Hanoi Day 2: Street Food, Ho Chi Min's Mausoleum, No Mixer

Barbara and I walk through Hanoi to find an ancient Pagoda. We learn more how to manage the wild traffic as we stumble onwards. Travel is slow when you must stop in fear at each street corner. We do manage to make it up to Ho Chi Min's tomb, a giantic mausoleum surrounded by a complex of outbuildings. There was a very long line to see the tombs, so we passed. We finally located the pagoda (we think, not sure). Hanoi is the capitol of Vietnam so we had stumbled on the complex along with soldiers and their machine guns. 

We managed to get in 7.5 miles (iphone tracker) before returning home to take the "street food" tour. Our guide Ha was very charming and took us to many restaurants where we were servied the equivalent of at least four complete meals. Included were: 

1. Bun cha : vermicelli with grilled pork and light fish sauce
2. Nem ran : fried spring roll
3. Com : steamed rice
4. Dua xao : stir fried salted mustard vegetable
5. Mam tep hang be : shrimp paste with pork of hang be street
6. Cafe trung : egg coffee
7. Banh xeo : fried rice pancake
8. Cha ca hanoi : grilled fish in hanoi style
9. Hoa qua dam : mixed fruit
10. Sua chua nep cam : yogurt with black sticky rice
11. Tra nhai : Jasmine tea
12. Ruou dua : coconut rice wine

Sticky rice with pate, yellow bean, fried Onions

Drinking

Not so easy here unless you want beer. We stumbled to a bar given that we were unable to have dinner after the "street food" tour. I ordered "gin n the rocks" emphasizing many times that I prefer to have no mixer. As requested, I am served a gin and tonic...presumably because the  barkeep couldn't believe I would drink gin on ice. 

This is a very good country in which to stop drinking.