02.04 - Day 78 - Hanoi
Tuesday 2nd April - Hanoi (Day 78)
Kate opts to pop out for an early morning walk, tiptoeing out whilst the rest of us sleep, walking the 5 minutes to the nearby lake for a lap. Breakfast precedes school work for Sienna and Seb - the end of term in sight.
In an effort to find Seb a local football kit we walk (slowly in the heat, hugging the shade) to Dong Xuan Market. On the way we walk via a number of street murals - each framed by the filled in arches of the raised railway track running through the centre of Hanoi. Some are plain whilst others are more intricate, or at least worth posing for photos - just like the street art in Georgetown on Penang in Malaysia that Kate and I visited pre-kids.
Dong Xuan market at three storeys across two buildings is a maze of 1,000’s of stalls some as narrow as two metres. There are plenty of stalls selling football shirts, but all are indicative of its global reach - Man City, Utd, Chelsea, Barcelona and PSG. There’s even some of big spending El Nassr. I get funny looks when asking for FC Hanoi or Nam Dinh or even Vietnam. Only after giving up and walking out does Kate spy a Vietnam kit in a stall under the stairs. Seb is pleased as punch with his 100k vnd shirt and shorts.
After a cooling off period back in Little Hanoi Deluxe we walk just five minutes to a recommended Pho restaurant - Pho 10 Ly Quoc So - seen often with queues out the door. The simple menu of eight Pho’s each with a variety of beef cut; half cooked or well done is a tasty meal, even the kids are happy to share.
After the late lunch, the afternoon is mostly spent in the cool of the room to avoid 40 degree heat outside. A rare outing for Sienna and I across the road to the Coconut Cafe for a healthy dose of coconut ice cream.
Our last Vietnam dinner is back at Thit Xien Nang, our favoured clean Banh Mi, the freshly cooked pork skewers dropped into the roll. The two ladies working the stall greet us as returning patrons. We also sample the deep fried potato from next door along with fried bananas for dessert. As we sit on our little blue plastic stools watching locals heading home or unsure tourists pausing on the corner it all seems so familiar.
