street food and markets

iced coffee with condensed milk at a local cafe, 12,000 d

foreign food can present problems for travellers in many ways - overcharging is a common one, though in Southeast Asia the main issues are probably hygiene and taste. Before I left Sydney, I went to a vegetarian food fair and got really sick afterwards. If I could get sick in Sydney where people wash their produce with clean water, wear hairnet and gloves when serving, then I figured it's no use fighting the inevitable in SeA. So, unlike my first travel buddy, my mentality was to just eat what i want and take immodium afterwards if need be haha. Unless you care enough to brush your teeth with bottled water, only eat at restaurants, have drinks without ice (that's the deal breaker for me!), traveller's diarrohea will find you sooner or later and I just wanted to get it out of the way (reality: I got sick a couple of times. Antibiotics is a MUST although you can buy them cheaply in SeA).

Wet markets are everywhere in Hanoi, not to mention mobile vendors on foot or bicycles. Whilst I can't make much use of the fresh produce without a kitchen, I enjoyed checking them out just to see what the locals eat.

We stumbled upon some vendors and these glutinuous rice parcels beckoned me over. The rice was hot and fragrant, with a piece of succulent chicken inside. YUM

a wet market full of fresh fruit and vegies on one side, and general wares on the other

I think it's so nice to be able to get fresh food any time of the day, everyday. In fact I got so used to eating simple and fresh food, it took me a while to adjust to the food in Taiwan

the rice parcel only whetted my appetite, and when we saw a roving dumpling lady we hailed her down with great JOY (because Jen's vegetarian and it wasn't easy finding food for her)

These dumplings in syrup were filled with soft yellow bean paste, and not too sweet. Such a joy to eat and so cheap (less than $1)

doing a fruit run

beautifully cut and quartered pineapples, 15,000 d

another wet market, with some mobile vendors

fresh is one thing, clean is another

everything is laid out in the open, including meat and fish, without refrigeration, and probably covered in exhaust fumes to boot

yet another market

a rather inglorious representation of the cycle of life

That's one shitty pigeon at the bottom of the cage. Animal welfare isn't of great concern here, and that did put me off eating meat. We ate at a few vegetarian restaurants featured on Happy Cow. I got to see the non-touristy side of Hanoi through searching for pure vego places, as they were few and far between :p

pet or food? either way that must be one very unhappy cat!

a covered wet market, with a shrine inside!

intestines..how do you clean these things?

whole roast dog! We asked if we could take photos and the lady had no problems with it

close up of the heads...the idea of omnivores eating carnivores is a bit weird, and supposedly unhealthy as carnivores accumulate more toxins

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more fresh food/produce on the streets - a rather random suckling piglet, sugar cane, jack fruit, and beautiful flowers that can be found adorning little shrines everywhere

During my time there, USD$1 = ~ 19,300 Vietnamese Dong