October 9, 2017
Ha Tien: Settling into things Vietnamese
I think it is a good idea, when crossing into a new country, to spend some time getting used to how things work. Today is that day for Vietnam.
For breakfast I strolled around the block to find a bánh mì vendor. This was our breakfast of choice in Vietnam last year and it will probably be no different this time around. After a bit of work, we strolled out again for a cup of coffee - proper cà phê nóng (hot black coffee) - for me and a Coke for Leigh.
Afterwards we took a walk around the market, which is only a block away from our hotel.
More work was followed by lunch. We had hoped for phở bò but couldn't find a vendor within the first few minutes so instead we settled for what was available. This turned out to be a quick lesson on the various types of noodles which ended up with Leigh having a bowl of bánh canh (noodles made from tapioca flour or a mixture of rice and tapioca flour) and myself a bowl of hủ tiếu mì (a mix of rice noodles and wheat flour noodles), both with pork.
We took a cycle through the town in the afternoon, mostly just to soak up the feel of the place. We had a drink on the riverfront followed by supper at a very popular restaurant called "5 Lua". The place was pretty packed and there was a lively crowd of youngster drinking toasts to the cry of "Mot, Hai, Ba" (1,2,3).
Today's ride: 4 km (2 miles)
Total: 6,555 km (4,071 miles)
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