Leaving Hanoi

Hanoi, like many crowded urban areas in Southeast Asia, is not pedestrian friendly. There are seldom sidewalks and a mass of traffic on the streets. Pedestrians rarely have the right of way and share the roads with lots of noisy traffic.

Go ahead, tell me you've had some of these before.

Aha, passionfruit. One we did recognize.

Real street food.

This "hole in the wall" in the old town area of Hanoi is said to have the best "bun" in the city.

It's probably the closest thing to "street food" you can get without actually sitting on the street.

Bun is the speciality here and everyone venturing in will get served it. I'm not sure if it's the best we've ever had but the atmosphere will certainly add points to the ranking.

By far the best vegetarian food we had was at a new little restaurant in the Tay Ho area called Phat Truong Tho, or Amitayus Vegetarian Restaurant as listed on the business cards.

You can get all your favorite meat dishes without any meat at all. Spareribs and sweet onions (above) look just like regular spareribs only it's all vegetarian. The bones are made from bamboo shoots.

Our last day in Vietnam. A quick breakfast at DaLuva and we're whisked-off to the airport.