I need to start with a challenge from a reader regarding who has the oldest Dykes. I am delighted to provide the following clarification:
The oldest dike (Opps I have been spelling Dike incorrectly) in the world was discovered in the Nederlands which dated back to the second century BC.
What an education you are getting, and it doesn't stop there. On our drive back to Hanoi, we stopped at a charity organisation for lunch. The charity provides both work for those who have been impacted by the chemical defoliant Agent Orange. This was sprayed across vast swathes of Vietnam by the Americans during the war. Although designed to remove deforestation, it entered the bloodstream of both Vietnamese soldiers, villagers, as well as American soldiers. The really nasty thing is that the effects are passed on through the generations. The money raised from the goods sold also goes to fund the charities that work with these communities, so Julie was shopping, and we were both eating for a good cause. That's not the educational bit; the exciting thing for me was that they sold what they call weasel coffee. It dates back to the Dutch Indonesia in the 1700s. They established coffee plantations, but locals were prohibited from harvesting their own coffee. The locals “discovered” they could brew coffee from the beans found in the droppings of wild civets (a weasel-like creature).
Although the beans were hideously expensive, they did brew and sell the coffee at £7 / $10 a cup, and only for you, my lovely readers, I decided to try it. Tasted nice, but I will not be replacing my locally roasted beans for these overpriced droppings. One of my fellow travellers, when he found out I had tried it, said in his heavy American accent, “Well, Barry, you really are full of shit.” So true.
We returned to the same hotel in Hanoi for just one night, but we were upgraded to the original part, built in the French Colonial days. Another excitement for me was that our room was equipped with Japanese toilets, so many buttons to play with on the toilet is a blast. Literally! Our hotel was a residence for many senior embassy staff during the worst days of the B-52 bombing of the North, which provided the deputy manager with an opportunity to take us on a tour of the hotel bunker, which had remained lost for 20 years. They played an actual recording made by an American journalist during a raid, and even just experiencing that was terrifying enough.
The highlight of our day was the option we selected, a Vespa Tour of some lesser-known dining experiences. Flying through the heavy traffic after dark was a thrill in itself, matched by some of the places we ate. At times, each mouthful felt like a scene from the Dear Hunter; I was never sure which mouthful, if any, was going to do me in.
From the first restaurant, whose claim to fame was that Barack Obama had once eaten there, we went on a whistle-stop tour of the main sites. Our final stop offered the opportunity to try a cup of the famous Egg Coffee. We were delivered to the first floor of a coffee house with great views across the park. The coffee is topped with sweetened whipped egg whites to balance its strong, slightly bitter flavour. Delicious! The whole experience was absolutely fantastic and would recommend it even for the faint-hearted.
We returned to our hotel at 9:30 and were told that our bags would be collected at 6:15 and departure at 7am. Wow, so far this trip is certainly cramming a lot in. Although we departed on time and arrived at the airport early, when our group were all lined up at every open check-in desk, bingo, none of us had a booking for the flight. It took 20 minutes to fix, by which time all seats together had gone, so our little party was spread across the aircraft. A first-world problem in the scheme of things, so all good and a full day's activity waiting for our arrival in Hue, pronounced Whoway.
Sorry on the musical links front, as no internet was available when I typed this blog on the flight to Hue, but more will follow, I’m sure.
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