Letter 421: Short Notes from Vietnam

I started these virtual scribblings in Hanoi, a city in which I awoke to the sounds of motorvehicle horns blaring from the streets over the past few days. I am now in Hoi An, a smaller and much more tranquil coastal town sandwiched in between Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Vietnamese summers are not for the faint hearted. Drenched in my own sweat-- literally-- from head to toe, I don't know what I was thinking when I was making travelling plans in early Feb. The sweltering heat-- and one other reason-- did make me wonder for a split second if I should've stuck to my original plan of sunbathing in Bali; that other reason being no other than missing my long awaited venture into Hanoi's Sofitel Metropole for its renowned chocolate buffet by a mere 4 minutes. 4 minutes!!! If Madge and JT could save the world in 4 minutes, I could partake in gourmet truffles and all things 70% cacao during that short period of time while the world could go into spontaneous combustion under the scorching summer heat for all I care. Hhrrmmph!

Then again, there are also many reasons why melting into a puddle of sweat and lard in Vietnam would be so much more interesting than being a beach bum in Bali:

- Cafe Sua Da.

- Bia Ha Noi, 500ml PO tds.

- Private cruise along Ha Long Bay.

- Being as "tall" as the Vietnamese people. No wonder people keep speaking Vietnamese to me.

- Pretending to be of Vietnamese ancestry but who had lost the "mother tongue" after being born and raised in Malaysia. That explains why I only speak the few very important phrases such as "Cafe Sua Da", "Pho Bo", "Banh Mi", "Cao Lau", "Cha Ca" etc. ;p

- Crossing the crazy roads among crazy motorcyclists in a crazy city called Hanoi. Our local guide, who hails from Ha Long City, once said it took him 30 minutes to cross a simple road when he first arrived in Hanoi. Thank God we fared better.

- Colourful silk lanterns in Hoi An.

- Cycling 3km to Cua Dai beach and back-- and getting stuck in traffic on a narrow bridge for close to half an hour because none of the drivers coming from opposite directions were willing to let the other pass.

- Discovering that pho in Australia tastes better than pho in Vietnam. Damn, Dr. Nguyen you were right!

- Getting to know the flirtatious tailors in Hoi An (and getting tailor-made suits and trousers for a discount ;>).

- Learning how to count from 1-10 from a banh mi lady, who makes the best banh mi in Hoi An.

- Waking up at 6am tomorrow to buy banh mi from said lady before boarding the bus to Hue, our last stop before Ho Chi Minh City.

Good night!