Vietnam is, like India, a land of diversity and contrasts.
Archaeological excavations by the Red Delta River establishes its presence in the Paleolithic age yet Vietnam got its own identity as a communist socialist state under the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) as recently as in 1976.
It’s reflected in its demographics (it has nearly 50 + ethnic groups), spread over very different regions and landforms- the Red River Delta, the Coastal areas, Midlands, Highlands and Mountain passes, the islands- each different than the others.
n its vegetation and flora: evergreen forests, conifers, and deciduous forests. There are bougainvillea growing side by side with various palms, canna and Madhu Malti growing next to roses and poinsettias. Flowers we see in either Delhi summers or in Delhi winters – grow together in Vietnam- in the same season.
Commuting is easy. Grab the taxi booking mobile app is convenient and common. Did not see buses (except for the tourist buses) or other mass public transport vehicles, the rail network is not robust – travel is mainly by road. Mostly commuters use cars (few) and two wheelers (mostly). The speed limit across the country is 60 kms/hr. The Net said there are girl grab drivers in traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai dress- but I did not see any
Commuters on two wheels are covered from head to toe – to protect from the intense sun rays. In fact saw many ladies wearing long gloves covering their hands from wrist to beyond elbows.
An interesting point to note is that a single person can hire a Grab Motorcycle or higher, a 4-seater car can seat only 3 passengers. (This rule is strictly adhered to). As we were 4 people we had to hire a 7-seater.
The food types are the same – but the dish with the same name tastes different in each province
Prices run into thousands- such that locals avoid mentioning the last three zeroes when they quote prices. It was a shock to see our first meal in the land (lunch) run into millions (in figures)!
Post conversion, however – the prices seemed humble (1 USD= 25800 approximately)
Each dish is served with some salad and decorated with variety of fresh leaves- Mint, Coriander, Betel, Lemongrass, Basil (and some I did not recognize). Red chillis added the spice and the bright bling to the dishes. Caution to those who like me, cannot handle Chilli. AVOID
Meats used was mostly pork and buffalo but also chicken and a variety of fish and other sea food.
Noodles were typically rice noodles everywhere. Lighter and I am guessing easier to digest. We ate so much yet managed to eat three meals a day!
Vietnamese Coconut Coffee – Hot or Cold is a must try. My preference was the Iced one.
Vietnamese coffee is strong, flavorful and robust. Its sweetened by coconut sugar – or by condensed milk.
Egg Coffee is avoidable – like the Vietnamese coffee but with a strong odor of egg.
Highlands Coffee a local coffee shop chain in Vietnam which is hugely popular with youngsters- at any given time there will be young customers happily having coffee and taking Instagram photos (especially the girls) More often than not their outlet is right next to Starbucks where business is usually much slower.
Ice cream seemed to be a favorite dessert of locals. There are many parlous all over the cities with huge crowds of customers , specially over weekends- the line below- extending beyond the image was at 110;clock at night.
Some dishes we enjoyed
Summer Rolls– served either rolled up or more often the rice paper was provided separately along with the various fillings and sauces. Needless to say our attempts at rolling were pathetic and we usually requested the (gloved) server to roll them for us
Green Bean Salad
Cau Lau- served on a bed of flat Spiced Tofu– softer than the best Rose Dumplings– one of the
rice noodles with a lye broth with of our paneers. many verities.
a distinctive flavour.
Bamboo Salad – each presentation was different
Two varieties of shrimp salad and Pineapple Rice
If this doesn’t make you hunt up a Vietnamese restaurant near by ….your loss.