Last day in Hanoi 30th July 2010

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For the first time, the haze of humidity had lifted sufficiently for us to see the city from the windows of our hotel restaurant at breakfast. The Red River, Eiffel's Bridge and West Lake were all clearly visible. It was going to be another hot day.

We returned to the Old Quarter, heading for the covered market, Cho Dong Xuan. On the way we got distracted by more stalls and ended up buying filter pots for Vietnamese coffee; all we need now is condensed milk. As we were negotiating the price, a bride and groom left the building opposite in a shower of glitter, party poppers and cheers before being whisked away in a car covered with flowers and lots of ribbons (all within their budget I'm sure!)

The market building itself, rebuilt completely after being gutted by a fire fifteen years ago, was a disappointment, unlike the colours, smells and sounds within it: a profusion of all kinds of produce, with food and other provisions on the ground floor, clothes and materials upstairs. We only touched on a tiny amount of the total space in the five linked pavilions. Highlights were dried and crystalised fruit, a huge variety of herbs and spices, dried fish of uncertain origin, fungi of all colours and textures, and pyramids of dried shrimp.

Outside the market in stalls crammed into the surrounding streets were fruit, vegetables, bits of meat being scraped, cut up or broiled, and a box of squirming frogs being transferred to another squirming box without their heads. Meanwhile, chickens squawked, ducks clucked people shouted and spat .. and it got hotter and hotter.

We headed for lunch at Pho Vuong, recommended by Mr Tom as a restaurant for authentic old-style pho: the stock a little more strongly flavoured, the meat a bit more stringy, but good. Vietnamese couples and families came in, slurped and chatted before whisking away in cars or on scooters. Still overheated, we took a quick look at the Opera House, bizarrely modeled on its equivalent in Paris, all white and gold splendour, before ducking into the old world style of the Hotel Metropole for fresh lemon juices in the Bamboo Bar, all served by charming staff in cocktail dresses and pearls or safari suits and pith helmets.

On the way back to the Hotel,we stopped at St Joseph's Cathedral, oddly out of place and Northern European with its gray bricks, tall verticals and Norman arches. It also had electric fans attached to every pillar, all going full blast, and art moderne grills across the windows. It was quite full of old Vietnamese ladies all fanning themsleves furiously and one young man (he looked Scandanavian) in a very smart business suit.

That night, after another beer at the Hidden Cafe, we ate at the Green Tangerine; it was a very interesting if odd meal - fig tempura with goats' cheese, choux buns with iced parmesan youghurt inside... We were not quite sure if it worked or not!

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Photos

Inside the market
pyramids of dried shrimp

inside the market
funghi

outside the market
All you need for pho

Lunch??!
What do you have with goat udders anyway?