Hà Nôi, xin chào!

Day 4 in Vietnam was a success! Today we had cultural and anthropological field time, otherwise known as free time. We decided to take it slow and do a food tour that started at 11, so I got to sleep in. The theme of the tour was “Street Food of Hanoi” and spanned all the major street food options.It’s ranked as one of the best activities in Hanoi, and it was a really great time! My favorites included exotic fresh fruit sold by the kilo and the fried doughnuts, the only things to satisfy my persistent sweet tooth. Other yummy options included spring rolls, bánh cuốn nhân thịt or roll cake filled with pork and egg (I definitely had to Google that one), and the Vietnamese version of a frozen fudgepop flavored to taste like sticky rice which was surprisingly good. We got to try out the tiny tables and stools that are scattered all over the sidewalks, which are surprisingly comfortable if you can perch yourself at the right angle. It was pretty funny trying to fit all fourteen of us into some of the tiny food shops. Some of the boys on the tour were brave enough to try sausage made out of dog meat, but I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the display table, I’m too much of a softie. We ended up walking through almost all of the old quarter of Hanoi, so by the time I got back to the hotel I needed a nap. In high contrast to lunch, a group of us decided to eat a late dinner at an American/Italian/Mexican/basically anything that wasn’t Vietnamese place to keep our tummies in balance. It was nice to spend our last day here enjoying the culture and crazy fast pace of the city, because I don’t know if/when I’ll ever be back here.

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