Hoi An to Annoy, Hanoi, Vietnam

The shuttle van picked me up at 9 sharp and we were on our way to Da Nang.  It looks like a very nice and modern city with huge resorts along the ocean and smaller places in the city-

I was plenty early for my flight so ate my leftovers from yesterday and visited with a couple from Malta/Poland.  

I was surrounded by babies on the flight - 3 of them.  A German couple is travelling for 5 months with 13 month old twins!  Crazeeeeee!

The owners of Luna Homestay in Hanoi gave me excellent directions on how to catch a public bus from the airport.  Hanoi is a weird place.  It’s not constant city from the airport to downtown but they are over 20 km apart.  There are random rice fields-

then miles of city, all mixed up.  The bus ride cost .80$ and a Grab would have been +$20. The bus driver stopped at every bus stop regardless if someone wanted on or off- must help him keep on schedule.  Once at the main bus depot, I fumbled around a bit trying to read the map and after asking a few people eventually found my way.

Luna Old Quarter Homestay-

is above a travel agency.  The couple works here then lives above and rents the room further above.  I booked Room 3 but they promoted me to Room 5, the penthouse-

It’s pretty nice with lots of hot water and a kitchen in the alcove outside the room.  It’s a spiral staircase of 80 steps to get up here!  

I went walking in the tourist part called The Old Quarter where you will see everything-

People gather on little plastic chairs outside restaurants to eat, drink and visit-

There are shops galore selling anything imaginable-

Traffic is nuts-

I have to apologize to Hanoi.  I have called it Annoy since I was here 10 years ago (not sure why) but tonight I had such a good feeling here! 

I found a bar/restaurant on a corner intersection for some spring rolls which were the best I’ve had so far.  I visited with a man from The Hague, Netherlands who has been travelling for 9 months.  He goes home in 6 days-

Tomorrow is my only full day here so I’ve got lots to see and do!

 Hoi An, Vietnam

Today was a bit of a waste.  When I was here 10 years ago, I ordered shoes.  The shoemaker came to the hotel the night before I was leaving but the shoes did not fit.  They promised they would be back before I left early the next morning but I never saw them again .  Not only was I out the shoes, I was also out the money.  I filed a report with Mastercard but lost the case.  So this trip I made sure I had plenty of time to get fitted for both clothes and shoes.  I received the shoes yesterday and the clothes the day before so today I had nothing to do.  I am reading the book First They Killed My Father and it is more depressing than the movie and the tours in Phnom Penh.  I had short visits with Alberto from Sardinia and a girl from the U.K. but was bored and a little lonesome.  Today was the first time I have felt lonesome all trip.

Of course I had another egg coffee, then had Vietnamese pancakes-

You use a couple sheets of rice paper and place herbs, shredded carrots and papaya and the actual piece of pancake on the rice paper and roll it up.  There’s also a mildly spicy dipping sauce.  I also had an order of fresh rolls but what makes them delicious for me is the peanut sauce and this was not that-

I had no idea what the pancakes would be like and if I had known I would not have had the spring rolls because they are pretty similar.  Oh well, I have leftovers for breakfast in the morning.

A van will pick me up at 9 tomorrow morning and we will head to Da Nang airport as my flight leaves at 12:40 to Hanoi.  I will stay in the Old Quarter of Hanoi for 2 nights and then go to Sapa.  Unfortunately the forecast is cold and rainy at Sapa so I may not do an overnight trek however I am still going to go and if I spend 3 days at a homestay, that will be okay too.

I doubt I will ever return to Hoi An because I do not have the imagination to know what clothes I want made.  I like going into a store, trying something on and buying it.  At least I know that now!

These last 2 weeks are going to fly because I will be covering a lot of ground and seeing a lot of new things!  Looking forward to it!  

 Hoi An, Vietnam

I was awake at an ungodly hour again but in spite of all the coffee I drank yesterday afternoon, I slept well. I’m OK with waking early because it gives me lots of time to get stuff done.  

I was at the shoe shop at 9 AM but was asked to come back at 9:30 so I went for brunch and had a great hamburger.  

Back at the shoe shop at 9:30, both pair were too big so they asked me to come back at five. It was a hot sunny day so I had a bit of a snooze, then had my usual beer at the neighbouring restaurant and went back to try on perfectly fitting shoes.  I came back to my room to read my book. 

I received an awesome text from carpenters at home and they can do the work I need done at my cabin the end of April/early May.  I am so excited. Once that is done, I know work is never done at the lake, but once that is done there will be nothing left to do except the landscaping and that too has been booked. 

Tomorrow will be my last day here and my mission has been accomplished. I have my clothes and my shoes. Tomorrow I may wander around just to say goodbye to this lovely place!

 Hoi An, Vietnam

I had a great day in spite of the fact I was up about 2:30.  I had gotten an email from CAA about topping up my insurance.  Blue Cross, through the Saskatchewan Retired Teachers gives me 65 days of travel insurance but this trip is an additional 14 days so I need extra coverage.  I have used CAA before without an issue but this time they said I had to verify with Blue Cross if another company could top me up.  It is so difficult phoning Canada from overseas because most businesses in Canada do not use WhatsApp so I have to make sure I have money in my Skype account.   First I tried calling CAA but got an answering machine. Eventually the woman sent me an email saying she was available and then told me I couldn’t use their insurance because I didn’t apply before I left Canada.  Luckily she would refund me.  Then I called Blue Cross and an hour later- 50 minutes on hold, 10 minutes talking to a human, I had my 2 weeks of insurance.  All of this happened before 4 am!

I went for a walk and ended up at The Banh Mi Queen-

for a sandwich.  Apparently this restaurant sells over 3000 Banh mi each day!  I had a Thap cam which is a meat and vegetable sandwich with pâté.  I could definitely taste the delicious pâté-

I walked down to the river and then ended up at the market-

Sculptures made from bamboo roots-

Vibrant fresh herbs-

Descaling fish-

All the parts we throw out-

After, I stopped at my favorite coffee shop for an egg coffee.  I had to be at my tailor’s at 11 for another fitting and then ended up at the restaurant beside my homestay where I had a lengthy visit with a couple from Switzerland/Germany while enjoying a beer.  At 2, I went to a coffee workshop just for something to do because I know how to make coffee.  Well…..  it was awesome!  

They host 60 people/ day in numerous workshops at $20 each.  They use one pound of coffee per litre of water to make espresso which is the base for all 5 recipes.  Yes it’s strong but when mixed with condensed milk, frothed cream, fresh milk, coconut cream or egg yolk, it is delicious!  I visited with a woman from Finland who is on a 5 month trip with her husband and 3 kids aged 8,4 and 1. I told her she deserved a medal!  

Now I have the recipes-

The first coffee we made was with a phin filter (mine is yellow)-

and we each were given one at the end of the workshop.  First you put a bit of water in the dish, then set the bowl filled with 2 heaping spoons of coffee grounds on the dish.  You fill the bowl half up with boiling water and the prepared coffee drips into the bottom glass-

The second coffee we made was white coffee.  We whipped espresso then poured more espresso and condensed milk over ice and topped it with the whipped espresso. You always stir everything together before drinking it-

The third coffee was egg coffee.  We whipped the yolk-

with vanilla, rice wine, condensed milk and honey, then layered more condensed milk, coffee and the whipped concoction.  We let the mixture sit in boiling water for 5 minutes to cook the egg then stirred it all up and ate/drank it.  Wow!  It’s like a dessert-

We sprinkled cocoa over a stencil, mine was a maple leaf, but obviously it didn’t work too well!

The fourth coffee was salted coffee.  We whisked 1/3 t of salt with whipping cream and fresh milk until it was frothy then put that on top of condensed milk and coffee!  So good-

Finally we made coconut coffee by putting whipping cream, coconut cream and condensed milk in a martini shaker, got it nice and cold and poured it over ice.  We frothed espresso and added it all together.  Excellent-

I am so glad I did this activity and I can’t wait to make these coffees once I get home!

After the workshop I headed back to the tailor to try on my clothes for the last time. Everything fit great!

I had a falafel shawarma for supper-

and returned to my room to read my book.

I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight after drinking coffee all day!  Tomorrow at 9 I go to the shoe shop!  I sure hope they fit!