Pho Circle

22.10.2016

Vietnam started, and now ends, with a bowl of pho - quite fitting for our trip, as you can say that we've come pho circle in our journey through one of Southeast Asia's gems. There's something quite comforting about eating a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup, though it's a seemingly contradictory activity to undertake in such a steamy, sweltering country. Still, that didn't stop us from chowing down on the stuff at least once, and up to two or three times per day. It always seemed to be a relaxing start to the morning, before venturing out into the chaotic streets.

We had one last night in Hanoi before flying home, and it wasn't something we were overly looking forward to - after three nights in HCMC and a couple of days previously in Hanoi, we were no longer interested in the noise and crowds of larger Vietnamese cities. The extreme sensory overload that was so exciting at first, had now exceeded our limits - it's especially bad in Hanoi's old quarter, with streets so narrow that two minibuses struggle to fit side-by-side. Yet somehow, someway ... a half-dozen cars and three dozen scooters manage to squeeze alongside those minibuses!

After arriving back in Hanoi, it didn't take us long to to start pining over touristy Hoi An - we miss having a calm and quiet place to stroll, we miss Disney-Nam! To deal with the hectic capital, we sought solace the only way we knew how - by stuffing our faces! Back to King Roti for not one, not two, but three coffee buns! After that was one of Hanoi's many coffee shops for another caffeine and condensed milk fix! Unfortunately, neither quite matched our previous experiences - the coffee buns had cooled off just a little too much, and the drinks at Haka Coffee weren't strong enough - but still, they made us feel just a little bit better about being back amongst Hanoi's crowds.

Things started to look up as the sun went down - it turns out that on Sundays, parts of Hanoi's Old Town turn into pedestrian zones complete with trinket markets, making for a surprisingly civilized spot for strolling. We followed that up with a solid dinner at a Gia Ngu, a calm, relaxing, and yes, somewhat touristy experience - being our last night in Asia, we cared more about the restaurant's ambiance than its authenticity. After that, we only had one final order of business to make our evening complete, and to take our trip full circle - that was to have one final coconut coffee at Cong Caphe!

We'd been suffering from withdrawal since our last one five days ago, like crack addicts searching for the next fix - but were denied!!! Our remaining Vietnamese cash was all but gone, and it turned out that Cong Caphe doesn't take credit cards or USD - so we were left wanting tonight ... we consoled ourselves the next morning at breakfast, with another bowl of pho. And after the long, sad drive to the airport - we had one more bowl of pho, while waiting for the flight to depart. Our Asian trip has finally come to an end, in the most fitting way possible - pho circle ...

Cute Little Fatties ...