Quy Nhon, Vietnam - Day 1

 Chào buổi sáng!

That means Good Morning in Vietnamese. Even though I review a little Vietnamese every day on Duolingo, the only things I can say with confidence on the street are: Cảm ơn (Thankyou) and Xin chào (Hello). 

I woke up this morning sleeping in a private room with a double bed. What a luxury. My smart watch also tells me I had a good sleep.

I went out early to find a place to get coffee and get something to eat. No breakfast included in my stay here. My first impression going out was that I am in a very local neighborhood. Most places at first glance you might mistake as businesses, but in fact that are private houses. The typical house here as well as in Da Nang. The first floor is the sitting area, behind a stairs going to the second floor bedrooms and maybe a small kitchen and bath beyond the stairs. What you see from the street is an the sitting area with  buddist altar with flashing lights, like christmas lights. It may or may not have seating and other furniture. If there is no seating, people sit on the floor. The front door or doors are usually open in the day time and people sit is very small chairs outside on the sidewalk.

The first stop was to get coffee. I sat down, ordered my coffee and noticed there was a lady across the street selling some soupy type of dish. When my coffee came, I asked for a bowl of soup. The guy serving me, went across to order an bring back food.

It turned out to be a seafood soup. Oops! It looked great. I love seafood, but I am not a fan of sea food soup or stew. In addition, this turned out to be the spiciest dish I have been served in Vietnam. I love spicy food, my throat no longer does. I finished my coffee, but not the soup. 

I paid for my food and coffee. Then started again down the street. It wasn't far until I saw a lady making some other food I have never seen before. She was cooking with 8 pans on 8 stone charcoal burning fires. It was like a watching a never ending dance. See the video short at:  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mcOO5keYBdc

Each paddy is very thing and she would layer a few on a plate before someone would take it away to another table. 

For me the guy sitting next to me and the lady cooking motioned to me what to eat and when. I think it is mostly egg with a sprinkling of bean sprouts. It came with the small dish of dipping sauce. I think they just keep refilling your dish until you signal to stop. This was better that the fish soup.

I then walked over to the beach. I thought it was farther away than my stay was at Da Nang, but it wasn't again less than 2 blocks from where I am staying.

Satisfied, I headed to the beach to get some walking exercise. It wasn't long before a couple of young boys came up to me. "Where you from?" the "are" is optional. Then, can we take a picture with you? They took selfies with their phone, then I past them my phone to get one too. That done. Cảm ơn (Thankyou) and off they went.

Not too long after, a couple young girls approached me with the same request.

Next along the beach I saw this guy mending his crab fishing net.

When I reached Da Nang and now in Quy Nhon, the weather is warmer than it was further north. I try to get out in the morning to do most of my walking. By mid day I head back to my accomodation to get out of the sun and then go out again later in the day. 

It was a little different in Da Nang renting the electric scooters, I could ride and stay cooler.

I haven't seen any rental scooters here yet. As a matter or fact, I haven't seen the numbers of tourist here like there were in Da Nang. Much more local 

As typical for me, I rested for a few hours in the afternoon. Then trying to get my steps in for the day, I walked more in the late afternoon and evening.

I went the Food Sreet, just down from my place to eat.

One of the vendors had a sample plate out and told me it was 100,000 dong ($3.85 usd). I was surprised how inexpensive it was, so I ordered one. What a spread. In addition to the what I saw on the sample plate, it also came with rice papers for wrapping and a plate of fresh lettuce, cucumber and sweet basil. On main plate was a small dish of pickled vegetables, a skewer of fish and another skewer of meat wrapped in seaweed, some seafood tart like things, a egg omelet with vegetables and shrimps and a few other smaller items. This wasn't dinner, it was a dinner kit to assemble using the rice papers. Besides being delicious, it was kinda fun.

See a short video of food street at this link:  https://youtube.com/shorts/Y9Ymifu12bA

While eating I saw this father loading up his family to go home. I hope they didn't have too far to go.