Asia Days 2-4 (Vietnam)

Day 2 (17.12.2019)

This morning we went to a chain called Ya Kun Kaya Toast for breakfast. I ate “steamed bread” with kaya and butter. It was very similar to the kaya toast from yesterday, except, well, the bread was steamed rather than toasted. The result is the softest and fluffiest bread possible~ like eating a sweet and buttery cloud~

Shortly after breakfast, we took a plane to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Upon arrival and after checking into our hotel, we immediately went to eat pho for lunch. I don’t usually like pho, but of course, “when in Rome”….and I am so glad that I tried a bowl, because it was wonderfully delicious (not to mention incredibly cheap).

We didn’t do much else today, except to visit “Book Street”, a street filled with (as you may have guessed) bookstores and coffee shops. It’s closed off to traffic (there is a LOT of traffic in Ho Chi Minh, by the way), and just generally has a really quiet and peaceful atmosphere that is an especially rare treat in a big city.

Day 3 (18.12.2019)

Today was busy, busy, busy~ Nearly the entire day was devoted to a private tour booked by my Boyfriend’s parents. We woke before sunrise so we could eat breakfast at the hotel before being picked up by our tour guide. Our first destination was a small workshop outside of the city where people make handicrafts from local materials, like mother-of-pearl, duck eggshell pieces, and natural dyes. I got a beautiful little jewelry box, which was rather pricey at 40 USD, but I feel this was a justified expense because the proceeds go to support families affected by Agent Orange.

Next we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels where much of the Vietnam War with the US took place. A small section of the tunnels have been widened so tourists can walk through them. It was still pretty claustrophobia-inducing despite this extra space We sampled some boiled tapioca root, which is what the Vietnamese soldiers would have eaten during the war when other food was scarce…although we had sugar and crushed peanuts to eat with ours, which I assume they wouldn’t have had.

After lunch at a nearby rest stop our next part of the tour was a cruise on the Mekong River. We stopped and got off at a couple of piers: a local bee farm where we sampled honey tea and royal jelly, and a family-owned coconut candy factory. We took a short tour around a village, on a cart pulled by a very sad-looking horse, which looked rather more like a donkey. This part of the tour included a sampling of fresh tropical fruits, which were delicious, of course I thought I didn’t like longans, but these ones made me question myself.

I think that pretty much sums up the events of the day–except I can’t pass up mentioning the fact that I had the opportunity to hold a Burmese python. I have just about every common phobia, but a fear of snakes is not part of that inventory. I would say my fear of a living thing is directly correlated to the number of legs it has, so snakes rank pretty low by that standard. However, I did start to feel nervous once I was holding the snake, because I could feel how heavy and strong it was, and I was struck with the knowledge that it would very easily beat me in a fight. Therefore I must admit that this is not something I would do a second time, but it did produce some rather nice photos.

Day 4 (19.12.2019)

After a very packed day yesterday, my Boyfriend and I really wanted to take most of today to rest. We walked around for a bit near the hotel, until we gave up because it was far too hot, and we also couldn’t find much to do besides eat, and you can only eat so much. I did visit a 7/11, partly because I find convenience stores in other countries interesting, and partly because I wanted to look for some snacks and candies to bring back for my brother. I bought him some rainbow jelly candies and milk-tea flavored Kit-Kats.

For lunch we decided to do something a little different and eat at a Japanese restaurant in a shopping mall. We each got drinks, lunch, and desserts for a total of about $20, which would be a decent deal in the US, but I’m pretty sure this is expensive by Vietnamese standards. I love the drinks we got, though–they were Christmas-themed: a Christmas fruit punch, and a green matcha latte with Hokkaido milk foam.

I’m afraid that concludes the events of the day, as we both were so very tired that we fell asleep around 7 pm tonight, without even eating dinner ;;