Travels And Food With The Locals

Traveling is not one of my passions when my kids were very young.  I was busy working and trying to make ends meet during the 1980s to the 90s.  That time I never thought much about traveling far, only local cities in Malaysia.  But as they grow up and my son started to drive, the traveling bug began, there was no turning back then.  From driving to local cities, the four of us began to travel to other countries as well.  One of the places I would love to visit again is Hanoi, Halong Bay and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Hanoi is an interesting place to visit and the last time we went, it was in 2008.  I remember we stayed in this Hanoi Plaza Hotel, it was cheap then, new and clean and was just right in the old quarters where shopping paradise is.  During our stay, we also arranged to go to Halong Bay, an island which is not to be missed.  From our hotel where we stayed, the views were just like postcards.

 Beautiful scenery at the Halong Bay...

Another place not to be missed is Ho Chi Minh.  It was an interesting trip for us, from shopping to visiting tunnels, rowing on a boat and of course, not to be excluded is none other than the exotic food.

 Our group enjoying our day tours tremendously.... 

 Despite the heat, despite the hordes of motorcyclists charging into us (but somehow we escaped being hit, thanks to their manoeuvre expertise), and the continuous "screaming" of horns blaring non stop at each other, (i guess its their way of greeting each other)...

 

Waiting for the "Green Light"....

And here they go!!

 

We did a lot of shopping .... 

 A memorable experience along the way....

 and the local food in the market......

Vietnam is still a nice place to go again, if given an opportunity, I would love to visit these cities once again.  Food is not a problem, we experienced sitting on low wooden stools along the streets, eating bowls of chicken hanoi 'koayteow' and their must-try is their local 'popiah' which is triangular shapes and deeply fried.  If I go again, this time I want to try their homestay local food, the real authentic ones that is not easily found on the streets.  There are lots of choices here in this Withlocals which offers local food, trips and homestay as well.  Here is an example of their local food at a typical Vietnamese family home!  Yummss!!

                                                    An Authentic Vietnamese Meal....