Beyond Rose

Chapters

1. Hanoi
2. Da Nang
3. Hoi An
4. Saigon

Hanoi

Accommodation: Hanoi City Backpackers Hostel

Memorable places or moments:

I remember watching travel videos. There was a good amount of food spots that we took note of. A priority on my list? “Egg coffee.” Tim has always brought up egg coffee I swear more than 20x since I met him (for me it would be egg hot cocoa).

We were happy to meet another food paradise land!

Cafe Giang – 1946 creator of egg coffee, in small shop we visited at minimum twice.. or maybe even 3x.

Ho Guam big lake revisited often (known for Confucian temple) we walked around the perimeter, also noticed many men playing street games. At one spot of the perimeter, it would meet one of the busiest intersections, Quang truong Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc. There is tall building that shares a patio view + shopping. If I could go back, I would revisit that center and do a quick walk through. Instead I choose to visit the Note Cafe. It view the famous building and water fountain. The whole cafe was covered in sticky notes, Tim and I placed a few. Here, we randomly bumped into a couple we met in Laos that we enjoyed River Tubing with. We were on the third floor enjoying the view with a tasty beverage / which they were exploring the cafe and unexpectedly bumped into. Side note** there were other cafes that had egg coffee or cool beverages.

This is also the street where we did a bulk of shopping and met the cutest, fat corgis! There was three of them <3, Tim bought a rain jacket, “Patagonia” jacket, two backpacks, and we both got “Adidas” sneakers. Other spots visited: Hanoi Old Quarter, walked by Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, Train Street, Hang Da Market

Food spots

• Banh Mis (example, bánh mì 25), Banh mi – Hoi An
• Beer street – Tim and I visited after the train street, enjoyed a night out drinking with friends
• Bach Phuong (73-75 Hàng Điếu, Cửa Đông, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam): Bun Bo Nam Bo amazing dish and random restaurant I found by Google Maps
• Bun cha – Huong Lien (bun cha x2 next day) Michelin rated ** Obama and Anthony Bourdain**
• Finally found Bun Oc/ snail soup + stumbled upon old address and ordered a different fishy soup that was also quite interesting.. 🙂

Da Nang

Accommodation: Seahorse Han Market by Haviland, wouldn’t say it was the best but definitely a cooler style than most!

Memorable places or moments:

The first thing we ate here was frog legs soup – a funky dish that was not intentional to start the day with. I thought it was yummy and different (not the first time Tim and I had frog legs), also on the pricier side

Tuli Coffee – came here multiple times for amazing coffee and egg milk bubble tea, by the third day the employees definitely recognized us. The layout was cool and modern. Two separate shipping containers possibly? Industrial vibes. One containing the cafe shop, the other being a lounge and lastly,a large outdoor seating.

Another breakfast dish we had at Quan Bun Huong – Bun Bo Hue – Hue style noodle soup.

In this city, we witnessed more motorcycles carrying a lot of funky weight for example, balance chairs ventured off cows and mountains, tacos

The famous Hải Vân pass – probably the most famous road with beautiful greenery + water view + skyline view + very scenic winds in the roads, went off track and met cute cows and precious PUPPIES. Met an old local selling postcards of Vietnam – tim and I took home for our own treasure.

In the city of Da Nang, we celebrated St. Patricks Day. 03/17/2023. I’m pretty sure Tim found a voucher on the floor and utilized.. hehe.

Banh mi co tien – a delicous Banh Mi stand we randomly came across and enjoyed on little plastic chairs

Hoi An

Accommodation: Cuckoos Nest Hostel and Bar

Memorable places or moments:

It was amazing! One for the books for sure. They provided a great introductory with brochure pamphlet. There were recommendations for different activities – if you want to pull the creativity out of you or drop in total relaxation. They had great social games and drinking get together in their outdoor area + were strict on quiet time – which I’m sure, is greatly appreciated. In the mornings they provided free drip Vietnamese coffee. The only thing that could appear as a downside is it outside of main city center = located at the rural part of Hoi An. This could be troublesome if you don’t have a motorbike. Otherwise you could enjoy the rice terraces view at the second floor pool (later I will post more information about this stay).

There were many Banh Mi comparisons in this city. There was the Banh Mi Queen, drunk experiences – banh mi stands with laughing cow cheese, Bánh Mì Phượng (where Anthony Bourdain has visited**) also known as “the best Bah Mi in town.”

I got a dress tailored in this city. Tim got a bunch of shirts tailored. This city is home of getting your specialized custom fit. Whether its casual clothes to suit and ties. A fun experience! note* Tim and I found a cheaper area that had competitors side by side in one market area versus walking into a store itself.

Cao Lau if I could go back to one meal, this would have to hit top.. 5! Honestly there is so much to choose from. This dish was something I’ve never had before. We tried maybe three different restaurants that served that cuisine and went back to two in particular at minimum two times at each. One served a tasty yogurt. Gotta throw in my probiotic intake.

We took banh mis to-go (from Banh Mi Queen). Relaxed on the beach and enjoyed a beach stroll.

We ate pho and another day for new breakfast cuisine: banh mi op la. This was like a banh mi but with the meat, egg, cilantro, seasonings all on a hot stone platter + more soup form for you to dip your bread in.

Enjoyed the lanterns lit up at night on the river. Many people had romantic photo shoots. It was very populated but still fun to see.

Enjoyed more egg bubble tea, tried Bánh bao bánh vạc (shrimp dumpling made from translucent white dough bunched up to look like a rose)

Once we finished up here we rode the motorcycle back to Da Nang enjoyed half of the day (got my nails done! and foot massage) and then hopped on a flight to Saigon

Upcoming post: Saigon – last chapter Vietnam