Doing my dong on banh mi? Pho sure!

[GarrettM]

Some beef noodle soup.


Something called "cheap cake" made from rice and some other rice. Traditionally a quick, cheap, sustaining snack for farmers and workers getting in to their day. Not super tasty.

 

[GarrettM]

The Vietnamese Ikea?


We finally got around to trying the Vietnamese coffee. I was initially dubious, but I could not have been more wrong. Super strong without being bitter, it is sweet, smooth, and creamy. Perfection.


Hoi An is famous for its white rose dumplings, so we had to have some on our tour. Naturally enough at a restaurant called the White Rose. They make about 5000 a day here, and Zum Zum told us this is the ONLY place in Hoi An that makes the proper version, and they supply them to all other restaurants. So if you order them anywhere in Hoi An, apparently this is where they are made. Seems a stretch but I didn't argue.


The girls in action.


We were getting to the end of the tour by now, and had done plenty of walking. And eating.
Next was a little street side stop, with an old woman selling a rich sesame seed paste by the spoonful. Warm and sweet, and quite filling. Another cheap and easy snack for the traditional worker. Especially in winter. Zum Zum said the old ladies family had been occupying this spot for four generations.


The last stop was at the central markets, for a bit of fruit. The traditional fruit smoothie has a range of fruits in it. Mango, dragonfruit, watermelon et cetera, plus a bit of avocado, some dried coconut, and assorted jelly. Everything is thrown into a glass and then mashed with a spoon or pestle. Some condensed milk and a straw, and voila!


And thus our tour ended, with us very satisfied with the food, and the amount of exercise we'd had. Made more so by having to carry around MissGM on my shoulders most of the morning. Not keen to use her legs she is.

We retired to the hotel, before heading back to Kimmy Tailors to collect my suits. By now we had discovered the beauty that is Uber in Vietnam. None of this $2-$2.50 for a taxi to town and back. Now we were in the $1.50 range. Outstanding.

The afternoon was spent relaxing in and out of the pool, finally getting MissGM to have a nap (whereby she proceeded to wet the bed) and contemplating a trip to the night market.

 

[GarrettM]

Thursday March 8 - Hoi An night markets.
The crowds were back in force, but we were keen to check out some of the stalls.
The lanterns are everywhere and they are beautiful. Just not something that would work in our house.


The coconut cake. MrsGM had one but not for me.


The view back across the Thu Bon.


Life advice.


Some smoked squid.


Stalls all selling the same stuff mostly.




Somehow young madam took a selfie without me noticing.


SInce we were right there we figured we'd again eat at Madam Kieu. Not quite as good as the first night, but still quite pleasant.

The whiskey sour was indeed that.


A beef entree.

 

[GarrettM]

We'd thought we'd ordered spring rolls, but turned out it was roll, singular. Still tasty.


Some very nice squid.


And a chili fish dish.


Again, a very nice meal at an even better price. Back in a taxi and back to bed for all.

 

[GarrettM]

Apologies to those waiting for updates. The past few days have been an absolute blur in Ho Chi Minh City. Almost all in a good way mind you. We are actually home now, unpacking and sorting through bills and such.
I hope to finish the report in the next few days. Just have to manage all the assorted photos and notes.

 

[GarrettM]

Friday March 9 - our last full day in Hoi An.
We were keen to tick off the last couple of sights on our Old Town tickets, and started with the Museum of Folk Lore.


As you'd expect it's largely about fabrics - especially silk production, farming and fishing, and cultural heritage.


Some silkworm cocoons.

 

[GarrettM]

Traditional fish traps.


Simple but effective angling gear.


An old map of the area. Undated as far as I could tell.

 

[GarrettM]

 

[Pushka]

You certainly made the most of learning about cultural Vietnam esp with a toddler in tow. Kudos to you and your wife.

 

[GarrettM]

After the museum we ducked into the Reaching Out workshop and store. This is an arts and crafts enterprise that employs disabled Vietnamese people, and teaches them to create traditional style products, which are then sold through the store.

Our Story – Reaching Out Vietnam

I am always leery about these sorts of places, and worried that the public "feelgood" story may not be matched by the realities of what you encounter. But this one seems on the up to me.

About 10 per cent of the Vietnamese population suffers some form of mental or physical disabiity, and from what I can see it is a bloody hard life for them and their families.

Here you can walk into the little workshop and watch the artisans as they make jewelry, ornate tea sets, clothing, and all sorts of other products. All to a reasonably high standard as well. Not surprisingly photos are not allowed.

Being Vietnam everything is well priced, and all marked in $US.

We bought a little lantern for MissGM, plus a couple of tea cups I liked. They were US$7 each, although you can buy the sets for about $80. I would have done so, but wasn't confident they would fit in our bags on the way home.


I also sneakily picked up a pair of earrings for MrsGM, which I
surprised her with later that night.



Having had enough of shopping for the morning, we went back to the little restaurant across from the hotel for lunch, before another afternoon swim.
MissGM enjoyed taking her own notes for the day.

 

[GarrettM]

Friday March 9.
MrsGM had read about a restaurant a bit out of the main town called The Red Dragon. It's so good you have to book, so that's what she had done via email the day before.
Another simple Uber trip and we were there in the late afternoon for an early dinner.


The specials...


A bit of the wine list.

 

[GarrettM]

We decided to go with the set menu, which looked quite decent, and was very well priced at 590,000VND. We were not disappointed.


The mini banh mi (pictured on the right) especially was sensational. The sesame rolls and the kingfish also good.


The duck two ways. Confit and also fillet.


And the seared kingfish.


We were too quick to get stuck into the creme brulee and the chocolate mousse to worry about photos I am afraid.

I also enjoyed a Cuba Libre, while MrsGM eased her way through a mojito.



The Red Dragon, like many restaurants here, does an extended happy hour with coughtails at half price for several hours every evening. So with our two drinks, plus an extra beer and passion juices, the meal came to about 850,000VND, or just under $50AU. Very happy with that. One to recommend for sure.

The only dark spot on the evening was the failure of our Uber driver to appear, meaning we had to spend about $1.50 more to get back our hotel in a taxi. Outrageous.

 

[GarrettM]

Saturday March 10 - our last morning in Hoi An.
MrsGM decided she wanted to do one last lookaround for some shoes. So having packed and with a flight in the afternoon, we strolled back through the Old Town at several shops. The weather had turned considerably cooler, so lugging the child on my shoulders was far less work that it had been previously.
Of course we stopped for coffee!


The shoe shopping was successful I guess. She got three pairs she liked for US$65, haggled down from a fair bit more. She likes this haggling stuff, although it's not for me.

Back to the hotel for what we thought would be a leisurely lunch.
Here is one of the resident chickens.


With the clock just hitting 1230, a flight leaving at 1500hrs, and our car to to DAD sorted, we ordered a couple of banh mi and some chicken rice, plus drinks.
Having done so, I had a quick scan through emails to double check our arrival time at SGN - and discovered our flight was actually departing at 1400!!!!!!!! Not ideal.
So the drink was as far as we got.


I ran to reception to tell them our situation. Luckily they were able to get the car out straight away. The restuarant needed a couple extra explanations, although thankfully they did pack up our food to takeaway.
By now the toddler had picked up on our (MY) stress levels, and decided it was tantrum time, just as we were getting into the car.
The driver very kindly gave us his phone, so she could watch dinosaur songs and settle down.
If the ride from DAD was eye-opening a few days earlier, the race back was eye-watering. Pretty sure we set a record time for the distance. Dodging trucks, bikes, buses, pedestrians, the bloke behind the wheel never stopped us moving, and he had us at the airport about 1315.
The check in line was still going, and we were the last in it, so by the time we did check in, boarding had already begun. But in the end we made it.

 

[GarrettM]

DAD-SGN
VN125 A321
Scheduled pushback: 1400 Actual pushback: 1353

A smooth flight, although I don't think I care much for the approach to SGN. It was a bit of a wide around and a few banks back and forth. You can see the track here: Vietnam Airlines (VN) #125 ✈ 10-Mar-2018 ✈ DAD / VVDN - SGN / VVTS ✈ FlightAware

But we made it easily enough. Collected bags and headed out for a taxi. We ended up in one of the many not-really-a-taxi-but-not-a-scam-either-but-more-expensive-private-car-service. Not really ideal at 240.000VND up front, but they do get you where you want to go. I wasn't super pleased, but MrsGM urged me to relax and not stress unless something goes wrong. In my opinion though, if you are planning to get a legit taxi, and you do not end up in a legit taxi, something has already gone wrong. It didn't help that that 240.000VND was the last of our actual cash at the time.

Nevertheless there were no dramas, and our not-a-taxi taxi had us at our destination soon enough.

 

[GarrettM]

While in Ho Chi Minh City we'd be staying at Christina's Beatty City Oasis.
Saigon - Christina's

Private apartments in small complexes designed for single/couple travellers, although they work quite well with small child as well.




The view.


And a little restaurant right outside that we would visit a couple of times. Secret House.

 

[GarrettM]

There is also a rooftop garden, complete with washing machine and dryer.
Gets quite hot up there, and is probably quite nice of an evening with a cold beer or three. But we didn't spend a huge amount of time there.
The white high rise is under renovations, but I think it will be another hotel.

The Vietnamese flag is everywhere, usually alongside the Hammer & Sickle. Apologies for the fingers.



You forget that five floors up is actually quite high. And the railiing was pretty low too. Defiinitely keeping MissGM far away from the edge.


Saigon Skydeck - we will be heading up there I reckon.

 

[GarrettM]

We never really wanted to be the type of parents who let their kid(s) have too much screen time. But sometimes the only way to get a little bit of peace is to give in.

 

[tuppence47]

Friday March 9.
MrsGM had read about a restaurant a bit out of the main town called The Red Dragon. It's so good you have to book, so that's what she had done via email the day before.
Another simple Uber trip and we were there in the late afternoon for an early dinner.
View attachment 120446

The specials...
View attachment 120447

A bit of the wine list.
View attachment 120449 View attachment 120450

 

[tuppence47]

The wines list was very extensive for a small restaurant.

 

[craven morehead]

Apologies to those waiting for updates. The past few days have been an absolute blur in Ho Chi Minh City. Almost all in a good way mind you. We are actually home now, unpacking and sorting through bills and such.
I hope to finish the report in the next few days. Just have to manage all the assorted photos and notes.

I think you've done extremely well to keep the TR as up to speed as you have !!