If you feel If you like you are lost and want to find an inner peace that for some absurd reason you have lost, the magic word is Vietnam. Everyone has a different taste: super crowded streets of motorbikes that, in waves, that invades, like bees in a hive, the streets of Ho Chi Mihn, people that opens at lunchtime small benches and sits there eating in wherever spot they are, the hunger and the poverty balanced by a strong sense of pride and inner peace that shines from their faces, and the strong sense of belonging to a land that gives and sustains them, and which is at the same the place where the body finds peace and rest after this earthly life and everything coexists peacefully together: the rice fields and the graves of the owners of those fields. The smell of fried shrimp on the streets and the magical colors that it releases the fruit exposed with so much decor and taste trough the markets. Take a sampan ride on and cross the Mekong River, this will allow you to enter a new atmosphere, the dense vegetation of the forest will take you back in time during to the Vietnam War, when it was impossible to find the Viet Cong in a tangle of mangroves and giant plants, and you can rest in some refreshment area built by the inhabitants where you can taste the good pho, but what I recommend the most is to try the pineapple with salt and pepper: it’s great. Also try the coconut candy that many indigenous people prepare in their pseudo factories in the forest. The river can carry everything from the plants during the Chinese New Year, to the food, and it’s a wonderful show! A show that you should not miss is that of the water puppets. The puppeteers, hidden behind a curtain, move, with the help of bamboo sticks, several puppets representing scenes of everyday life, it would seem a monotonous show at first glance, but if you stop one moment to think about the music, the colors emanated by the water, the lights and the almost frantic movement of the puppets, then you will find that everything takes on a really surreal and romantic atmosphere. If you happen to have a chance, go to Hoi An Unesco World Heritage Site, one of the most fascinating sites of Vietnam. In the sixteenth century, it was the most important commercial port in the country, today we rediscover this charming place traveling by foot or by bike, the old town which is full of small shops selling souvenirs, romantic restaurants and small artisan shops. The city lies on a very lazy river, the Thu Bon river where in the evening the children immerse small colored paper lanterns lit by a candle and the atmosphere is tinged with magic. Stop and taste the delights of Hoi An Patisserie or eat at the The Cargo restaurant . I recommend the clam soup with ginger and lemongrass, lime and green chilli, salad of meat with chopped lemongrass sesame, mint and onion or the tuna in a crock pot with soy and sesame and also the stuffed squid. Another dish that you must not miss and can also be enjoyed throughout the country is the phoga: noodle soup with chicken, rich and spicy depending on the area, that can be spiced with cloves or with lemongrass, but I assure you it’s very tasty and delicate. Another interesting dish that you will find on the streets is the pork with caramelized pineapple, delicious! Also try the Bu’n Cha, are pork meatballs with different flavors that are usually accompanied by a broth, rice noodles lime and coriander. Of course, for the most adventurous, there is the ruou ran: is an alcoholic beverage prepared with rice wine in which there is a snake pickle, the Vietnamese use it as a portent natural viagra and seems to have healing properties, especially for inflammation, I cannot give you any advice on this product because neither my husband or I tried it! Do not forget to visit the Bay of Hanoi: it is a complex of three thousand islands that are born from the ocean that unleash different shades of blue and green. Finally, to enjoy even more these places I recommend to taste two different fruits: the mangosteen and the dragon fruit.
The mangosteen is considered one of the finest and most delicious of the fruits, it can be described as sweet and tangy, citrusy with peach flavour and texture. The dragon fruit is delicious, the taste is wonderful: sweet, crunchy with a flavour that’s like a cross or between kiwi and pears. Visit Vietnam and stop to eat on the go, try the different dishes, because I assure you that you will be struck by the use of some herbs and spices in their kitchen.
