Oh no Pho

Well – we’re home! The two weeks flew by and I can’t believe we managed to fit in what we did…and that it’s all over! I’m sure many of you are wondering if Amy and I are still talking and if we’d ever travel together again. We are definitely still talking – although it was touch and go after my temper tantrum when trying to check into the Sheraton (my bad)! We are also thinking of making a trip away together an annual thing!

Overall it was an amazing trip but the one thing we didn’t actually do while we were in Vietnam was try some Pho – we’ve both eaten it in Australia before so it wasn’t something we’ve never done – whoops!

Now I’m not making excuses, but by the end of the trip we were totally shattered; Amy was sick and we were both over being pushed, yelled and tooted at so all we could really muster energy for was the walk to a near-by super market to buy some wine and cheese! It was a lovely Chilean drop (2008 Cabernet Sauvignon) from a winery called Carmen.

By this point in the trip we were gasping for a glass of wine - so a couple of bottles may have been consumed whilst packing – because up till this point we’d really only drunk beer! There were a few reasons for this… mainly it was the price difference between beer and wine. A can of beer cost around $1 whereas a glass of wine was $15 and when you only spent $5 on dinner it seemed VERY extravagant!

So… I thought you might all like a little wrap up of what I thought the highlights of the trip were!

Favourite	Choice	Reason
City	Hoi An	It was a beautiful city with great food, friendly people and a really laid back vibe.
Sight	Angkor Temples and Halong Bay	These two sights were totally different and impossible to choose a favourite out of – they really take your breath away and remind you of how insignificant you really are!
Beer	La Roux	The local beer for Hoi An, I just liked it better than the others… it was really crisp and refreshing!
Fun eating	Khmer BBQ	This was probably the cheapest dinner we ate whilst away (we had a couple of beers each and heaps of food and spent about $10). It was the street food BBQ in Siem Reap and besides from being totally fun it was SUPER yummy!
Taste eating	Vietnam home experience	Part of our trip to the Chu Chi tunnels included a traditional lunch in a Vietnamese home – it tasted phenomenal and was so fresh and delicious!
Spring rolls	Le Pub – Saigon	So…Amy and I undertook a little research whilst we were away – where could we find the best spring rolls? Le Pub in Saigon won hands down… crispy duck and mushroom parcels of crispy goodness!
Experience	Swimming in Halong Bay	How’s the serenity??? That’s all I have to say really!

If I could do it all again there are only a few things I’d change:

·         I wouldn’t have lost my credit card (I left it in an ATM in Hoi An)

·         I wouldn’t have had that third glass of Dalat wine (the local wine in Vietnam)

·         I would have stayed longer in Siem Reap and Halong Bay, reducing the time I spent in Saigon and Hanoi.

I hope you enjoyed reading about the trip – I know I sure loved it!

I’ll warn you now that the next few months will see a few “holiday” related recipes and cooking experiences! There may even be a dinner part in there somewhere for a few friends!

Thanks for following!

SQ