Fun Day in Mui Ne

We were sad to leave the beautiful beaches of Nha Trang and Hoi An, but eager to continue traveling south to visit "the Sahara of Vietnam" (at least, according to Lonely Planet). We took our penultimate bus ride to the home of fish sauce, Mui Ne, and cozied up at a guesthouse a few feet from the beach.

After settling into our new accommodations, we rented a motorbike and hit the open road. We passed by little fish drying in the sun and dozens of fishing boats, as we headed out to the red sand dunes.


We knew we had arrived, when we were greeted by a large group of kids jumping up and down and waving blue plastic sleds at us. We ditched the bike and were joined by an old Vietnamese woman, who helped us up the burning sands of the dunes. We never learned her name, but she was THE sweetest in the whole world.
She went back to help Morgan up the dunes and lent him her very small sandals,

coated our sleds to make them slide faster, before pushing us down the dunes,



and was eager to take lots of scenic photos of us.

Drenched in sweat and with red hot feet, we got back on the bike and went for a long loop around town. We stopped a few times along the way, once to check out this gem (which is straight out of roadside America)
and to drink our new favorite thirst quencher-- sugar cane juice.

Slightly citrusy and sweet, it tastes like un-carbonated Joy Juice or Mello Yellow, and is delightfully refreshing.
We only spent a few days in Mui Ne, as we were eager to get to Saigon, for the last leg of our Vietnamese adventures.

Best Day Ever

The morning was spent roaming around the lovely city of Hoi An, drinking iced coffee and meandering through the streets.

We rented a moto scooter and headed out to the locals' beach, which turned out to be paradise.

Beach chairs and cabanas were free, as long as you agreed to buy something from the restaurant they were owned by. Easy breezy.

We set to work sunbathing, swimming, and reading (GNK: Shantaram)

MWS: The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo series

The South China sea was pristine, warm and beautifully changed from green to blue.

We had a delicious lunch of butter grilled shrimp with salt, pepper and lime dipping sauce

Tiny grilled clams with salt, pepper and lime dipping sauce

Teeny fried potato wedges with real (!) ketchup

Two small friends took captive of this ship and were quite entertaining as they practiced being pirates

Let's just say life is pretty easy these days.

Cooking Class: Hoi An Style

When we were in Luang Prabang, in Laos, we took a traditional style cooking class through one of the local restaurants. Although it was a really fun day-- we went to the market in the morning, and both learned to cook and ate a variety of lunch and dinner dishes in the afternoon, we wanted to do something a little different in the alleged culinary capital of Vietnam. Luckily, a chef and cookbook author we met in Hanoi recommended an organic farm that ran classes, and sounded a bit more our speed.

We were picked up by motorbike by our faithful instructor, Tran, early one morning at our hostel. We followed him through the rice paddy fields and arrived at his home, where he lives with four generations of family. He gave us the delicious lemon-ginger drink pictured above, while he told us about the history of the farm.

We then dressed in traditional peasant clothes, and he took us on a tour. He would point to a bed, we'd sweep our hand over top and be enveloped by the smell of a variety of herbs. It was amazing.

After we toured his farm, which has been in his family for eight generations, we set to work helping to plant our own bed. First we tilled, then we added a layer of seaweed, then we raked to create a border.

Once the bed was prepped, we were ready to plant!

After all the planting had been completed, we took turns watering. They don't have a drip irrigation system, so they use these watering buckets to water all their beds. They weigh approximately 100 lbs when completely filled with water, and can be quite difficult to balance.

After we finished planting, we were treated to herbal foot bathes and shoulder massages. Pretty shmancy, eh? Completely relaxed, we headed into the garden with Tran to pick lots of herbs to go into the steam pot with an entire chicken.

While the chicken steamed in herbs, Tran taught us how to make banh xeo. We were excited to learn how to make the same dish we had loved snacking on in Hanoi.

Crisping away in the pan

The finished product, delicious!

We ate our meal alongside the family-- a variety of vegetables, chicken and fish, all dishes native to central Vietnam.

The sticky rice was packaged like presents inside the grass leave boxes.

The moist, herby chicken, finally ready after steaming for 20 minutes.

It was a fantastic day on the farm, and with recipes straight from Tran, we'd love to cook a Vietnamese meal for you once we're settled in Chicago.

Oh Joy! Hanoi (and Halong Bay)

A bit of success from the wilds of Vietnam (or how it felt after buying a new digital camera)!

Never in my life did I think the safest way to cross the street would be to walk directly into oncoming traffic, but that's just the way you do it in Hanoi. We estimated that the motorbike to car ratio must hover around 10 to 1, and the only way to make it throughout the city is to hold your breath, stare confidently at the street corner you're aiming for and walk.

Amazingly enough, you won't get hit!

Once we got the hang of crossing the streets, we set out to paint the town red. One of the best parts of Vietnam are the numerous bia hoi joints: a keg of beer on the sidewalk, surrounded by small plastic chairs and tables. With beer at only 4000 Dong a cup (or about 30 cents), we drank more than our fair share.

We also were quite excited to eat as much delicious food as possible in Anthony Bourdain's favorite country. We'd met travelers along the way who said the food was bland, or didn't meet expectations. We're happy to report, we completely disagree. Some highlights:

Pineapple! Sold everywhere, either cut up into chunks or with ridges sliced into it, to be eaten like a popsicle.

Steak and frites, served with a baguette on the side.

A delicious skillet filled with protein (read: scrapple of unknown origin, with a healthy serving of steak and eggs) and onions, to scooped into a baguette and eaten like a sandwich. Bun cha- a delicious savory broth, filled with barbequed slices of pork, to which you add rice noodles and greens.

Our favorite place was cooked in an alley and run by two squirrely sisters.

Banh xeo- a crepelike outter shell filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts, that's rolled up in rice paper with greens, dipped into fish sauce, and eaten like a spring roll.

Although it may look like we spent all of our time eating, we actually spent much time wandering around Hanoi, visiting the famous "Hanoi Hilton," Ho Chi Minh museum and taking in several new movies at the local mall (thank goodness for air conditioning). We also went on a three day excursion to Halong Bay, via junk boat.

We spent one night on the boat and one day in Cat Ba harbor, and while we were there we went kayaking and for a hike up to the top of the mountain in Cat Ba National Park.

The hike was absurd-- far too many people all going in the same direction, with a large portion of them being Asian women in stilletos and high platform shoes. Luckily the view from the top was worth it:

Vietnam has been really fantastic so far and we're looking forward to continuing south and getting some serious beach time in.

A Bit of Bad Luck

Dear Faithful Readers,

Hello from humid Hanoi! We made it here after an arduous 24 hours of travel, which included a night bus from Kunming to the China/Vietnam border and then a 12 hour train ride to Hanoi. Along the way, we unfortunately had a bit of bad luck. While I was sleeping, our camera and the laptop were stolen out of my purse. The good news is-- nothing more important (like passports/debit cards) was taken and neither of us was hurt. The bad news is-- all of our photos are gone and China and Laos won't be able to be documented the way we'd hoped they would be.

We've bought a new camera, but are unsure if the blog will be able to continue. If possible, we'll definitely post, but it's a little touch and go for the time being.

Thanks for all the kind words and support about the blog thus far. We hope to be up and running as soon as possible. And if that doesn't work, we'll see you all this summer (start fare watching tickets to Chicago, now please)! We've got lots of stories to tell and will have delicious food to cook for you.

Take care,
Gillie and Morgan