Gone (Squid) Fishin’ in Halong Bay
Greetings from the North! We’re up in the Hanoi area, cruisin’ around and seeing what we see. I actually prefer Hanoi to Saigon; it’s a lot more like what I expected from Vietnam (e.g., tiny alleyways filled with little shops, tons of street food, fewer tourists…). The vibe is good and it has one massive, massive advantage over Saigon: Bia Hoi.
What is Bia Hoi? Glad you asked! Bia Hoi is freshly brewed draft beer that is served on street corners all over the city. They pour it fresh from the keg and then give you a teeny tiny stool (we’re talking toddler-sized) to sit on while you watch the world go by, and I can tell you from experience that there’s nothing quite like sipping some fresh beer on the street while motorcycles, cars, and trucks whizz by and almost clip you. It really makes you feel alive. You can also get like 30 beers for six bucks, which we were delighted to learn yesterday.
Our Bia Hoi Corner
Bia Hoi = The King of Street Beer
After a day of Bia Hoi-ing in Hanoi, we headed east to the coast to visit Halong Bay. It was glorious! The rock formations are really stunning. We also visited some cool caves, saw how pearls are farmed, and went squid fishing off the back of the boat at night. I am proud to say that, after an hour of fishing I snagged a pretty sizeable squid. I screamed like a five year old girl the entire time I was pulling it in, largely because it was freaking out and spewing black ink all over the place. Don’t judge.
My Squid!
A few more pictures of our Halong Bay cruise are below…enjoy!
We are heading back to Saigon tomorrow, then jetting off to Phu Quoc island…I’ll keep posting!
