Vietnam: Part 3

In Vietnam, you can not drink the water or even brush your teeth with it. We were very careful to eat at nice restaurants, but we still both got sick at different times during the trip. It was hard to pinpoint what caused the sickness. Fortunately, I was prepared with medicine. When we travel, we like to eat at local places and are not afraid to eat on the street, but in Vietnam we had to be more careful. I love Vietnamese food, but wasn't able to eat much of it, because it all had meat. It is tough being a pseudo-vegetarian in South-East Asia. A famous restaurant we patroned called Cha Ca La Vong, serves only one dish, Cha Ca which I think translates into fried fish. The fish arrives at the table frying over a mini grill. You add scallions and dill to the frying pan to wilt, and then serve it over cold rice noodles toped with the famous Vietnamese sauce, herbs, and some peanuts--so yummy.

Most of the locals were eating in sidewalk "restaurants" such as these:

There are some great "bars" on the sidewalk that we visited a few times. This was a popular one where draft beers were only ~$0.30. Notice the vendor in the front selling dried fish; she is wearing pajamas. It seemed to be very popular for women to wear their pjs in the evening while going about town.

Erik was brave and ate some steamed buns off the street, but they were thoroughly cooked and did not make him sick.

There were several shop fronts selling a combination of baby formula and liquor. The combination struck me as humorous. I guess these are two high-dollar necessities.

A mobile nail shop: