Caution: DO NOT READ WHEN HUNGRY

This weekend was a 3 day weekend, thanks to Veteran's Day:

THANK YOU TO ALL THE VETERANS WHO HAVE FOUGHT 

AND CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR OUR FREEDOM!

In honor of three days off in a row, our friends invited us to come along on a trip they had already planned to Hue and Hoi An, two towns in Central Vietnam.

We missed our flight on friday<whoops>, so we took an EARLY flight on Saturday morning into Hue:

It was a beautiful morning in Hue, it was so nice to see so much BLUE!

Such a sleepy drive in, it was strange to see so few motorbikes on the road

Shrimp "fields"

Since we got up at 4am to catch our 6:40 flight, we were starving when we got to Hue. We met our friends at their hotel and I ordered Pho with an egg. It was so good, I was so hungry that I forgot to take a before photo...so here it is.....

My half-eated breakfast. YUM.

The friendly hotel in Hue....they WERE very friendly, and very affordable!

We rounded up the troops and headed out for a day of sightseeing in Hue.

The river

Xy-clo parking only

Galleries galore; with the artists working hard on-site!

A tough little lady selling lunch

Beautiful

The Imperial Capital 1802-1945

Citadel Close Up

Gate to the Imperial City

Inside the gates of what remains of the Imperial City

RAWR

A mama horse was working and her baby followed her around all day

After a visit to the Imperial City, we headed over to the Thien Mu pagoda

The perfume river, no it didn't smell like perfume

The famous car; On June 11th, 1963 a Buddhist protest march was making it’s way down one of Saigon’s busiest arteries, Phan-Dinh-Phung St. The procession of around 400 Buddhist monks and Nuns moved through the city until they hit Le-Van-Duyet St where a light blue Austin that was part of the procession, the car seen above, stopped. The hood was raised as if the car had engine trouble while the nuns and monks in the parade quickly surrounded the car forming a circle of some seven monks deep. Thich Quang Duc a 66 year old monk calmly got out of the car and walked to the center of the circle sitting on a cushion provided for him. His religious brothers removed a jerry can of fuel from the car and proceeded to pour it over Quang-Duc who was now meditating in the lotus position. Quang-Duc with his Buddhist prayer beads in his right hand, then opened a box of matches, lit one and was instantly engulfed in flames. He did not move while his body was incinerated(story from famouspictures.org)

Endless burial grounds beyond the pagoda

We're high rollers

After a morning of sight-seeing, our driver for the day took us to a lunch spot that was "rat rat ngon"<very, very good>. We pulled up and it looked like a tourist trap. First of all, it was called "The Sweet Olive Garden"--we almost pulled away, but our driver insisted that it was good. 

Fried pork spring rolls in some magical crispy textured rice paper

Beef wrapped in radish leaf with pickled onions

Fig, chicken and pork salad

We are unsure where the figs where, we believe this was lost in translation

Shrimp crackers

<meh>

Fried rice and grilled duck with tamarind sauce

The Sweet Olive Garden; it looked more like a lotus pond....

We left the restaurant and headed to our last stop in Hue: the Royal tombs.

I decided to stop by the Kentucky derby....that or I needed to buy some shade and this was the biggest hat I could find. I was able to barter because I spoke Vietnamese.

We left Hue after the tombs and headed to Hoi An. We took a car along the Hai Van pass aka Ocean Cloud pass, we asked our driver to stop along the road for us and he promised us that he would. 

Mediocre car shot #1

Mediocre car shot #2

Mediocre car shot #3

We were hoping to get some good shots, but once we got to the top, we realized why it's called the Ocean Cloud pass--we were IN a cloud. We could not see ANYTHING at the top. When he stopped the van we just told him to keep driving so we could get to Hoi An.

We arrived in Hoi An and it was beautiful. It's a beach city, but we were staying inside, along the river near the Old Quarter. Our travel companions had been here before and recommended the restaurant  STREETS International; a non-profit that helps get kids off the street by training them in culinary arts.

The most delicious pumpkin soup EVER

White rose dumplings and fried pork spring rolls

Pork hot pot with quail eggs(this was the hubs dinner, I was so jealous)

Cau long; the regional specialty--grilled pork, noodles, chili sauce and fresh herbs...mmmmmm!

Coconut ice cream with pineapple sauce

We left very full and very happy and waddled our way home to bed.

In the morning, we got up early for a cooking class at the local school; Morning Glory Cooking School. It was awesome; a 4 hour class with a tour of the markets beforehand. On our way to the class, we observed a boat race....

go boats, GO!

The rowing was fierce....

So fierce that one of the boats capsized, there were a lot of laughs and everyone was ok

A cute puppy that I wanted to steal

Hubs and I borrowed hats to shade us from the sun

We started at the fruit market....

Mr. Hoa explaining what a Pomelo is

the Meat market....it didn't smell that bad, we were assured that everything we were going to cook had been purchased MUCH earlier that day:)

Spices...and eggs

Veggies!

Banana flower and baby bananas

The fish market--as you can see, we should have opted the hats for our umbrellas...we left our umbrellas at the restaurant--well, all but one smart friend

A lady sewing up live crabs to keep them alive and harmless

The fish market

oodles of noodles

It DOWNPOURED...so I bought a 50 cent poncho and hoped for the best. Mr Hoa walked very tightly, as if to hide underneath his conical hat, he almost fit.

Back at Morning Glory cooking school, we began our 4 hour lesson with the fabulous Ms. Lu Lu. She was amazing! I HIGHLY recommend taking a class here!

Cabbage soup....before...

tourist soup

Our weekend travel buddies

Vietnamese coffee

Ms. Lu Lu hard at work

My cabbage soup simmering

YUM! 

"Always eat your greens, every day!"

We were told this over and Over and OVER

Ms. Lu Lu is obviously a mama:)

Course 2: Fresh spring rolls

Fun new trick: add a mini spring roll inside!

Hubs and I also used "Vietnamese" pork instead of "western" pork--the difference? 

More fat and FLAVOR

My spring roll and the Hubs spring roll, someone didn't follow the directions of putting the shrimp color on the OUTIDE(that was me--whoops) They were both yummy! 

Course 3: BBQ Chicken

This was the rack of spices we used

Chicken prep

We then massaged our chicken and handed it off to the chef assistant to grill it--all of us had a different marking to tell whose was whose

Course 4: Ban Xeo

Mung bean/rice pancake

So much oil....

Almost complete....

Ta-da! My first delicious banh xeo, I'm in love!

Course 5: Green Mango salad

Made with the fancy Vietnamese knife that we all got at the end of the lesson!

Final product: Green mango salad! YUM!

My chicken returned--and it was awesome!

We left full and happy--again; we all split up and had a fun afternoon. Hubs and I did some shopping and I got a mani/pedi at the hotel spa while Hubs got a massage. We all met up for dinner at the first restaurant in Hoi An: The Mermaid. It is owned by the same woman who owns Morning Glory cooking school. We were a bit obsessed, we also bought her cookbook:)

Fried wontons, they were kind of like Vietnamese bruschetta

Green papaya salad

Tamarind shrimp

Pork and Mushroom stuffed Squid

This dish was the most delicious of the night I think

Chicken hot pot

Thai style hot pot

Happy sweaty tourists

Hoi An is known for their lanterns, they were so pretty! We bought a few:)

The next morning we woke up to a lot of rain. Luckily our hotel provided us with two golf umbrellas.

Our rainy view

The rain can bring some of the prettiest images

Breakfast:

Veggie omelet and banana crepes

We left Hoi An and headed into Da Nang to catch our flight. We left early so we could go to a Banh Xeo place that our friend M had been to and remembered being amazing. We couldn't find it, but thanks to our iPhones, we finally came to the tiny alley that housed Ba Duong Banh Xeo.

It was at the very end....

We sat down and no one greeted us, a girl came over and counted us and then started bringing us food...

Fixins

Banh xeo, greens & herbs, chili sauce, peanut sauce and more fixins

We were also served pork skewers, but I couldn't tell if they were pork or chicken. I asked the people next to me and they didn't understand my northern Vietnamese accent. They laughed at me, we were the only expats in a crowded Vietnamese restaurant, lots of people were staring. We didn't mind.

Banh Xeo kitchen

If you are ever in Da Nang--go here!!!!

After lunch came a snack; coconut ice cream and green tea for me--Vietnamese coffee for Hubs

We made our way to the airport and were super early, so we did what anyone does when bored: EAT. Usually we have a rule where we only order fast food at the airport....so we did.....

BK; we were kind of happy. BK Ha Noi just opened last week and none of us have been yet

Happy Hubs getting ready to share a snack with me. 

Chicken fingers in Vietnam come with chili sauce:)

It was a nice and uneventful airplane ride home. As we descended I could barely see Ha Noi due to the smog or fog(you never really know what is what)

 Home sweet Home. 

When we got home I realized that today was our one month anniversary of arriving in Ha Noi;

What an awesome month it has been, I cannot imagine another month topping this one.

I am looking forward to many more months here and all the adventures they will bring!