Ninh Binh, Vietnam - Tam Coc - Day 3

 I didn't do a whole lot yesterday. I only had a couple items on my todo list. The first to eat some mango with sticy rice. I had seen some at a street stall the day before, but I was to full with my dinner to order any then. The second was to find a place to buy some new ear buds. 

Earbuds seem to be my favorite things to lose on this trip. On previous trips it has been hats, sunglasses and reading glasses. I lost my first earbuds, nice noise cancelling earbuds, probably left on the plane on my way to Vietnam. I bought a replacement pair in Hanoi. Those got left on a bus. 

I walked up to the main street and found a nice place to order a banh mi sandwich, Vietnamese iced coffee and fresh passion fruit drink. It was a perfect midday lunch sitting at a table with a view to watch the busy-ness of the street outside. This was the best banh mi I have had since arriving in Vietnam.

From there I headed further down the street where I had seen the street stall selling mango with sticky rice. This was at a pop up tent seating street stall. Very nice. I originally rated it 10 of 10. I later lowered my rating to an 8. I would have liked it more with the rice cooked in a bit more coconut milk.

My observations so far has been that the Vietnamese food sold in the US are a bit Americanized. This is mostly in regards to the bahn mi and pho. In the US both of these dishes are amped up with more meat and vegetables. In Vietnam, they are a traditional, inexpensive street food, with less meat and vegetables. So far, I am liking the American versions better. That being said, I am still on the hunt for great banh mi, pho and mango with sticky rice.

After, I continued walking and found a miscellaneous store that did sell earbuds. 

Coming a back to the home stay later in the day, I took a couple pictures are typical things you see at homestays here. The first is the line or pile of bags belonging to people either early for check in or leaving later in the day for their next destination.

The second is a familar sight for me from both Hawaii and Japan. Racks of shoes and rubber slippers chaotically left outside the door. No shoes permitted inside. You need to leave shoes outside and use a pair of slippers provided or that you brought with you.