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Published: February 21st 2010
Veggie Bike
They also use regular bicycles to deliver fruits and vegetablesYou are entering the third world...
But it’s awesome! We really loved Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city. We could see that it was a very poor place immediately after stepping out of our hotel and on to the streets—really old buildings, poorly paved roads, a lot of pollution, etc. But the people in Vietnam seemed happier and friendlier than those in China. They all hang out on the streets, day and night, eating fresh spring rolls, drinking lemon tea, smoking huge foot-long pipes, playing checkers, braiding hair, or kicking around a soccer ball. There are TONS of motor bikes and scooters there, whizzing by as fast as can be, carting anything and everything you can imagine. On the back of bikes we saw: a crate of small dogs, 20 chickens strung on a line, buckets of fish, fresh flowers, 20-foot tall orange trees, 3-4 schoolchildren, 10 cases of beer. It was wild! And they drive like maniacs, never staying on the right side of the road, barely following traffic lights, hopping up on to the sidewalks when the traffic in the streets was too heavy. Anthony claims Melanie almost became a “scooter pancake” a few times. But we both survived and
View from hotel
This was the view from our hotel room, a 5th floor walk-up located in the old quarter had a great time, wandering around Hoan Kiem Lake, right in the center of the city, and shopping in the old quarter where they have kept 36 original trading streets intact from the 13th century, each specializing in a specific material or craft, like silk, jade, or wood. We also loved how cheap everything was—one of our favorite meals was a lunch of Bun Bo, homemade noodles with chargrilled beef, fresh vegetables, hot chili peppers, and crushed peanuts. We ate this at a sidewalk stall near our hotel for $2.50 (total for both of us). The Vietnamese cook truly amazing food, using lots of fresh local vegetables and light sauces, broths, and gravies. They use the fresh tropical fruit to make shakes and smoothies, which were unreal. Because they were so delicious and never cost more than $0.50, sometimes we would each drink a fruit shake and then have to go back and order another. How could we only sample the pineapple and coconut , when we knew the mango and watermelon was likely just as good, maybe even better?!
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Cheryl
non-member comment
Loving every moment of your blogs and descriptions Stay safe and find a nice Kosher meal!!! love, cheryl