Breakfast of dragon fruit, passion fruit and Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Delicious!
One of the big attractions of Vietnam is its food culture. What better way to explore the city and its street food than a street food walking tour. After a light breakfast we headed off to explore the streets of Old Quarter and its salivating street foods with Ms. Moon as our guide (hanoistreetfoodtour.com). It was a fantastic tour and we enjoyed bun cha (BBQ pork), green papaya salad, steam cake, pillow cake, spring rolls, fermented pork, mixed tropical fruits, Hanoi beer, glass noodles or Mien (made of a root vegetable) with octopus cake, egg coffee and apricot rice wine. It was all terrific, with the green papaya salad being my favourite.
First, a lesson on where to eat:
– Look for a certificate on the wall. Establishments with a certificate have undergone local inspection for food safety and offer the same price to both locals and foreigners. The water and ice should be safe for consumption (I.e bottled or filtered water), but I would ask to make sure.
Next a lesson on scams:
– There is no such thing as a “free taste”. If offered anything free, say no. The ladies selling mystery fried balls will more or less force a fried thing in your mouth then demand you pay for a bag of these “goodies”. The food tour guide said the locals won’t eat these treats as the source of their grease is a great mystery.
– Watch for men trying to glue or shine your shoes. They will demand money if you stop long enough to let them get a drop of glue on your shoes.
– Watch for the women carrying goods from long sticks. They will take your picture with the stick of goods and demand money.
– Tipping. Although tipping is not customary in Vietnam, people will demand a tip from foreigners. Our masseuse, taxi driver and bicycle taxi driver all demanded a tip. Only the massage ladies were successful.
Next a lesson on etiquette:
– Public displays of affection, such as kissing or holding hands, is frowned upon. It is considered very rude and you may be ridiculed if caught breaking this rule.
– Do your shopping in the afternoon. It is considered bad luck by shopkeepers to lose a sale before noon. It’s okay if you are going to make a purchase, but browsing can bring bad luck to the shopkeeper.
– Always offer and accept gifts with both hands. The rules are slightly more complicated than this (and depend on age), but using both hands is a good rule of thumb.
Next was a lesson on Vietnamese:
– The word “thit” when pronounced correctly is meat. When pronounced incorrectly is f*ck. So don’t go around asking for thit unless you are fairly confident in your language skills.
– Learning “thank you” was equally challenging. I tend to tell people to shut up. The difference is “come on” as an English person would ask you to join them (aka “shut up” in Vietnamese), vs two very distinct sounds “come ung”. To make the “ung” sound you need to stretch your moth into a big , wide smile. Now you got it!
Next was the Long Bien Bridge, the highlight of our day. The bridge was constructed from 1899 to 1903 and is an impressive 1.7 km long. It was designed by none other than Gustav Eiffel. That’s right the same designer as the Eiffel Tower. Today it serves as a major crossing for scooters and motorcycles, and from it the views are incredible. We went at sunset – which I highly recommend.
From here off to Beer Corner and dinner of Nom Thit Bo Kho (green papaya salad with dried beef) from Long Vi Dung on 23 Hoan Kiem. Yum! 70,000 dong (approx $4 CAD) for two delicious salads.
Live Life Epic 