After leaving Hoa Lo Prison, I made my way back to the old quarter of Hanoi, and walked around during the remaining daylight hours. What a fantastic maze of narrow streets, jutting off in odd angles and every direction… lined with hundreds of small shops, food stalls, side-walk & bicycle vendors, restaurants, hotels, travel agencies & karaoke bars. I wanted to buy something from all of them, and give them their daily quotient of “good luck”… but my pockets don’t run that deep, and I’ve already bought 2 extra bags to carry all the stuff I did buy home.

Ok,, so I wasn’t 100% frugal,, the glittery $40 Rolex, Omega & Tissot watches got me. The folks back home will love them (= a few fancy leather bags, wallets & things also forced my hand into the walking piggy bank a few times. Ha ha. More people will be happy at home.

I did enjoy some authentic Vietnamese sidewalk cuisine though. A friend of mine from DC (Trish) is crazy about Pho… which is basically Vietnamese noodle soup with an assortment of herbs, spices, vegetables & meat thrown in.
Sidewalk kitchens sprout up all over the place around 5pm,,, nothing but 2 propane burners & 2 large pots to work with… one to boil the rice noodles, and the other to mix the sliced onions, ginger shavings, thai basil, coriander, bean sprouts & meat chunks. I’m cooking handicapped, so I’ll be the first to admit how amazed I am at how much they can produce with so little. I would starve if armed with the same tools of the culinary trade.

So I took my seat on a blue, plastic stool on the sidewalk across the street, ordered Pho with chicken (“ga”), and watched them put the mix together. Here is the result.