When in Vietnam, bike, cook spring rolls and learn pottery

My kids loved Vietnam so much that given another free weekend after only three weeks, we were back in Vietnam!

What made the choice easy?

 Bánh mì! My son had read on the Internet about this bánh mì in Hoi An, which Anthony Bourdain had tasted and proclaimed, “It is the best bánh mì in the world!!” Other feedback was that it “will change your life”! Change your life? My goodness — a French baguette with all kinds of stuff in is so good it will change your life? Well, that did it. My sons had acquired the genes of their grandfather and their great-grandfather: they would travel just to eat.
The trip was four days and three nights. Two days we stayed in Danang and one day in Hoi An. Our tour guide was Thao — the tour guide my sons had taken a liking to. We arrived in Saigon through Cebu Pacific, and arranged air travel from Saigon to Danang where we spent two days before biking to Hoi An. The whole trip — inclusive of hotel, airfare, all the food, all the transportation plus very personal attention — came to $1,000 each person. Not bad.
This is what we did.

Danang

The first thing we did when we arrived in Danang was ride on scooters!

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. So when in Vietnam, you ply the streets the way Vietnamese do — on scooters! My two sons were on one scooter and they interchanged so I went behind Thao. That was a lot of fun, especially since my sons had never ridden scooters before, and they were now plying foreign roads! But it’s easy: just get on the scooter and turn on the gas. It’s like an automatic car. Just don’t do it at night: I found the lights coming toward me blinding.

Naturally, we ate. And ate and ate.

The next day, we boarded a fisherman’s boat to go to an island where few tourists have gone. Very isolated, and we fished for our own food. Realization: my sons are not cut out to be fishermen. Hmm… maybe not me, either. One needs patience! I enjoyed the trip but not the noisy motor. And actually I am pleased to report that our waters are much clearer, we have more fish and corals. It was however an experience to see a part of Vietnam not normally seen.

Hoi An

On day three, we went biking to Hoi An. If I were to do this again, I would insist on not biking from the city because of the traffic. I would feel much safer and enjoy biking more with fewer vehicles on the road. I love biking, but prefer when I can experience nature along the way. We biked on the highway for two hours! And of course I had to stop. I preferred the biking on our previous trip — along rice fields, stopping for sugar cane juice, etc.

Anyway the climax here was a star in our itinerary. It was this village in Hoi An with mini-farms where we learned how to cook rice pancakes (yummy ones) and spring rolls — we made the rice paper ourselves. That was a real treat. I loved the ambience of the place. I was impressed to see Vietnamese who came from Australia! The children of boat people that had gone to Australia now had gone to good schools and returned to their motherland. They looked like Filipinos.

By the time we reached Hoi An I was so tired, while my sons’ unquenchable appetites led them to go out and have noodles that night. I gave in and called it a day. I can only eat so much.

But, upon arriving in Hoi An, we did go to “the best bánh mì place in the world,” according to world food traveler Bourdain. Sure enough, his picture was at the entrance, along with his superlative praise.

Unlike other bánh mì stalls there were choices. There were even two vegetarian bánh mì (ordinarily bánh mì is just liver). I had cheese and onion bánh mì.

What I found impressive about it was the bread was so crunchy. They toast it just before adding the stuffing. The stuffing is very diverse.

After the first round I asked our biking guide, “Well? Is it the best bánh mì in the world? What is your rating? He said, “I would rate it an eight. My mother’s bánh mì is a nine and my wife’s bánh mì is a 10-plus!”

“Hmm,” I responded. “Well, I want to meet your wife!”

So my kids went for another round. Their conclusion: they liked the bánh mì but for them, the best is sold along the streets. This bánh mì place recommended by our guide Thao from his childhood is a very popular one in Danang, and even until the end of the trip after visiting Madam Khanh — the “Banh Mi Queen,” or so brags the Internet — they said this place called Phuong is where the best bánh mì ever is. They liked that one so much, just before we went to the airport, they returned for another round, getting the chili bánh mì, which they ate at the airport.

There must be a link between Vietnam and the Philippines. After my first article I got an excited call from Eddie Ilarde who was just about to form a Philippine–Vietnamese association. He insisted I go to the launch held at Manila Hotel last July 29. Having worked for my dad for decades, how could I refuse? Ilarde was a mainstay of Student Canteen with Leila Benitez. I was surprised to find Gemma Cruz-Araneta there. She said she stayed in Vietnam for a month and was even there during the bombing. I saw former president Fidel Ramos there, and he gets funnier every time I see him. He still wears his eyeglasses with no lens on one side. At 86, FVR still feels a zest for life. It’s quite impressive.

Vietnam is so like the Philippines. And it is so near, and quite inexpensive.

If you are interested in the Philippine–Vietnamese association, call 813-3459 or 813-3497 or email at rcdomingojr@comcast.net. If you are interested in the tour we took, and want to eat inexpensively to your heart’s content with a really too good tour guide, call Thao at +84 90 2226366 or email her at sophia76ng@gmail.com. She can arrange tours for you; contact her ahead of time.

Visit YouTube (search “Gina Lopez goes to Vietnam again”) to see videos of our trip.

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I can be reached at regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com.