As a kid growing up in Washington, D.C., I ate a lot of Vietnamese food. The large Vietnamese communities across the border in Virginia had many great restaurants, and my parents regularly took me to Clarendon to eat at places called "Nam Viet" and "Pho 88." So it's no wonder Vietnamese food is one of my favorite comfort foods, especially a steaming bowl of pho and crispy cha gio!
I visited Vietnam for the first time in 2002 when I traveled overland from
Thailand to
China, where I was studying for a term abroad. I entered from
Cambodia and headed straight to Ho Chi Minh City, and then went north to Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, and Hanoi, before reaching China's Guangxi province. It was the rainy season, so it was hot and humid, and I spent a lot of time in cafes and noodle shops escaping the rain. I took some of my favorite photos of the trip from these noodle shops, with views onto bustling and rainy streets, as I slurped up savory noodles.
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A scene from a noodle shop - Ho Chi Minh City, 2002
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| Another scene from a noodle shop - Ho Chi Minh City, 2002 |
In Nha Trang, I took a booze cruise for backpackers out into the warm and green waters of the South China Sea. They fed us cheap wine and cigarettes while we floated on lifesavers; I might've drunk a lot very quickly to overcome my fear of sharks and the unknown below. Nevertheless, it was a good day, and looking back now, nearly two decades later, I feel a warm nostalgia for those carefree days in Southeast Asia.
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| Blonde hair, pierced lip, super angsty! Nha Trang, 2002 |
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| Lenin standing tall and proud - Ho Chi Minh City, 2002 |
My second trip to Vietnam was in 2010 when I went to Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh City as part of a work trip that brought together environmental and human rights activists from across the Mekong region. It was my first time in the heart of the Mekong Delta, and the vibe was noticeably different from other parts of the country I'd been to. Also, pineapple featured prominently in many foods we ate, which I wasn't expecting and didn't particularly enjoy. I longed for the dishes of my youth and yet had no idea how to order them in Vietnamese. It was very frustrating.
I left Southeast Asia shortly after this trip and didn't have Vietnamese food for a long time until I visited a friend in Paris and went to an exceptional restaurant called Le Bambú. I had an incredible pho with beef tripe and some delicious cha gio, which I greedily ate like little crispy pockets of heaven. But enough about that for now; check my
France entry for pics and more about Vietnamese food in Paris.
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Downtown Ho Chi Minh City, 2010
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| Beef tendon and pork noodle soup - Can Tho, 2010 |
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| Ho Chi Minh City post office - 2002 and 2010 compared |
As a kid growing up in Washington, D.C., I ate a lot of Vietnamese food. The large Vietnamese communities across the border in Virginia had many great restaurants, and my parents regularly took me to Clarendon to eat at places called "Nam Viet" and "Pho 88." So it's no wonder Vietnamese food is one of my favorite comfort foods, especially a steaming bowl of pho and crispy cha gio! 
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