A great couple of days

Hello from Hanoi,

It's Wednesday evening. I've been having a great time since I last updated you all. Let's go back.

On Saturday morning, in Ninh Binh, I got a relatively early start on the day. After a breakfast of really bad pho, I rented a motorbike from the hotel. I drove out about 10 km from town towards Tam Coc. Along the way, there was spectacular scenery. There's tons of crazy rock formations shooting up from the rice paddies. I stopped many times jsut to take photos. It was really beautiful, despite the grey skies.

I arrived at Tam Coc and hired a boat with a rower to take me out ont he water through the caves in the area. It was a really pleasant ride, tons more of the rock formations on the banks and coming out from the water as well. The boat went through 3 caves as well, before heading back.

After the boat trip, I got lunch nearby. The area is famous for goat. The goat was alright. It pretty much had been sauteed and had sesame seeds and such; it was served with steamed rice.

This fellow (and plenty of his friends) was walking around outside

I took off on my motorbike, headed towards Hoa Lu. I took a less than smooth road for 8 km or so (just go slowly). It was a good experience though. I got to see lots of cool stuff.

After some more driving, I arrived in Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam. I visited a temple on top of one of the rock formations. Honestly, it wasn't very exciting. The 168 steps to the top weren't exciting either. I didn't have a local map so I couldn't find the old citadel or any other sights in the city. I tooled around ont he motorbike some more before making my way back to Ninh Binh. It was getting to be evening by the point I got back.

After returning the bike, I went out for dinner. It was chicken in a rice porridge. It was ok.

The next morning I caught the bus to Haiphong. A few hours later I arrived. Haiphong is Vietnam's 3rd largest city, an important port, and is a few hours southeast of Hanoi.

I had a breakfast of noodle soup at a stall in an alley. It was really good. I had never had that kind of noodle before, they were flat and thin and firm and brown. The woman working the stall, seemed thrilled that I wanted to eat there and took good care of me.

I was really just going to Haiphong to make my way to Cat Ba Island in Ha Long Bay.

I found a hotel and checked in. My day in Haiphong was rather uneventful. I spent most of my time just walking around, getting a feel for the town. There's not a ton to do there, but it was ok. The food was really the only highlight.

I had a nice lunch. It was a streetside restaurant, real basic and casual. It seemed ot be a popular place with local men for drinking beer. I had a nice fried fish with rice. They also gave me a small plateful of little bits of room temperature pork belly in a sauce. It was all delicious (of course)/

I also ordered a snack (I think it's supposed to go along with the beer). I'm not sure if they were maggots or grubs or bamboo worms. They were something in that category. Their taste? Not my favorite, they tasted a little grubby. I've eaten worse things, though.

I did have a good dinner. Being right on the coast, Haiphong has access to great seafood. I went to a restaurant where they have the tanks of live fish and crabs and such. I had 2 steamed crabs which where very good. You dip that into a "sauce" you make by mixing salt, a bit of chili, and a squeeze of lime that they give you. I also had some really fresh, raw shrimp. They came with rice paper wrappers, herbs, sour pineapple and another vegetable I couldn't figure out. You assemble it as you eat it, wrapping everything in the wrapper (makes sense) and dip it in the sauce. The sauce had some really powerful, pungent mustard (like wasabi or horseradish kinda). That was very good as well.

The next morning, I headed to the ferry terminal for the boat. Sold out. Darn.

But, of course, there was someone nearby who could help me. They had a bus that left at 10 (an hour later than the ferry) to take us to a boat outside the city. That boat went to Cat Ba island. There, we would catch another bus to take us to the main town. It, of course, costs a lot more than the regular ferry (which I believe goes directly to the main town ferry terminal). There was an Australian couple, Barbara and Tony, who were in the same situation. After discussing the options (there were other, slower, boats later in the day, and tickets for the ferry the next morning etc), we all decided to take the bus-boat-bus option.

After hanging around for a while we boarded the bus. In it's entirety, the trip took a little over an hour and a half. The journey was spent chatting with Tony and Barbara. They had been traveling around Australia for a while and decided to come to Vietnam for a few weeks. I wound up seeing them a lot around Cat Ba. The bus arrived in Cat Ba town. We wound up staying in the same hotel that we dounf (or rather, it found us). My room was very cheap but was very comfortable. It had an excellent view of the harbor.

After a quick bite to eat (I can't remember what it was) I decided on my activity for the day. I rented a motorbike to cruise around the island. The island is famous for its landscape. I had heard it's stunning, and it was. It was great fun cruising around on the motorbike through the mountains and such. There was little traffic and the roads were in good condition. I managed to do about 75 km (45 miles or so). The pictures don't really do it justice, but they're better than words, so I'll let them explain.

That evening I booked a one day tour of Ha Long Bay. I arranged so I would transfer boats after lunch on the boat. I would continue the tour a bit and late in the afternoon, get dropped off at Ha Long City by the second boat. From Ha Long city I would catch the bus to Hanoi. It wound up working out in the end which was good.

After booking the tour, I had another seafood dinner. This time I had a grilled crab, a grilled fish, and some steamed "lobsters." I think the lobsters were really mantis shrimp. Whatever they were, I was excited to try them, as I'd never had whatever they were before. All the food was excellent, very fresh (the "lobsters" and crabs were alive right until they were cooked) and delicious.


After dinner I walked around town. Tony and Barbara, who were with anbother couple they had just met, were having drinks at a bar open to the street, and called me over as I passed. It was a fun evening just hanging out.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and boarded the boat at the harbor in town. There was about 10 people in total, including a Vietnamese family. The boat itself was nice. It was set up so you could sit on the roof which gave even better views. The scenery was awesome. Ha Long Bay is one of the most popular destinations in Vietnam, and for good reason. The islands are really bizarre. Ha Long Bay had my favorite scenery of my whole trip. I thoroughly enjoyed just hanging out watching it all pass by. Once again, while the pictures can't do it justice, I'll let them explain.

The boat stopped at 2 islands with caves along the way. The caves were really crazy looking inside with the stalactites and stalagmites. I got talking to an Australian couple, Quang and Bill, who were on the same tour, as we went through the caves. Quang's parents were from Singapore and he's been there about 20 times. He was crazy about food, too. We talked at length about all the food in Singapore, as well as in Vietnam.

After the second island we had lunch on the boat while it was docked. It was very good. There was fried spring rolls, sauteed water spinach with garlic, and fried whole fishes, all served with rice. After lunch I boarded the other boat, which was headed to Ha Long City with a different tour.

I was led up to the top of the boat (this one was much larger). Everyone else was down below, but I stayed put. We passed more good scenery. The boat stopped at an island. The main attraction here was the beach and the view from the top of a rock formation. I walked around on the beach some (it wasn't very large) and got my feet wet. It dawned on me that I've now been in 3 oceans (Atlantic, Indian when I was in Malaysia and Thailand, and now the Pacific). Cool.

After, that I walked up to the top of the rock formation up a bunch of steep steps. There was a really good view at the top, though I was quite tired. The area at the top was set up nicley with a small pavillion and a drinks seller.

I also got swarmed by a pack of ravenous Vietnamese college girls (I mean, I'm not complaining or anything). I was the only Westerner around and they locked their sights on me. They all tried speaking English with me, asking questions which included, how old I was, and if I was single, and plenty more. When I asked if I could take their picture they went nuts. After I snapped one, they grabbed me by the arms and pulled me into their group and had me give my camera to another tourist so I would have a picture with them. Don't forget the ubiquitous peace sign when having your picture taken in Asia.

It turns out they were the other passengers on my boat. When it was time to board the boat they invited me to sit with them on the lower deck. The continued chatting with me, asking more questions. They also tried to get me to sing for them, which I politely declined to do. Then one of the girls, who I guess organized the trip, started the activities. Snacks were distributed to everyone (me included). Then certain people were selected, taking turns, leading the whole group in Vietnamese songs. Everyone sang and clapped their hands to the beat. It was almost as bizarre as Ha Long Bay itself. I just smiled and took their cue to clap my hands along as well.

Eventually we arrived in Ha Long City. I said goodbye to my new friends and headed off. I wandered out and found a motorbike taxi to take me to the bus station. I arrived at the station and got a bus, they leave like every 20 minutes which is convenient. The bus was really nice, even nicer than Malaysian buses (which were excellent). It had wide, reclining seats, and plenty of space between my seat and the seat in front of me (unlike the reclining seats on Thai buses).

We arrived in Hanoi around 8:30 pm (3 and a half hour bus ride). I caught a motorbike taxi to take me to the hostel I wanted to stay at. I arrived and booked a bed in a dorm. It's a nice, clean, safe place with a good atmosphere.

I ventured out in search of dinner. I happened upon a street place (operating out of the front of someone's home) that was selling fried goodies. It wasn't really dinner food as much s snack food. Whatever, it was good. I had a big spring roll, and some other big fried items that are hard to describe. they were greasy and delicious. They came with a bowl of nuoc cham (fish sauce-lime juice-sugar-water) with vegetables in it and such in it. This was for dipping. There was also a plate of herbs served for snacking (you dip those in as well).

There was another traveler, Tom from London (and turned out to be staying in the same dorm), sitting at the next table over and we got to talking. We discussed food and travel and such. In talking about food we began discussing the famous (or maybe infamous) cobra heart (I'll explain more soon). Anyways, we both wanted to try it, and agreed to get some the next day.

Late this morning Tom and I went out to Le Mat, the snake village. We went to a restaurant which was suggested to us. Le Mat is a bit outside Hanoi (though I think it's still technically part of the city, I'm not sure).

We got to the restaurant and there they were. There was a big cage full of snakes, including cobras. After discussing with the the woman working there (I think it was the owner) we were brought out to the dining area. It was quite nice, it was all on covered bamboo platforms on a little pond. We were brought to our table and they brought out the live cobra (there's no pictures of this ordeal, but there is video which I will get up eventually). Yes, they are poisonous. First they showed it to us. They coaxed some of the venom out onto the floor to show us. They then took it, belly up and cleaned its underside by pouring alcohol then water on it (I think, it was 2 clear liquids). The slit its "chest" to expose the organs, including the beating heart. They made a snip below the heart and bled it into a cup. They then snipped out the heart completely and put it into a little shot glass. It continued to beat while in the glass. They gave it to me, poured in a little alcohol (some kind of vodka or something) and I shot it down. I held it in my mouth for a second, and yes, it was still beating.

They then brought out a second snake and repeated the whole process for Tom. They carried the snake off to the kitchen as well. After we sat back down from watching they gave us 2 drinks. One was the snakes' blood mixed with a little alcohol and the other was the snakes' bile mixed with some alcohol. We toasted and took the shot of blood. Yummy. Actually, it wasn't bad, not a ton of flavor mostly the alcohol. We then took the shot of bile. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't good either. It definitely had the taste of bile, though.

(Hey Tom, hope you're reading this)

We then began the lunch. It was a multi-course meal prepared from the snakes. All the food was very good. We both enjoyed it. First we had some fried snake spring rolls with soy sauce for dipping. These were tasty and crispy.

Then there was fried pieces of snake meat in some kind of wrapper with fish sauce for dipping. They were tender and meaty and delicious.



Next was sauteed snake with lemongrass. This was very pleasant, good texture.

We had big grilled pieces. These pieces were a little smoky, and tough.


We were then served fried snake bones. They had been crushed up a bit and mixed with some other items for flavor. There was a big fried cracker-like disc (similar to a papadum) that is broken into pieces and used like a chip to eat the snake bones with (like chips and dip).




There was the plate of various snake parts. There was definitely fat, skin and liver. There were some other parts I'm not too sure of, maybe stomach. The fat practically melted in the mouth. The skin was a lot less tough than I thought it would be, and was good. The liver wasn't as strongly flavored as other kinds of animal livers, but was quite firm and tasty. This dish was probably my favorite (fat in particular), though the bones were a close second.

The skin

The fat

We had one more dish. It was mainly rice, I think it had been cooked with rendered snake fat or something. While the staff spoke decent English, and explained everything well, this one dish was hard to communicate for some reason. It was a good dish.

In addition to everything, there was free alcohol, as much as we wanted. Of course, the alcohol wasn't just regular alcohol. It (probably vodka) had been infused with various ingredients. There was a whole list of different choices. They all had "medicinal" properties, of course.

We had to try a bunch of different kinds during and after our meal. Every time we ordered one, they would fill up a small bottle and bring it to us at the table. That was wayyy too much, we only took small shots as to taste each one. They also showed us the big bottles where it was infusing. There were 2 herbal/plant ones they had given us. Those tasted leafy. Then there were the more interesting ones. The seahorse alcohol didn't have much of a flavor other than alcohol. The gecko alcohol tasted swampy, blech. She said this one is good for the liver. The venomous snake head alcohol also had a little bit of a swampy taste. She said this one is good for the digestive tract. Then, there was the snake penis wine. Yes, snakes do have penises. She made sure to even deposit a few of them into the little bottle she gave to us. This one also tasted a little swampy. She said this one is good for... well... you know...

She gave us way more than anyone could possibly drink

After the great meal we headed back to the hostel. I took a good long nap. I honestly didn't accomplish much else the rest of the day. I worked on this post for quite a bit of the evening. I did have a good dinner late night. It was another kind of noodle soup, I forget the name. The place was buzzing with people though, so it had to be delicious. It was. They were the long, white, round, thin rice noodles. It had a light broth and all sorts of goodies. There were a few hunks of blood cake (coagulated blood), a pieces of fried tofu, another fried item I couldn't figure out, scallions, tomatoes. My favorite part was the piece of pig's foot. If you've never had pig's food, you've ought to try it. It's got the bone with all this soft tissue on it. There's not really any muscle. It's fatty, and there's tendon and other good stuff. It's got this pleasant sticky quality that kinda glues your lips together. Then there's the awesome skin on it, too. It had been cooked really slowly; it was very tender.

Well that does it for me. I should spend a few more days in Hanoi. I want to see some of the city, such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum; he was preserved a la Stalin, Lenin, and Mao and lies in state. There's lots else to see in the city too. And of course, I'll eat some good food. After Hanoi
I'll be heading west and then north into the mountains.

Well, I should go to bed.

Peace out,

Mike

PS Thanks again for everyone's great comments. I still enjoy reading them very much.