Good morning Vietnam!

I write this while riding an overnight train from Hanoi (northern Vietnam) to Hue (central). We slept on the train last night in our own little compartment - Zac thought maybe the train was going to Hogwarts!

While I didn't get much sleep, This morning the sun is shining and I am enjoying seeing glimpses of life in the oh-so-green rice paddies and water buffaloes.

We spent 6 days in Hanoi and loved the city. There is so much hustle and bustle on the streets and much to see. There are few cars, instead motorcycles and pedestrians swarm the streets. 

Restaurants and street vendors are everywhere, with most people choosing to eat their meals while sitting on tiny stools on the sidewalks and watching people go by.  If they aren't eating, there is beer or coffee to drink, the beer being much less expensive at 25c a glass with coffee from 1-2 dollars. Egg coffee is a famous local drink where sweetened whipped egg yolk is added instead of milk - it is decadent and I wonder why this isn't served in Toronto?

But Hanoi is about food. The first thing we tried was, of course, Pho. This noodle soup dish is one of our favourites at home. At first we were surprised that we found it to be not very flavourful - but then learned that it is usually eaten for breakfast so that is when you get the good stuff. We were ordering it at the wrong time of day. 

We took a food tour of the city so we learned where, when and how to get all the best  food, like pho with tamarind broth, bun cha noodles with BBQ pork and kumquat juice, rice pancakes filled with meat and topped with fresh herbs, and banh mi - meat, herbs and pickled carrots in a baguette. Heaven!

While dog meat is popular, it is bad luck to eat it during certain phases of the moon so was not available. 

After that, it felt like we filled our days with activities just so we could get hungry and eat again. Don't get me wrong, there is lots to do in Hanoi and we enjoyed our time. We even went to a mall to go ice skating (!) and watch a movie (Avengers). But in a trip to Hanoi the street food is the best part. 

And yes, we went to a shopping mall, something we never do at home. But like Zac said, "Most tourists go to the market to see local culture. But really, the markets are 50% tourists. The mall was 100% Vietnamese - we were the only foreigners there!"  And Zac was definitely the best skater at the rink too!

Back in Bangkok

We flew back to Bangkok from Khao Lok (via Surithani) instead of taking the 12 hour train. Flights with Air Asia are so inexpensive that flying only cost $13 per person more than the train. This is also helped by the fact that we are travelling with carry-on luggage only, as Air Asia charges for every bag. 

Our 2 days were spent at The Marriott Courtyard hotel - a level of luxury we can't usually afford on our budget but were able to buy with points. (Side note - if you travel a lot, check out the Marriott Visa card as it is one of the only Canadian credit cards for which you don't get charged the 3% currency conversion fee).   It was a different experience staying right downtown in the tourist area compared to the neighbourhood we stayed in the previous visit, but we all enjoyed both locations a lot. We are a city family!

Over the previous two weeks, we had done a lot of swimming and Zac had developed quite a painful ear infection. We had heard that Bangkok hospitals are very good - definitely much better than Cambodia - so we thought we should take him to have it looked at. 

I'm so glad we did!  The hospital was excellent, probably better treatment than we would have got in Toronto. Very fast and the doctor showed us the inside of the infected ear with video technology. (Yuchi!). The good news is that he cleaned him up and gave us antibiotics and ear drops so all will be well. (4 days later - zac's ear seems all better). Of course the medical care came with a bill, which we are not used to in Canada, but it will be covered by our travel insurance. (We used Nomads in case you are wondering). 

Other than great medical care, our other discovery in Bangkok was great street food. We had been seeing delicious looking food on the streets but were a little hesitant to try it. We found a "food fair" type cafeteria with "The Best Street Food in Bangkok" (their claim). It was a bunch of locally owned stalls, but they were located inside, very clean with refrigeration. We felt like this was the "go ahead" we needed to try everything. And we did. Yum. 

Vibrant downtown Bangkok: