With nothing special planned the day got off to a late start when I met up with Matt and Amy for a wander through the French Quarter. Very pretty and elegant but lacking the buzz and hilarity of the Old Quarter?
We moved back to the fun part and had a great lunch of fried rice with roast pork while sitting at a roadside stall. The hint of chili oil I drizzled over mine just giving it that bit of a zing. The veg that came with the pork looked real shady but it turned out to be soemhtign like bok choy that probably had been cooked with some sort of seasoning causing it to change colour to khaki but also to be unbelieveably tasty. Real good, real tasty, real cheap.
From there we returned to the place where I had met my friends a few days prior where we ice creamed and had a coke with Michael's family and then headed off for a stroll round the shops. I was on a mission to find a particular silk shop but realised I was wasting, not only my time, but everyone elses as well and gave up. Some of the hand made quality silk items are divine and I was very tempted to buy something traditional until the brain clicked in to sense mode. The sights neverr fail to amuse.
Modelling on the street. Feather dusters
What can I say?
Giving up on the silk idea I returned to the hotel to charge all the bits and pieces that seem to constantly run out of juice. I have just realised that the fone runs out of juice because it is constantly looking for reception that is not there and I think that is the thing that also uses up my money as well, so from now on I switch off when not in use.. Reception in Lao especially and also to a lesser extent in Hanoi was very patchy so it keeps trying to find a station. Yesterday in Hanoi I happened uppn a really fast connection round near the lake and for the first time in quite a while managed to download some pics. Yay.
Refreshed and with a second wind I start walking to find where I need to go tomorrow to the collection point for the train trip, a gorgeous area behind the street running parallel to the lake. I get a bit carried away and keep walking, past the Cathedral and then realise I am on the right track for a restauarnt I want to try.
Keep walking Helen. In the meantime the others have been in touch and we agree to all meet at the restauarant. Koto is the place we were going to, a place on a similar bent to Makphet in Vientiane and Family in Phnom Penh which are run by ex street kids who are now learning to cook, wait and manage a business. I like the idea that my dollar will go towards helping some one that may have missed out on other opportunities and just needs a good break. Even though I had heard that the restaurant was great my expectations were not massive, but I should have know better considering its excellent counterpart in Vientiane.
I soon get to the street and ask where the restaurant is only to be told that it has moved, "but there are lots of other restaurants at the other end of the street", so I go in search. I ask again and get told to turn around and there in front of me is Koto. The others arrive soon after me and the explorataion begins. We decide to order a different meal each and share so we can all taste each one. Very hard to pick the best and I keep changing my mind as each was superb.
Chiili Prawns, delictely spiced in a divine sauce, with steamed rice and veg.
Chicken with lemon grass and a stunning presentation
Braised Duck to die for,
Beef inside bamboo
BBQ pork and noodles
Fish cakes to make our own spring rolls with
And finished off, for me, with French Apple Tart with cinamon ice cream
One of the memorable meals from Hanoi. Cost including drinks about $20 each
But it needed walking off so I walked back to the hotel. It turned out to be not so far as it only took 20 minutes to the edge of the lake. I stopped counting after that as I kept getting sidetracked by the shops.
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