Yesterday it rained, which is rather unusual at this time of year. As a result, temperatures dropped by about 10 degrees… to perhaps 24… it was pleasant, but it gave me a headache overnight, just like in Germany when temperatures fluctuate. Today they are back up to around 30 degrees.
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The humidity makes the colors even richer, which emphasizes the lushness of the greenery—very beautiful!
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During and after breakfast, we had the opportunity to discuss my photography requests. It became clear that the woman I saw in the boat yesterday would also come when called (i.e., by mobile phone). The same goes for the vendors on scooters.
The staff will now make me an offer on how and when I can travel by boat.
And that brings me to another point that strikes me here. The Vietnamese have a certain restlessness about them. They do what I can see with a certain speed (does that mean efficiency?), and when they’re done, they get up and leave. My feeling at the end of the conversation is then different from that of my counterpart. This attitude is underlined by the way most tourists seem to travel through the country: two days here, one pre-organized tour each, then on to the next place to do the same thing. This also has a certain restlessness about it. Of course, we all know the advantages: you get to see many highlights in a short time. On the other hand, if, like me, you want to do things differently, it takes a certain amount of energy to go against this pace.
Because, in my opinion, it is only through research (😊 Angelika, how nice of you to remember!) that I can delve deeper into the actual culture, which is my concern here.
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Then some impressions from the nearby town, where I cycled to see if the floating market might still be open at a later hour (it isn’t):
numerous street food stalls sell everything, EVERYTHING! in plastic bags, soup, pudding, sauces…. When these are bought by passers-by, they are repackaged in bags. It’s really hard to bear….
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As I sat in the café described below drinking ca phe sua da (milk coffee), I noticed that the coconuts were freshly harvested when the water was ordered. Elsewhere, I saw street food right next to places to sit and sleep.
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And then there was the food:
Last night, the in-house restaurant (the chef cooks himself) served red snapper with noodles and salad, as well as guava, and for dessert, fried bananas, which are about 5 cm long here. A Vietnamese mint leaf, which is much milder than a Moroccan one, was wrapped in with it. When I ordered the local wine, I was first brought rice schnapps, neither of which I would like to repeat… The food was fantastic!
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And finally, a quiz:
what is the difference between the front and back seating areas of this café?
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When I entered, the waitress approached me relatively quickly to offer me a seat in the back area (in this photo), i.e., “inside” and not “outside,” because there was a fan there… hahaha….
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