Goodbye, Vietnam

Hello from Hanoi,

It's Sunday afternoon. It's my last day in Vietnam, I leave this evening.

I can't believe it's been a week since I last posted.

After I wrote last, we headed to Lai Chau (the old Tam Duong) by bus from Muong Lay (the old Lai Chau) on Monday. After waiting for about 45 minutes, we were able to flag down a bus driving by. A few hours later we arrived in Lai Chau in the early afternoon. Lai Chau is a pretty boring town. It's very new, lots of construction going on. It's a really dusty, noisy town. Not my favorite place. We had an alright lunch of rice and chicken and green vegetables.

After lunch, I wandered around town, but there wasn't much to see. A really bad ca phe sua and a good bowl of pho the next morning is about all that happened.

On Tuesday, we caught the bus heading through Sapa. The ride was amazing (I don't have my photos with me to post, I'll get them up soon). We went way up high into the mountains. The Fansipan pass is really spectacular. You begin to realize how high up you are. Sapa itself is about 1650 meters above sea level (about 1 mile).

After hopping off the bus in Sapa, we hunted down a hotel. It was pretty good, $8 a night with hot water and access to a blacony with a decent, though partially obstructed by other hotels, view. It was quite nice.

Lunch was the first order of business after checking in. Sapa is a pretty touristy town, with both Vietnamese and Foreigners. Some restaurants are pretty bad, while others are great. We happened upon a great one. We had a hot pot with really flavorful broth. There were noodles and chicken and beef and pork and liver and greens and oh so much more. The broth was a bit spicy, a bit sour and a bit sweet. There was pineapple in the broth which was great. We also indulged in some venison. It was sauteed with a rich brown sauce and tomatoes and hearty mushrooms. It was great food for the chilly Sapa weather. That brings up another thing, Sapa is surprisingly cool for Vietnam. It was probably in the 40's (F) at night and in the morning. I was wearing my fleece. I was a big fan of the weather. After months of heat, I was ready for some weather like home.

I basically chilled out the rest of the day. Dinner was pretty bad, beef with lemongrass and pork, all with rice. It wasn't the worse thing I've eaten, but definetely not something to be savored.

On Wednesday, after another bland meal with rice, we rented some motorbikes. We basically just cruised around the countryside. It was really good scenery. There's terraced mountainsides everywhere. The countryside is populated by people from the hill tribes. Many of them have very intricate clothing, which is cool. We first went to a waterfall, which wasn't so great. Later, we just went in another direction. The road got pretty steep and rocky and twisty. It was fun riding. We eventually turned around though; we didn't want to push our luck. I'll post the photos later, as they best demonstrate the day.

On Thursday, we chilled in Sapa. Breakfast was in the market which we had discovered. this was much better than the other food. We had bowls of pho bo, which were great, of course. I cruised around town and relaxed. Lunch was a variety of grilled meats from different stalls. Everything was really good. I had some pork skewers and chicken feet. They were really spicy.

In the afternoon, I just did some souvenir shopping. I met a Vietnamese guy, Viet, who was staying at the same hotel on his honeymoon. We chatted out on the balcony about Vietnam and his work and him getting married. He spoke English quite well.

For dinner, Andrew, the guy I was travelling with, and I had more grilled meats for dinner. We started at a small restaurant, where we had some really awesome spicy pork. Turns out, the owner had hunted the boar himself up in the mountains. We later moved to a street stall witha grill. There we had skewers with beef wrapped around vegetables, more pieces of spicy pork, and chicken wings. This also was quite good. We were still a bit hungry, so we decided to try more. There we had chicken feet, a few more skewers of meat, and some fertlized duck eggs (yes, the ones with the fetus inside). The eggs were gilled (in the shells) and served with a little chili and salt. They really do taste good.

Friday was the last day in Sapa. I didn't accomplish a lot. We had breakfast in the market. It was another bowl of pho. After eating, we hung out drinking tea with some guys for Ninh Binh who spoke English well.

Lunch was hotpot again. This time it had the meats and vegetables, but also had shrimp and octopus. It was great, again. I also had another snack of chicken feet and wings.

Around 5 pm, we caught the bus to Lao Cai. Lao Cai is a city on the Chinese border, about 40 km from Sapa. The only reason we went there was to catch the train, which was to leave at 9 pm. After getting to Lao Cai, we had dinner of pork belly, roasted pork, greens with garlic and rice.

The train ride was overnight. I had a hard sleeper, as there had been no soft sleepers available when we booked the tickets a few days prior. The train was ok. It was 3 beds high, 6 total in the "room". I was on the top bunk, and there was very little headspace. There was a thin matress. It wasn't real comfortable, but wasn't real uncomfortable either, I slept most of the way.

We arrived in Hanoi around 6 am. We caught a cab to the hostel where I stayed last time. I dropped my bags there and hunted for breakfast. On the street nearby, lots of impromptu places are set up on the sidewalk. Most of it isn't even at proper stalls. Some places are basically the yoke with a basket on each end that some people carry around. They have a few tiny stalls, they're little furnace in one basket, and food and utensils in the other. They're quintessential Vietnam. I ate from on of these serving fertilized duck eggs (yes, again). I had 2 eggs which were hard boiled and dropped into a bowl and served with salt and pepper. They were tasty, full of protein and fat to get the day started. The baby ducks in these ones were pretty developed, and thus provided a pretty meaty breakfast.

I checked into the hostel (beds weren't available til 8 am). I bummed around some of the day. Lunch was pork belly, pork ribs, more greens, spring rolls, and rice. It was really good.


I took a walk around the Old Quarter and hung out by Hoan Kiem Lake. There I met a student from China, who was studying in Hanoi, who wanted to practice English. After chatting for a while I just walked some more. I went back to the hostel, where I met a bunch of other travellers. I found a 2 guys from England who wanted to try the snake meal after I told them about it. They also found another traveller, a woman from San Francisco, who wanted to try as well. I gave in and went with them. This time around, I got the regular snake (not the much more expensive cobra). After a lot of squirming, everyone took the shots of beating heart, bile and blood. The meal was pretty similar to the last time, though I didn't really have any of the other liquors that they make this time. One enw dish was crispy fried snake skin which was delicious.

After coming back to the hostel, I hung out chatting with some people. I had a late night snack of chicken feet. I talked to a Portugeuse guy about traveling, and food in particular. It's always great to come across someone who can talk about food for hours on end.

This morning, Sunday, I went out for a bowl of pho. This was my last breakfast in Vietnam. It was great. It was garnished witha piece of blood cake, meatballs, fish cake, and fried tofu. It was in a really spicy broth. It was hearty and delicious. After breakfast, I packed my bags and checked out, leaving the bags at the hostel to pick up tonight. I spent more time hanging out at the lake. I'm taking it pretty easy today, enjoying my last hours in Vietnam. I met some more Vietnamese students who wanted to practice English. I guuess its pretty common for people to do this at the lake with the tourists. It was great meeting them and talking.

That brings me up to now. I'll catch a late lunch, possibly my last meal in Vietnam, though I'll probably sneak a snack right before I go.

Tonight, at 8:30 I board my flight to Singapore on Tiger Airways. I arrive around 12:50 am in Singapore, a 3 hour flight.

I really enjoyed my time in Vietnam. It was unforgettable. I will be back in the near future. I've spent nearly two months here. I don't want to leave in a lot of ways. At the same time, I'm ready to be going home. I'll post a full reflection about Vietnam, as well as everywhere else I've been soon, maybe when I get home.

I have a few days in Singapore. I'm looking forward to going back to Singapore. It's a great city with great food and excitment. I'll post you all again while I'm there. I leave Singapore to go home very early in the morning on the 21st (more like late night on the 20th).

Well that's it for now.

Until next time,
Mike