Anne's blog travel 06-07

Tuesday, January 23rd 2007

I wander today on another side of the lake. It's a more upmarket area and it's less touristy and more quiet. It's really delightful and without any agenda I just walk up and down different streets looking at the amazing architecture of some of the buildings. They are narrow buildings, apartments of up to five stories high. All different, all very french or European. It's not a market area and I get much less solicitation and because of that even when it happens, it's not bothersome. The Cyclo who gave me a lift yesterday recognises me and greets me giving me his hand.

I stop for food around 1pm. I'm not sure what I'm seeing down there and stop at one place unsure of the food is sweet or savory. It happens to be sweet but that will do for starters. The first thing I get is chocolate brown in color and looks to be make with black beans. It's thick and sweet and served with a dollop of thick coconut milk or cream. Yum...When I come to pay, the woman sitting on the stool next to me points to the other desert she has been having urging me to try it. Why not? So I have a small bowl of what looks like short brown rice and served with a sweet transparent liquid on top. It takes slightly fermented, sweet and lovely. After a complimentary serve of a lovely green tea I make my way further down the street where I later sit down to some square slightly greenish rice patty fried on a large plate. When I get one it's cut for me and placed in a small plate with soya sauce and some chilli sauce and cucumbers on the side. This is savory (although I thought it would be sweet) and has some yellow peas inside and it's really nice. By the time I've had those three dishes, I've spent all of 9000 Vietnamese Dong which is US$0.56 which is totally unbelievable.

I tell Phi (that was the name of the Asian American guy) last night when I see him before he heads off this morning for Halong Bay that he's introduced me to a world of sin. But I'm so glad for his introduction to some of this food and I keep trying new things it seems everyday.

It's funny when you travel like this there are many stages you go through. When I arrived and for a while I saw things from the outside. I thought everything was interesting but I also knew I could never live here or so I thought. Then one day something happens. For me it took a good 5-6 days really and suddenly I was in. I was seeing everything from the inside and feeling it from the inside. I've surrendered. Even last night walking in the street alone I was feeling completely safe and free and happy to be here. This happens most everywhere I go if I stay for any lenght of time. And if I don't, then I totally miss that and it's the best part... once you are in.

It would be nice to meet other people though just to be able to have more than three-word-sentence conversations. So in that respect it has been nice to have Phi around for part of the day in the last couple of days.

Bye for now