - a pottery-making village. We now have a real appreciation for hand-painted pottery. Once, I would have been dubious if I'd seen identical pieces and they'd been described as hand-painted but the artists at the studios create beautiful designs - over and over and over. One studio we visited made thousands of teapots each day. Each one had to be sponged so it didn't dry out too quickly, and crack. Bat Trang artists make (and sell) everything from crockery to coffins to vases as tall as a tall person.

We stopped for lunch not far from the Museum of Ethnology and tried, something I wouldn't have naturally attributed to Vietnamese cuisine, Bít Têt. The meal was served on a steaming hot plate - steak, meat balls, potato chips, onions, tomato and an egg. It was the perfect meal in the cool, drizzly weather. Here's a great visual menu (and written, if you can read Vietnamese).

What an amazing teaching tool the Museum of Ethnology is. The gardens of the museum have been transformed into a display of various forms of housing in traditional Vietnam. They include the use of original materials, design and layout suiting the purpose of the tribes of people who would have inhabited the houses and the environment in which they lived. The kids particularly loved running around this display and climbing the pole ladders attached to houses perched on stilts.

Bánh mỳ bít tết

54 Hoàng Quốc Việt, Cổ Nhuế, Cầu Giấy

Hanoi, Vietnam
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
Nguyen Van Huyen Road, Cau Giay Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Telephone : (+84-4) 37562193 - Fax: (+84-4) 38360351
http://www.vme.org.vn/aboutus_history.asp

day nine: dec 24 Huè to Hà Nôi

With a couple of hours remaining in Hue we visited the War Museum (a stone's throw from the Citadel) and took up one of the many offers for a tour of the Old City by rickshaw. As I mentioned we should have done this on our first day. It was an insightful tour of relics of the war and added an incredibly sobering element to our final hours in Huè.

The strangest things we saw on the back of a rickshaw in Vietnam:

an industrial air conditioning unit

a wardrobe: the rider had to pop his head up over the top of the 'robe at regular intervals to make certain he was still going in the right direction.

four enormous boxes of OK condoms. If you didn't know the contents of the boxes were so light you'd think the rickshaw would topple.

Dinner in Hanoi

I avoided the pig's blood. Front and centre of photo.

We flew to Hà Nôi on the final leg of our tour of Vietnam. We checked in at the Golden Silk Boutique Hotel, which is as it sounds - a boutique hotel (only lacking a pool, spa) nestled among silk shops on Silk rd. which is a bonus for those interested in buying clothing (plenty of scarves) made in Vietnam with Vietnamese silk. It's also a five minute walk from the lake and in the heart of the Old City.

Our guide, the lovely Ton, organised a rickshaw ride through the Old and French Quarters past luxurious hotels dripping with Christmas lights. The atmosphere on the streets of Hà Nôi was unlike Saigon especially in the day leading up to Christmas. Hà Nôi is a city that never sleeps, where car and bike horns are constantly blaring. Rickshaw was the best way to see the city! And we developed a real fondness for Hà Nôi.

After the rickshaw ride we saw the famous water puppets which the children loved. A short walk back to our hotel was as much as we could manage (we were exhausted) and we'd cancelled our tour to Halong Bay the following day. We decided to stay in Hà Nôi for Christmas and take a day of rest.

Thanglong Water Puppet Theatre

57b Dinh Tien Hoang Str.,
Hà Nôi, Vietnam
Tel : 84 4 39364335 – 39364334 - 38255450
Fax / Tel : 84 43 8 245117
E-mail : thanglong.wpt@fpt.vn
www.thanglongwaterpuppet.org

Golden Silk Boutique Hotel

Hàng Gai, Hoan Kiem District

Hà Nôi, Vietnam

Tel 84-4-3928 6969
Fax 84-4-3928 6999
Email info@goldensilkhotel.com
Website www.goldensilkhotel.com

day eight: dec 23 Huè

Bánh Bêo

We'd scheduled a tour with our guide to the Tomb of the Emporer Minh Mang (1820-1849). The temple was a short drive from town but it was a world away from the hustle of Huè. The land surrounding the temple had been well-kept. The lawns were well manicured and a dam which surrounded the temple had been dug by hand. The Emporer's remains have been entombed somewhere beyond a heavily closed door at the top of a huge flight of stairs.

Thien Mu Pagoda can be accessed by dragon boat or car. Our guide took us to the Buddhist pagoda which was beautiful. Afterwards, a dragon boat took us up the Perfume River where we disembarked (rather unconventionally) through muddy grass on the bank of the river.

We were headed to Lac Thien - a restaurant of the Deaf and Mute (commonly described in guidebooks) for Bánh Bêo and phở for lunch.

Hué pancake (Bánh Bêo) is similar to the Bánh Xeo of the south - served with a huge plate of greens - lettuce and herbs. Unlike the Bánh Xeo we ate in Saigon and Hoi An a peanut sauce is the accompaniment and it is served without rice paper to roll it.

The phở was distinctly different to its southern soup of the same name. The stock was spicier and heavier. We were given greens to eat with the phô but no lemon, bean shoots and although the greens were varied their was no Vietnamese mint which gives the phô of the south it's characteristic freshness.

P made her first 'friend' at Lac Thien. The wife of the owner must have known the way to her heart - and she offered P a prawn which P gladly took. The woman and P didn't exchange words but they made a connection and P was more than happy to have cuddles while we ate.

Lac Thien - Restaurant of the Deaf and Mute
6 Dinh Hoang, Hue, Vietnam

day seven: dec 22 Hội An - Huè

Citadel

The three hour drive from Hội An to Huè over the mountains and along the coastline can also be done by train. Oh - and if you're crazy that way inclined you can do it on bicycle (we met people who were). Either way you'll travel through Đà Nẵng, across the Hải Vân Pass, "Pass of the Ocean Clouds" which was once under the control of the US military and for centuries has marked the distinct border between north and south Vietnam. The trip is spectacular.

Once in Huè we checked in to the Camellia Hotel. With the slogans, "beyond expectations" and "we serve everything with heart" and smoking permitted in the foyer I had the feeling this wouldn't be our favourite stay. Smoking was also allowed in the breakfast dining room (and people did, while we ate). The staff were attentive but the lobby, pool area and 'oriental' over-styled rooms, desperately need a modern makeover. Some rooms included a plastic fantastic, and very dusty, bamboo garden in the corner of the room. Thankfully we required a larger room so ours came without.

The best thing to do when the hotel is bad is to get out! We attempted to walk from the hotel to the citadel but with broken paths and excavating of drains we opted for a rickshaw ride which was fabulous!

* Note: if you're heading to Huè be sure to have a rickshaw tour of the Old Town on your arrival. We left it to our last day but we should have done it on our first. The tour (depending on your guide) will give you invaluable insight into the America War according to North Vietnamese but, just as significantly, give you the bearings of this city.

We ate dinner at the Dong Ba Market. Whenever we've travelled in the past we've made certain we've learned a few key phrases. This time, probably because we were so focused on a relaxed flight (is there such a thing with children) we didn't but that didn't mean we couldn't make ourselves understood.

We watched a few stalls and noticed numerous take-away dishes being taken away by motorcyclists to nearby homes as well as diners frequenting this restaurant so we pointed at what the locals were eating and this is what we were served.  The ladies never left their foot-high stools as they grabbed at the prepared food at their fingertips. They assembled these dishes for us - pork skewers and peanut sauce, beef and noodles (chilled) with peanut sauce and you can see the stacks of fresh salad!

It was good and it was cheap.

day six: dec 21 Hội An (Mỹ Sơn tour)

We were desperate to get out of town and jumped at the suggestion of our guide to visit Mỹ Sơn "a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples constructed between the 4th and the 14th century AD by the kings of Champa" (wikipedia, n.d.)."

The site itself is beautiful and even if you have a few spare hours in your schedule I'd highly recommend a visit. The architecture is not dissimilar to ruins I've seen across Asia - reflecting the dominant religion over various periods - Buddhist, Hindi. Across Mỹ Sơn are those tell-tale craters - where the US forces carpet bombed during the war.

Back in Hội An we feasted on the local noodle dish, Cao Lau, although I think B was still dreaming of his toasted sandwich!

Silk lanterns

Later I had the final adjustments made on my tailored clothes at Yaly. And, for the record, they are worth every Australian dollar I spent on them. I've worn all three dresses and it won't be long before I wear the blouses too.

day five: dec 20 Hội An

There's plenty to see in Hội An and one thing that we missed seeing (and I wished we had have) is the town's well. The water from the wells is used to make authentic Cao Lau noodles.

What better way to broaden a culinary adventure and take home Vietnamese cooking techniques than to attend a cooking class? Red Bridge Cooking School is one of the two famous cooking schools in Hội An. We mentioned, in our booking, that we'd be bringing our children so they gave us the afternoon class. That way our kids didn't get in the way of other attendees and the staff could watch our kids when the kids lost interest in watching us cook. 

The Red Bridge Cooking School class began in the town where we visited the Hội An Cho (market) with a guide who talked us through the produce and some equipment used in Vietnamese cooking. I can just see and smell and dream of those fresh, fresh herbs!

From the market we took a boat along the river to the cooking school which is situated in superb, lush grounds.

We made 

• Seafood salad with Vietnamese herbs (from the garden) served in half a pineapple - Goi han san trong thuyen thom 
• Fresh rice paper rolls of shrimp - Chà giò tuoi
• Fresh rice paper - bánh uot (though, like so many things, it would be far easier to buy these than repeat the process of making, cooking and drying for two days.) 
• Hội An pancakes - Bánh xèo
• Vietnamese eggplant in clay pot - Cà tím kho tô
• Food decorations - trang ti

We were also given the recipes for sweet and sour sauce (sõt chua ngot), peanut sauce (sõt tuong dâu) and fish sauce (nuóc mam). 

An early dinner was served with a beer and the kitchen brought out a steamed ocean fish (cá hãp Viêt Nam) on a bed of fresh vegetables (even better than it sounds) once we'd devoured what we'd made. The setting was magnificent with the river flowing on one side and being enveloped by tall palms.

The meal was very satisfying, especially knowing we would take these recipes home to make later. We sipped our beer and rubbed our bellies and our children, still mildly interested in Lego, built towers at our feet. *Sigh* This is the life. 

Oh, except that when you have children most things don't go the way you think they will. B suddenly jumped up and starting running towards the river so I did too, towards him. All of a sudden he stopped and there, at the entrance to Red Bridge Cooking School, with its fine ornamental vases (and prefect lawns) he peed. 

___________________________________________________________________________________

The thing about having tailor-made clothes is you are required to revisit the tailor for fittings so J suggested that after the cooking school he'd take the kids back to the hotel so I could visit the tailor. 

I was told later that when J ordered room service of toasted sandwiches and hot chips B exclaimed "Dad, this is the best dinner ever!" 

As I wandered through Hội An the town became dark and the streets buzzed with activity. It was later that night that I discovered the convenience of a rickshaw but I was happy walking. I came across a great shop, Metiseko. It was the fabric that caught my eye and drew me in.

Metiseko is owned and run by a French couple - she designs the prints but all are made in Hoi An - and each piece is made from natural silk or organic cotton certified Global Organic Standards. As well as clothing and accessories (the quilts were so beautiful but too heavy to take home - they do deliver) they sell fabric by the metre but beware, according to the owner (his name escapes me but he was lovely) their workshop closes at 5pm. It's "not a sweat shop.... And that's a good thing!"

From Metiseko I was pointed in the direction of another meal. I was getting hungry so I asked after a place, not too touristy, but with great, affordable Vietnamese food. Only a stones throw from Metiseko is Mai Fish. The owners (who also own Green Mango and Mango Room) want to serve good Vietnamese food - not street food and not fine dining - somewhere in the middle. This restaurant isn't like most 'restaurants' we frequented. It was far more Westernised - very comfortable with mood lighting but just what I was after.

Although it was now dark, it was still warm and humid so I ordered a fresh coconut and a mojito. Most places in Hội An have half price happy hour each day so the mojito was cheap but I resisted having two.

My duck curry came with an accompanying baguette. The curry was just perfect. It was fresh, the duck melted in my mouth and it was the right balance of spice and sweet. The only thing that left a sour taste in my mouth was knowing that J was having to get the kids through that messy part of the day (getting ready for bed) and that he wasn't there to share the meal and drinks with me.

Metiseko
Address: 03 Chau Thuong Van, Minh An
Telephone: 0510 3929278
http://www.metiseko.com/en/index

Red Bridge Restaurant & Cooking School
Address: Thon 4, Cam Thanh
Hoi An, Viet Nam
Tel: +84 510 3933 222
Mobile: +84 905 452 092
Email: info@visithoian.com
http://www.visithoian.com/redbridge/

Mai Fish
45 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai