Viet Vittles and Final Reflections

     Phillip and I have been back to the United States for seven days, enough time to get the 2,046 photos that we took ready to create a photo album and for me to reflect on our adventures in Vietnam for this final post of the trip. Some of our best experiences in Vietnam involved food, and I didn't always share pictures and impressions during my previous posts. We saw some variation in dishes as we traveled from south to north, but one of the constants was the ready availability of fresh fruit.

breakfast buffet (clockwise): watermelon, bananas, dragon fruit, pineapple, passion fruit, and mangos

We didn't discover any new favorite fruits, but had a plentiful supply of our favorites: mangos for Phillip and jackfruit for me. The pineapples were gloriously ripe, and unlike with those we buy here, the core was even edible. Every market and woman selling fruit on the street had plenty of finger-sized bananas, another favorite of mine.

finger-sized bananas, sweeter than the big ones

     We did find a favorite vegetable: sautéed morning glory. As we moved north thru Vietnam, morning glory gave way to water spinach on restaurant menus. We ate whichever of them was available when we had a large evening meal. Spinach-like, preparation was the key, sautéed and covered with the sweetest, best-tasting garlic we've ever eaten. It isn't just that the garlic is fresh (I've grown garlic, so I've had it fresher than we get at the grocery), it's whatever variety they grow in Vietnam.

Sauteed morning glory, usually served with rice

     One of our dinners that stands out for me is a meal we had in Danang, at a restaurant, Tran Local Food, recommended by our hotel receptionist. I'm not sure what the dish was called. We ate it after we'd made the four-mile walk to the Dragon Bridge then back to the shore, and Phillip and I were hot, thirsty, and hungry. The meat was pork, tender and falling off the rib bones. The noodles were fresh, the peanuts were roasted, and the broth was well-seasoned. My favorite part, however, was the hard-boiled egg addition. These are quail eggs, already peeled. I did eat the first one carefully to ensure it wasn't balut!

Danang dish, with pork

     Banh mi, we love banh mi and ate it in every city. The banh mi is best when the bread is toasted, but sometimes, especially in Hanoi, the vegetables are added before it is toasted. The resulting warm cucumber was not as good as cold cucumber slices and herbs added to toasted bread and meat.

sandwich at Phi Banh Mi, with an iced coffee and free, cold herbal tea

     Phillip and I agree that the best banh mi was in Hoi An, at a restaurant called Phi Banh Mi. Perfectly made with homemade fermented chili sauce. And look at the menu!

Banh mi for as little as 15,000 dong ($0.66). During one visit, I splurged for the #11, the Phi Special. With my iced milk coffee, lunch for me that day was 50,000 dong ($2.20)! The cheese on these sandwiches was actually a heavy smear of cream cheese. The herbs were the traditional Thai basil and mint with one other herb I couldn't identify. Delicious.
     The entire east side of Vietnam is coastline, so seafood is plentiful at markets and restaurants. Phillip and I aren't big seafood eaters, and we really aren't a fan of calamari, but we did eat a fried noodle and vegetable dish after our DMZ and tunnel tour out of Hue that contained the most tender squid we have ever eaten. It was cooked, not raw squid, perfectly cooked.

     During our first Hoi An cooking class, our instructor had demonstrated cooking rice paper from raw rice on a cloth over a steaming kettle. I had thought it was some old, traditional cooking method; however, it is how the best banh cuon is still made today! In Hanoi, we found a TripAdvisor-recommended banh cuon restaurant in an alley about a km from our hotel. As we walked in, the owner was making the thin rice pancakes as they were ordered. So fresh and tender! I planned to get a picture when we left, but she was simmering the filling on her burner instead at that time.

Banh cuon: fresh rice crepes with a mushroom filling, topped with crispy shallots

The filling is sautéed mushrooms and other ingredients that I couldn't catch when she told me. The rice pancake is very thin, thinner even than a crepe, but since it is rolled around the filling, it was easy enough to pick the banh cuon up with chopsticks to dip it in a spiced fish sauce dip.
     In earlier posts, I described some of the other Vietnamese food we prepared during our cooking classes: pho, fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, fried noodles, and crispy pancakes. We also ate all of those foods at restaurants - in addition to meat on lemongrass skewers, meat baked in banana leaves, and many other delicious items. Although rice is popular and served often, noodles seemed more prevalent than rice. Fresh herbs are essential in Vietnamese cuisine. Shallots are used more than onions. And everything was delicious!

HCMC tower building

     In addition to remarkable food, I highly recommend Vietnam as a travel destination for a number of reasons. Ho Chi Minh City is a metropolitan area with all the amenities of a big city, even light shows on the buildings. Phillip and I had no problem getting around in Ho Chi Minh City. Taxis (usually Toyota Camrys) are plentiful and if the hotel calls one for you or you use one of the two major companies, Vinasun or Mai Linh, you shouldn't run into an meter scams. Uber isn't used in Vietnam, but Grab, which operates just like Uber, is the transportation of choice for many folks. Hanoi's Old Quarter, which is where a lot of the hotels are and visitors stay, has narrow crowded streets, but just outside, in the French Quarter, for example, the streets are wider. I still would never drive myself in Vietnam! Traffic signals and lane markings are only suggestions. Motorcycles are more numerous than cars and traffic operates differently than anything I've ever seen. Watching intersections was entertainment for Phillip and me, the flow of the motorcycles and cars is amazing.

A Hanoi intersection

     Vietnam is full of history, both ancient and recent. Pagodas and thousand-year-old dragon statues on the same block as museums dedicated to the American War (that's what our Vietnam War is called in Vietnam. It only makes sense, they also fought the French and the Japanese on Vietnamese soil during the past eighty years.). Natural beauty also graces Vietnam. The countryside around Hoi An was blanketed with green rice fields. The Mekong Delta, once we traveled away from the Saigon River section, was peaceful and scenic with its unique boats. We didn't travel to the Saba region, but met many travelers who had and shared that the mountains were very beautiful. Halong Bay is truly magnificent.

Limestone karsts of Halong Bay

     The main reason that Phillip and I will return to Vietnam and that we recommend it to others is the people. We were absolutely delighted by the friendliness of everyone we met. We brought home fond memories of Vy, the lively masseuse who laughed with us in Hoi An, her husband and cute son who loves ice cream; Chi, her six-year old brother ("My name is Superman"), and her mother and father who bought us ice cream in Hanoi; Mr. Huong, a father of twin girls and the restaurant owner/tour operator in Hue who personally gave us the DMZ tour; the many, many kids and young adults who stopped us around Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi to practice their English; and especially our absolutely wonderful university student guides.

Phillip with Hua and Linh at the Reunification Palace

     We are so glad that we contacted the various groups, Saigon Hotpot, Hoi An Mates, Lets Hue, and Hanoi Kids, who provide free student guides. The students with whom we interacted thru these programs were knowledgeable, friendly, eager to share their history and culture and eager to learn about ours.
     Phillip and I are already planning our return trip to Vietnam, including it in a multi-week adventure that will take us to Seoul, South Korea; Chiang Mai, Thailand; West Samar in the Philippines (if airlines still fly to Calbayog); and to Cambodia, a new location for us. This would be our 2020 trip. We know that we need to revisit Asia while we still have no mobility issues. The ability to walk over uneven surfaces in extreme heat and humidity is a requirement for these adventures. But it is well worth it to visit Vietnam!