Vietnam - Here & There

To finish off my Vietnam posts, I thought I would share some pictures just on life in Vietnam and some of the sights. Enjoy the pictures and as always, if you have any questions let me know!

View from The Grand Hotel Rooftop Bar

Our group in the main city square

Seafood being sold on the streets

Statue of Ho Chi Minh

Life in Saigon

In front of the Reunification/Independence Palace

We took a weekend trip to the beach town of Mui Ne, about a four hour car ride from Ho Chi Minh City. This might have been one of the highlights of our entire time in Vietnam. We stayed at a beautiful resort, called Anantara. We visited the local fishing village, and ate a fresh seafood dinner as we watched the sun set over the water with all the fishing boats. Mui Ne is surrounded by several sand dunes, which we also visited. It was cool to see the different color sand (we visited both white and red) and take some fun pictures. I felt like I was in a desert in the Middle East for those few hours.

Enjoying the fresh seafood at the fishing village and watching the sunset

Fresh seafood at Mui Ne

Our beautiful resort - Anantara

At the White Sand Dunes in Mui Ne

The last thing I did in Vietnam was take a cruise of Ha Long Bay (about four hours away from Hanoi, in the northern part of the country). I did the cruise with a company called Indochina Junk, which I can't recommend enough. They provided us with endless fresh food, took us kayaking every day and took us on a tour of a local floating village. Here are some of the photos from the two night cruise. Supposedly, the Vietnamese government is putting a stop to overnight cruises on the bay in the next few years so if you are interested in exploring this UNESCO World Heritage site, it is worth doing sooner rather than later.

Ben Thanh Market and more food

I first wanted to take a moment to talk about the Ben Thanh Market in Saigon. It is incredibly popular for purchasing a variety of consumer goods. You have to show up with your best bartering skills. They sell everything you can think of, including scarves, knock-off Nike sneakers, houseware and food. It is a great place for gifts for both yourself and your loved ones back at home. It can be overwhelming since the place has hundreds of different stalls in rows, and the sales people can get aggressive. You should start bartering at less than half of what they offer you. I ended up buying sneakers, scarves and even some Vietnamese coffee to take home. 

Speaking of Vietnamese coffee...it is a must try. The beans are much different than ones we are used to. They are stronger, darker, almost bitter because of the way they are roasted. It is almost always served iced, with sweetened condensed milk. And it is amazing. It definitely gives you a different type of caffeine high but the taste is what made me want to buy it and bring it back to the US. Hopefully I can make it using the same technique you do and remember all the days we sat on a sidewalk café here on the streets and enjoyed cà phê đá! 

I also highly recommend going to Ben Thanh Street Food Market for dinner. It is about a block and a half from the main market and has little stalls with a million and one delicious food options. It is like upscale street food and is a good and inexpensive way to try a variety of Asian food.

I wanted to point out some of the other wonderful Vietnamese dishes I had while living here. Here I am focusing on their noodle soups which they are definitely known for.

Bun Cha Ha Noi

Grilled pork with rice noodles and vegetables. Absolutely amazing broth

One of many Pho Bo bowls I ate (Beef Rice Noodle Soup)

This one is from a chain called Pho 24. Really great with fresh herbs on the side

Next, one of my favorite new dishes, Bahn Xeo - these are known as savory Vietnamese crepes and I absolutely loved them. The outer part is made with rice flour, eggs and turmeric, so it tastes somewhat like a crispy omelette. It is traditionally stuffed with shrimp, pork, and a healthy serving of bean sprouts. But I saw variations on these with choices of other seafood and vegetables. It is eaten by cutting up the crepe into strips, wrapping it in lettuce leaves, and dipping it into an accompanying sweet sauce. By the end of my time in Vietnam I was having one several times a week. It is healthy, naturally gluten free, and incredibly tasty.

With the accompanying lettuce, herbs and sauce.

Banh Xeo 46A - recommended by Anthony Bourdain