A green garden sanctuary in busy Nha Trang, Vietnam: simple guesthouse room for VND200k (AUD13) a night.
It makes a nice change from the “sameness” of hotel rooms …
A green garden sanctuary in busy Nha Trang, Vietnam: simple guesthouse room for VND200k (AUD13) a night.
It makes a nice change from the “sameness” of hotel rooms …
Bò kho is Vietnamese braised beef.
Packed with potato and carrot, just like Grandma made it, but also with plenty of Asian Five Spice and chilli.
Toss in a handful of fresh coriander and Vietnamese mint, add a slightly toasted, crispy baguette and you have a delicious but not over-filling lunch.
VND40k/AUD2.30
I’m double double lucky, the old girl seemed to say.
What were the odds of scoring double yolks not once but twice in 10 quail eggs?
“Banh can” are steamed rice-batter cakes, often cooked roadside, in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
The price was VND30,000 so I haggled for 20,000. Nope, you might be lucky but you’re still paying full price, Mister!
Haha
So I gave her 50,000 ($3) anyway. Now she’s happy, I’m happy, Buddha happy.
Isn’t life good when you’re not a selfish pr*ck?
Vietnam devotes much effort into beautifying the beachside parks and gardens.
This is the “Back Beach”, in Vung Tau; the same for Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hoi An – at destinations up and down the Vietnam coast.
Vietnam Lunch: the young bloke next to me was eating a plateful of these, with rice.
Being of daring spirit and with a yearn to learn, I had to try one too. Delicious!
Similar to a Cantonese ham sui gok, it is a light, hollow, doughy “puff” coated in baked rice “bubbles” (a la crispy rice crackers) and, I presume, pan fried.
These being hollow, you could have a lot of fun experimenting with various fillings such as paté or mince, or do vegetarian with diced tomatoes and onions; maybe a sweet version with raisins and citrus peel, and serve hot with vanilla bean ice-cream.
(I’ve impressed myself with these ideas. What am I doing, pretending to write? I should be pretending to “chef” …)
Vietnam lunch is a “one with the lot”.
A big queue was happening at this Nha Trang street food stall – building labourers, office workers, they were pulling up on their motor scooters; the family running the stall were working like clockwork, filling take-away containers and ladening plates.
They all seemed to be ordering rice with a bit of everything. So I did, too! Smart move.
The meal was pork done various ways, chicken, boiled/stewed pigeon eggs, vegetable, crunchy fried shrimp (yes, I crunched them – shell, head and all), and other bits and pieces.
Generously spoon on some SE Asian home-made sweet chilli syrup, and tuck in …
Traditional Vietnamese wedding near nha Trang: what an honour to be invited, by Dung to the wedding of one of her work staff.
They are so courteous and friendly.
Two fun & friendly hours of eating, speeches, eating, singing, eating, hand-shaking, eating, pics, eating …
(videos to come)
Simply a nice pic of the quiet, shady, placid streets in Nha Trang’s Riverside residential area.
Only a half-hour walk – but a far cry – from the hectic Beachside, constantly buzzing with a billion motorbikes, delivery vehicles and tourists.
It would be fair to think the Riverside area now is where the “smart money” is being invested …
Nha Trang Riverside: Beautiful new mansions.
I’m guessing the owners might be coffee merchants?
In Vietnam today, coffee is “gold”; in the 19th Century Gold Rush, merchants selling supplies to the prospectors became the millionaires.
Here, start the day with a tin phin drip coffee, with ice and “sweet milk” …
Travel’s eternal question: what to have for breakfast?
Mango/passionfruit/strawberry “smoothie” nails it. Natural, nutrional, fibre. 25k dong (AUD$1.50)
Now all set for the day, in Nha Trang, Vietnam …