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canbrake8-blog · 6 years ago

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Vietnam, Part 2

Hitting the road again, or the skies I should say (although we did one bus ride during our trip – more about that later…), we touched down in Da Nang, specifically to visit The Museum of Cham Sculpture, a museum that is not to be missed if you’re in Vietnam.

I forgot all my deities since I stopped doing yoga (such as Ganesha and Shiva, and how one guy got that elephant head, and why Shiva is wearing that snake around their neck – and smiling about it), so it’s good to do a little reading about them before you go to help you understand more about the artifacts in this museum. We took an 8am flight out of Ho Chi Minh airport, landing about an hour later, and taking a taxi right from the airport to the museum, which is only 3km away (I’ve given some tips at the end of the post about using taxis in Vietnam, that are worth noting), so it was easy to get there and spend the morning looking at the remarkable sculptures and friezes, many dating back to the 4th century.

I have the lowest museum attention span in the world, and two hours in this museum was just the right about of time to take it all in. Then I grabbed a Grab to take us to Hoi An, where we spent the next two nights. The old town of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and its traditional architecture is well-preserved, although not overly so. It still has a bit of funk, in spite of quite a few tourists (including us) roaming the streets.

Someone told me Hoi An is the most touristed town in Vietnam and it’d be hard to disagree. At night, the historic old town is jumping with people strolling by, and shops selling stuff, as well as locals offering everything from boat rides and fruit, to silk scarves (the town is known for its silk) and leather sandals. People also come to Hoi An to have suits and clothing made for them, and you’ll find several streets lined with custom tailor shops. Someone told me that if you bring a picture of what you like; a suit, a dress, or a shirt, they’ll make it for you, and have it ready in a day or two. I grew up wearing ties and jackets to school every day, so it takes a pretty compelling reason (or event) to get me into a suit, so I passed, but could have used a few more linen shirts since the ones I brought were splattered with Pho and dragon fruit stains.

Outside of the old town, we found more interesting things than in the old town, like the jumble of housewares being sold on a sidewalk, below, and spa treatments at White Rose Spa. We learned back in Ho Chi Minh City that massages and facials are very inexpensive in Vietnam, and mostly very good, so we’d indulged with our friends there, and now, here. (Note that it’s customary to tip if you had a good treatment.)

In Hoi An, we had a very good meal at Vy’s Market (the lime leaf chicken skewers were particularly good, as was the tofu skin salad), which someone online wrote was “sanitized” street food. It may have been, but we liked it all the same. Very fresh ingredients, nice servers, and tasty. Cao Lau Bale Well (45/3 Train Hung Dao) was recommended by several people (not locals) and while we found the place interesting, the Cao Lau noodles weren’t all that compelling. It was, however, charming, located off a side street in what was probably part of their home. They were also really nice, which made it…fine.

Another meal was at Nu. A sweet little place where the steamed pork buns were good, as was the chili ice cream we had for dessert. You won’t be the only English-speaking people dining there, but we liked it. There’s also a night market with an indoor eating area for street food, which I’d check out if I went back. If you want a taste of Egg Coffee, I had one at Passion Fruit coffee that even my skeptical partner liked. (I tried to compare it to sabayon, but he wasn’t having any of that.)

We stayed at the Vinh Hung Riverside hotel located on the river, not far from the old town, but far enough away so you were a decent distance from the fray. The staff was unfailingly polite and helpful and we had a nice room on the river, although I’d recommend perhaps staying in a room that’s not on the ground floor. I didn’t want to sleep with the door open so we shut everything and turned on the AC. The button on the machine was so bright that it was like a spotlight over us, in the room, which made it a bit difficult to sleep. It wasn’t really hot enough to warrant the AC, but we used it instead of keeping the door open. (Unfortunately, the unit was high on the wall and there wasn’t anything to block the light with, but I just discovered these, and am thinking of traveling with them because so many hotels have appliances and switches with really bright lights. Can people really sleep with all those lights flickering and glowing in the dark?) But we liked the hotel, which had a nice pool, and the breakfast offered a variety of Vietnamese foods and fruits. I gorged on rambutans, mangoes, and passion fruits.

We then took the 2-hour bus to Hue, which ended up taking a little more than 4 1/2 hours. The bus had funny, sort-of lie back seats, which looked appealing when I first saw them, but anyone taller than 5 feet (or who has never done yoga) might feel a bit squished after a while. (Another spoiler: You couldn’t sit upright in the seat, even if you wanted to.) While the bus had pillows, which Romain and some others grabbed for propping themselves up, the driver bellowed at anyone who took one, so they sheepishly put them back. I was okay lying halfway down for an afternoon, although some people were going all the way to Hanoi, and I’m sure they will need a few massage treatments to uncoil them once they arrive.

I hate to post the obligatory “I’m in paradise” shot, especially when so many of you (or us, which now includes me) are back in the cold. But this was a pretty beautiful spot in Hue.

It was our hotel, the Pilgrimage Village. It was located a little out-of-town, but the hotel had a shuttle and cabs were inexpensive (about $3 -4) to take you anywhere you wanted to go. So it wasn’t a problem going back and forth.

I was especially interested in going to the Dong Ba market in Hue. There was a lot to see there, and when our taxi driver dropped us off, he took Romain’s shoulder bag off his shoulder, and wrapped the handles around his neck, letting him know the keep his eyes on his things.

The market is pretty much an all-out assault of foods, spices, people, stuff, cookware, raw meat, kids, hats, seafood, fabric, jewelry, eyeglasses, bins of rice, tropical fruits, and more. Once you’re inside, you’ve pretty much go to go all-in. Even though the electricity seemed to be off in the market, we surged forward with everyone. If you stand still, within seconds, someone will slide past, through the narrow aisles with tables heaped with stuff on either side of you, and while it wasn’t at all dangerous, it’d be pretty easy to lose a billfold if you weren’t mindful of it.

Some people have said that the sellers were very aggressive here, although we didn’t find that to be too much of the case. Like other markets in Vietnam (except for the ones we went to in Ho Chi Minh City, if you stopped to look at anything, or even glance at it, the vendor will do their best to engage you and negotiate a price, even if you don’t really want it. It’s not my preferred way to shop, but that’s the way it’s done. Which was probably better for me anyway, as I didn’t have as so much to lug home. Although those colorful jars of pickled vegetables were certainly tempting!

We did track down the well-known Bun bo Hue (beef soup) stand, which is in the “street food” section of the market. (There’s a story about how to find it here.) We were a little underwhelmed, as the people next to us seemed to be. Maybe it was an off day, but if you look at the Bun bo Hue we had later that evening, two pics down, I’ll let you decide which soup looks better to you.

If you do go to the market in Hue, I would hire a guide, or take a tour of the market with someone who knows it well. It’s pretty overwhelming and there’s a lot of see, and taste, which isn’t so easy to do on your own. It’s definitely one of the great markets I’ve been to in the world, and worth exploring. But there was so much I wanted to know more about, it would have been nice to have someone navigate for us, and explain what things were, like these orange fruits (or vegetables?)

We ate well that night at Tai Phu where the Bun bo Hue (below) was more to my liking.

We also had some good Banh cuon (rice paper rolls) at Tai Phu, and Romain liked his Bun thit (vermicelli noodles with chicken) but the dish of the house seemed to be the pork skewers (nem lui), which came in a plentiful portion with green mango slices, noodles, and herbs, to roll in rice paper.

[A reader who lives in Hue was kind enough to chime in with some local spots for Bun bo Hue – thanks smallhue! – suggesting Bún Cam at 45 Le Loi and Bún Mụ Roi at 14 Nguyen Che Dieu, that she advised getting to before 8am for the best selection of “options,” as she called them. Our hotel had breakfast on a dock under a thatched roof, with unlimited Vietnamese coffees, so I wasn’t leaving there.]

If you eat at Tai Phu, be sure to arrive in the area early and walk around the streets, where an open-air market takes place. It’s pretty laid back, and like all the markets in Vietnam, you want to cry at how beautiful all the fruits and vegetables are, stacked, lined, and piled up. I think it’s called the Ben Ngu market.

The most beautiful meal we had in Vietnam was at a place whose name I forgot (I know…right?) It had a little open-air area within the restaurant, and from the outside, you’d never know such a charming place existed. When I remember the name, I’ll update the post.

However beautiful the meal was, it was a challenge to eat. Absolutely no offense to the restaurant, but the flavors were very, very strong, and hard to describe. I think, like Vegemite, natto, and blue cheese, some things don’t translate outside their culture. I can’t describe it but I felt bad leaving most of it behind. I also wasn’t feeling so great that day, so it was hard to power through a meal of distinctive flavors. But I will say, the others in the restaurant were eating everything and enjoying it, so it was definitely our tastes, and didn’t reflect on the quality (and the beauty) of the food.

We liked eating at HANH, in Hue, the night we arrived, which was recommended by a woman at our hotel. We started with tiny bowls holding steamed rice cakes with fresh shrimp and bits of crunchy pork rinds, which you pry from the bowls with a spoon and eat with fish sauce. I ordered a bottle of what was called “local rice wine” in English on the menu, and out came a 500ml (2 cup) bottle of “Men vodka.”

When I posted a picture on Instagram, one reader noted it was “just awful stuff” and another said, “terrible…unpleasant.” I asked the server if I could exchange it for shochu, which was so strong, I think I lost a few layers of enamel on my teeth trying to, and a couple of layers of my stomach lining, as I didn’t want to be impolite and leave a lot behind. I drank what I could, then chalked it up to a “lesson learned”! Perhaps the kitchen staff enjoyed the rest after their shift.

After returning to Ho Chi Minh City, we didn’t get to go back to Spice, which we really like the first night of our arrival, because it was Tet (New Year’s), which most of the city shuts down, including restaurants.

But we did eat at Quan Bui Garden (in District 2), where you can also buy beautiful contemporary Vietnamese pottery (I brought six plates back), and Restaurant 13, where we liked the beef and onions cooked in vinegar, which you wrap in rice paper rolls at the table, as well as the little crisp rice cakes, with shrimp and scallions, known as Banh Khot (above), which you wrap in leaves and eat.

At Com Nieu Sai Gon there were several families there celebrating Tet, and having a good time. We had jellied pork, crispy fish on rice (above), Caramelized clay Pot pork, and grilled prawns. (The menu had “fake dog meat” on it, which we didn’t order.) We kept hearing plates shatter, while people cheered, and weren’t sure what was happening. But the restaurant bakes rice until a crisp coating forms on the bottoms in small earthenware bowls. The rice is “presented” by smashing the bowl. It’s called Com Dap, and here’s a video of it:

I also met up with pals Marge Perry and David Bonom, who just happened to also be traveling through Vietnam at the same time, for Banh Mi sandwiches from Banh Mie Huynh Hoa, eating them at a local beer garden, whose men’s room was definitely rated R (or maybe X, depending on your sensibilities). I did take photos but worried that they would violate Instagram’s guidelines (and trust me, even after a few decades of living in San Francisco, I thought nothing would shock me), so didn’t publish them anywhere. But David and I are still recovering from it, and even Marge, who I insisted go into the men’s room for a look.

But I don’t want to leave you on that note, as Vietnam was wonderful. Some readers asked me how it was to travel through the country and I thought it was pretty great. On the whole, it was fairly easy to travel there and people were friendly and helpful. The food was very good, it’s not expensive, and the country is small enough so that you can visit several places if you’re there for ten days or so. It’s a country that’s in transition (they’ve gone through a lot), and has some challenges, but it was one of the most exciting places I’ve ever visited and next year, we’re planning to go back.

Here are some tips and suggestions for traveling in Vietnam:

1. Change money when you can. It’s not as easy to change money in Vietnam as it is elsewhere. While there are banks, locals don’t use them, instead preferring to change money elsewhere, if they can. Citibank and HSBC have ATMs which work with western credit cards; some local bank machines don’t work with U.S.-based cards. Citibank and HSBC ATMs are not everywhere, though, so use them when you find them.

Many places take credit cards in Vietnam, but some places don’t. Taxis have credit card machines but over half the time, the driver told me they weren’t functioning. (One held up a broken wire, to show me.) So have cash available. Also be sure to call your bank before you go, to let them know you’ll be traveling in Vietnam.

2. Carry tissues or napkins. Some restaurants supply them, others have very small squares of wispy-thin paper to use, and others give you a pre-moistened towelette. The food can be saucy (and restrooms don’t always have towels or tissues) so I was glad I have little tissue packets on hand. You should also carry toilet tissue as restrooms don’t always have it.

3. Drink a lot of (bottled) water. The tap water should not be consumed and it’s easy to get dehydrated due to the heat. I was felled for a day with a mild fever, which maybe was attributed to not getting enough water. (Or perhaps something I ate.) While there are drugstores in Vietnam, they are more like counters with a pharmacist and pills are sold individually. Although we didn’t need them, some travelers find they need Immodium or a similar product, which traveling, so I recommend bringing a box along rather than trying to find a box when you’re desperate.

Similarly, you can get sunscreen in Vietnam, but it’s not as widely available as it may be at home. I recommend bringing a bottle or two, especially if you’re planning any beach time.

4. When eating out, especially at the markets or street food stalls, go to places that are crowded with locals. They won’t return to places that don’t have good hygiene. Use common sense when eating at stalls; look at how clean the surrounding area is, how the food is kept, how the food is prepared, and even the condition of the tables, chairs, and dining area. As someone who’s worked in a number of restaurant kitchens, a messy, disorganized place is not the sign of a diligent cook or owner.

At Pho places on the street, I buried the herbs in the hot soup if I thought they may have been washed with non-filtered water. If you’re unsure about the chopsticks, leave them in the boiling-hot soup a short while before using them. The Vietnamese enjoy cold drinks with ice and I drank plenty of drinks with ice, and didn’t have any issues. Most ice is purchased and made with filtered water. But if you have any doubts, skip the ice.

5. If taking a cab, always take a cab with a meter. Our friends who live there said that Vinasun and Mailinh (the green cabs) are two that have meters in them, and I always looked for one of those cabs. In our experience, it’s better to let them use the meter than agree on a fixed fare in advance. (The one time I did that, the ride was 30% more than the metered fare.) Taxis are very inexpensive and the fare from Ho Chi Minh City to or from the airport was around 150,000 VND ($7).

At places like airports, you’ll find nicely dressed guys with badges who will “guide” you from the cab line to a taxi, then tell you what the fare is. Those guys work for specific cab companies and I found it better to ignore them (in spite of their repeated, and sometimes relentless, pleadings…) and just get in a cab that has a meter.

6. Grab is an Uber-like service that works the same way, via an app, which you can download before you go, but you’ll have to enter your credit card information while you’re in Vietnam. The service works like Uber. Note that you can order a car, or ride on the back of a scooter. (They provide a helmet for you if you choose the scooter option.) I used them a couple of times, including when we were swarmed by very aggressive cab drivers going into a museum (one even followed me around the museum), so I had a Grab driver meet me on the way out, and took his phone number down for future rides.

7. The currency conversion is a little complicated, at least to my non-mathematical brain. At the time of this writing, $1 = 23,000 Vietnamese Dong. There are no coins in Vietnam (yay!), but it’s easy to get confused. (And note that prices on menus and in shops will often be listed as just “230” when the price is 230,000.) I used AppBox Pro for currency conversions.

8. While it’s nice to learn the local language, Vietnamese is a challenge. I’m going to take some basic lessons next time I go, but Google translate was very helpful when I wanted specific information and couldn’t communicate. Some people do speak English, but most cab drivers (etc) don’t, so take a screenshot of an address or write it down (or have someone write it down for you), which helps, especially directions to the hotel. (Note that hotels that have names in English often have a different name in Vietnamese. Ask your hotel in advance to send you that information and print it out to bring with you, for the driver.) I often shared a screenshot with a cab driver of my destination on Google Maps, which they easily understood, too. Restaurants often have menus with pictures, which helps when ordering.

9. People in Vietnam were quite friendly. I only got scolded once for taking a pic and most people were fine with it. When in doubt, ask first, but most people were surprised that I even asked, a few even posing.

10. SIM cards are super cheap – and my internet was at least four times faster than it is in Paris. (I wanted to bring it back with me!) If you have an unlocked phone, you can pick up a SIM card for a pittance and have internet access while you’re traveling. I got a SIM card at Mobifone and I think I paid the equivalent of $10 for an enormous amount of data. I went to one of their offices and the clerk was super-helpful and she took care of everything, making sure it worked on my phone before I left. Be sure to have a copy of your passport when purchasing a SIM card. (If you go to a currency conversion place, they’ll want to see it, too.)

11. If you travel within the country you’ll likely take VietJet. (The other option are long-distance buses.) Airfares are reasonable but note that they have a very, very restrictive carry-on allowance of only 7kg and if you go over, the supplement is $100. You can buy tickets that have more generous luggage allowance, but our friends who bought our tickets bought the least-expensive, which are how most Vietnamese people seem to fly (carry on only). Every flight we took that left in the afternoon or early evening was delayed for a couple of hours, so don’t schedule things too tight. We also weren’t able to check in online for any of our flights, but the process at the airport isn’t too difficult and the staff at the airports were pretty efficient.

12. As for what to wear, I recommend dark-colored clothes as the food is a bit messy to eat, especially the soups. I ended up wearing the one dark, short sleeve linen shirt I’d brought most of the time, which was perfect, and I was miffed at myself for bringing light-colored items. It’s normal to wear sandals in Vietnam so bring a pair or two that are already broken in. Many people wear simple, non-fancy rubber sandals, which you can purchase inexpensively in Vietnam. I wasn’t anywhere where I needed to wear shoes, and once I took mine off, I didn’t put them back on until we headed to the airport for the plane home.

Depending on where you’re going, and when, you might want to pack a light sweater and a rain jacket. We only needed summer-weight clothes, but other places get chillier, depending on the latitude and season. Check the local forecast and pack accordingly. Unless you’re going to a formal event, you shouldn’t need any dressy clothes. If you plan to visit religious sites, such as temples and pagodas, men are expected to wear long pants and no tank tops; women should have something to cover bare shoulders, and you may not be admitted to certain places if wearing a short skirt or wear something with a low neckline.

13. If you want to ride a scooter, technically you are supposed to have a Vietnamese driver’s license. Some say that you can use an international driver’s license, but my friends who live there (who have Vietnamese ones) said that wasn’t the case. I rode on the back of my friend’s scooter for two weeks and it was a great way to get around. Some hotel rent bikes and scooters and I would use them, as they’re more familiar with the rules.

14. If you’re interested in cooking Vietnamese food, Andrea Nguyen’s cookbooks are great sources of recipes for Vietnamese dishes. This write-up of 25 Must-Eat Dishes in Saigon is helpful for identifying certain dishes, and where to find them in Ho Chi Minh City and these articles on best Hoi An restaurants and street food have some enticing addresses, too.

15. Lastly, to go to Vietnam, if you are traveling with an American passport, you’ll need a visa. If you search online, you’ll find a lot of websites which are fake visa processing centers. We used Vietnam Visa Center, which was recommended by Lonely Planet, and it worked well. (A friend who goes to Vietnam regularly uses this company.) We paid the extra small fee to have “fast track” service, and have someone meet us upon our arrival at the airport, and take us through. (Update: Several readers noted that Vietnam does have its own website for processing visas electronically. You can also obtain one from a Vietnamese embassy, too.)

For more on my trip to Vietnam, check out my Instagram Stories from Vietnam archived Here and Here, with videos and geo-tagged addresses.

Source: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/vietnam-part-2-hue-da-nang-hoi-an-phu-quoc-travel/

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laurallama52-blog · 6 years ago

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There's Something About Koh Yao Noi: 13 Things To Do On This Island Paradise!

Koh Yao Noi is a postage stamp sized jungle island just 30 minutes from Phuket that holds countless treasures. Sure you can follow the well trodden paths but there's so much more to discover here with hidden local gems. Step back in time on this dreamy Thai island and one of my favourite destinations in Thailand.

There's something romantic about this tiny island. Perhaps it's the temperature which is a little less humid, less rainy and more pleasant due to the island's expansive coastline. Or maybe it's the vibe which is like Thailand 20 years ago. But while everyone works to keep its small island community vibe, that doesn't mean that they aren't welcoming to strangers.

The predominantly Muslim population are wonderfully friendly and sweet. Within 5 minutes of exploring a rambutan seller drove past us saying "Sawasdee-ka!" and everyone is smile ready.

Number 1: See Koh Yao Noi By Scooter

To get around and see this incredible island go by scooter (although Mr NQN will argue a bike is better). Scootering is easy and you don't need a scooter or motorbike license. The hotel we were staying at Cape Kudu has a gentleman who will rent scooters for 300THB a day right outside the hotel and that includes enough gas for a day's touring (if you need more you can fill it up yourself at a low cost of around 1 litre/20THB).

The locals are considerate drivers and it's an easy island to navigate with one main road circling the island. There are also side car scooters available for 600THB although these are a little less safe especially around the gently curving roads - we witnessed an accident involving tourists where they tipped over because they were going too fast around a corner and lost control.

Number 2: Drink Fresh Coconut Juice.

Cocobella

Around the west of the island is coconut farm where you can watch them harvest coconuts. Look for the coconut trees and the staff will wave you in.

Or head even further north to the northernmost inhabited tip of the island towards Cocobella where the coconut palms grow, you can stop and walk the view of the islands in the distance (including James Bond Island) while enjoying a fresh coconut grown at Cocabella's coconut plantation.

They weren't in season when we visited but we were more than content with a delicious fresh papaya shake and an iced coffee. It's also a place if you're looking for Italian food, coffee or gelato.

Number 3: Go To A Local Cafe

Past the coconut farm, head towards Tha Tondo Pier. It was under construction when we visited but if you walk towards the last cafe on the right called The Rest Calm, you can lie back in a hammock and snooze or lie back on the cushions and sip an iced coffee or tea (or try the soy milk, it's nutty and delicious).

Number 4: Eat Local Seafood

Just a few doors down on the street is what locals regard as one of the best restaurants on the island. Koh Yao Tha Tondo seafood is a simple restaurant that specialises in seafood. The prices are fantastic (150THB or $6AUD for prawn or crab dishes).

Tamarind prawns 150THB

The tamarind prawns are tasty and while they are famous for their fish covered with a blanket of crispy garlic (it was a tad dry to be honest) make sure to ask for their seaweed salad aka sea grape salad with som tum flavours (an off menu item).

Fish with garlic

It's like a som tum salad but made without green papaya, instead these gorgeous little bunches of tiny green caviar beads are deliciously refreshing and slightly salty.

Sea grape salad

There's no alcohol served here and food can take a while if there are other customers but you can busy yourself with watching tiny mudskippers make minute leaps and mud crabs bathe themselves in mud. It's better than meditating. And you won't find this place on tripadvisor (yet!).

Number 5: Hideout for a while

The Hideout is a unique treehouse hotel that is also a great place to stop for a drink and a swing on a hammock. It's hidden away up a dirt road and the rocky path takes about 5-8 minutes by scooter although it is not exactly easy driving (the humorous signs are encouraging) or allow 20 minutes walking.

The menu there is all about local and seasonal food and drinks. We tried a Hideout cola made with their own blend of spices (much like the way Coca Cola started as a tonic) and a kaffir limeade and both were wonderful and refreshing.

Look out for these signs

Number 6:. Walk across to Koh Nui At Low tide

Koh Nui island during high tide

Check the tide schedule and you can take a romantic walk along the beach and across the sandbank watching tiny sand bubbler crabs make patterns when they spit out little balls of sand twice a day to make their tunnels. You can also see horn-eyed ghost crabs as well as fiddler crab with one enormous claw.

Walking across during low tide

Number 7: Eat With A Rice Paddy View

With what may be one of the island's most tranquil views, you can feast on delicious local Thai food from the extensive menu while overlooking rice paddies. In the corner a water buffalo picks leaves from the trees while cyclists ride past and a tractor worker toils in the hot sun. Prices are reasonable and feature a lot of seafood.

Spicy fern vegetable salad with shrimp 120THB

You can of course get classics like massaman beef or pad Thai but it is worth seeking out the interesting dishes like the spicy fern vegetable salad with prawns and blanched greens. Or the fried banana blossom cakes (200THB) are delightful too along with the squid with garlic (180THB).

Banana blossom cakes

Number 8:. Sunset

A little warning: an amazing sunset can be an elusive beast on Koh Yao Noi because of the omnipresent clouds. During our entire stay there weren't any spectacular ones but if you happen to have a clear day head to Rice Paddy View Point or Laemsai Pier.

Number 9: Eat Amazing Late Night Roti

Come 7pm every night, I made my way to Rotee My Friend for a fix of fantastic roti. It's open every day but only from 7pm-10pm. It's also a favourite late night haunt for taxi drivers in lieu of an after work bar. Yes there are cats galore but be prepared for some amazing roti.

The Roti 20THB

The "The Roti" is roti tisu, a heavenly paper thin, super crispy roti glazed with sugar and sweetened condensed milk that comes pre-cut (I'm drooling thinking about this).

The Tender roti 20THB

While the "tender roti" is a softer version with the same flavours with roti that has been "clapped" to soften the edges and give it volume. It will be the best 20THB or $0.85AUD you'll spend.

Number 10: Cool Down With Coffee & Cake

Need a blast of air conditioning? Or maybe a fix of coffee, cake or a cookie? Cape Kudu's Cafe Kantary is a stylish white and blue cafe with indoor and outdoor seating. There's nothing quite like it on the island and there's a reason why people stop and take selfies or photos here. The coffee is said to be the best on the island and tip: get one of their soft choc chip cookies. In fact any of their cookies are great.

Number 11: Get Beached

Long Beach

There are perhaps better islands for beaches and sunbathing as the beaches are ringed by coral and rocks so you do need wait for high tide to go swimming but Koh Yao Noi's best beach is Long Beach a hidden away golden sand beach, the second best Pasai Beach. Be careful getting to Long Beach by scooter if it has been raining as you may have to deal with dirt roads, muddy paths and long grass.

Number 12: Do A Custom Cooking Class

There are no shortage of Thai cooking class and the cuisine itself really lends itself to shorter cooking classes as the food is simple to put together but very tasty and easy to replicate at home.

Most cooking schools specialise in the classics like spring rolls, green curry or tom yum soup but at Cape Kudu's cooking school you can also make special requests for custom classes to explore Southern style Thai cooking or the muslim food of KYN both of which I requested.

Delicious Muslim yellow rice with chicken

We made Thai chicken in gravy, a Muslim yellow rice with chicken that I had for breakfast and a Southern crab curry that you rarely see in Australia but is utterly delicious. It's a hands on cooking class so you do all the cooking under the guidance of chef Chan and an English speaking staff member who will help interpret. Better still you get to sit down and feast on everything that you have made.

Number 13: Eat at Kaya

The lovely little local restaurant is located on the south east of the island and the all female run restaurant has a large menu full of Thai favourites with very reasonable prices.

Service is absolutely delightful and you won't find a sweeter bunch. There's a reason why people eat here several times during their stay at KYN.

Try their sweet and rich massaman beef curry or you can always try a fusion way of serving green chicken curry with their green curry spaghetti which is absolutely delicious.

Desserts are mango and sticky rice when in season or the wonderful comfort of bananas simmered in coconut milk.

Number 14: Try Southern Style Street Food

There are plenty of street food stalls dotted around the island as well as mobile vendors. Many of them are around the Pasai Beach area although waterfront outdoor eateries mainly dominate there. if you want to try street food, head towards the 7/11 (yes it's a landmark and it was a big deal when the island got one).

Around that area there are plenty of street food vendors. There's a Southern style curry vendor who has four metal containers with different curries. Southern Thai style curries are lesser known due to lack of exposure but they're absolutely delicious with a saltier and more sour flavour - you won't really find overly sweet numbers. You can choose a curry or two and help yourself to the dozen or so vegetables. There are also fruit vendors as well as a vendor who sells things on sticks-there's no pork here obviously but the chicken and fish sticks are absolutely delicious.

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever been to Koh Yao Noi? What is your favourite way of getting around a city? Bike? Scooter? Train? Car?

How To Get To Koh Yao Noi

The easiest way is to get there by speedboat of longtail boat from Bang Rong Pier in Phuket. These leave around once an hour. Most of the transfers are by speedboat (a 30 minute trip) with the occasional speedboat being substituted by a longtail. There is also a helipad on Koh Yao Noi if you wish to arrive by helicopter.

How To Get Around Koh Yao Noi

Scooter or bike is the absolute best way to see KYN. These were available just outside our hotel and cost 300THB for 24 hours (600THB for ones with side cars). If the petrol runs out you are expected to top it up yourself so make sure the tank is close to full when you rent it.

Where To Stay at Koh Yao Noi

We stayed at Cape Kudu, a Small Luxury Hotel and I cannot recommend it enough. It is an excellent location and the staff are lovely, pool villas are gorgeous and the food is very good.

When To Go To Koh Yao Noi

The best time to visit Koh Yao Noi is December to April as monsoon season is June to November. However we visited in the first two weeks of August and while it rained on a couple of days, the rain didn't last for long.

Where To Eat At Koh Yao Noi

Koh Yao Noi Seafood - hidden gem, Thai favourite, great dishes off the menu (eg. sea grass salad)

Ban Plaina - for tranquil views of a working rice paddy coupled with wonderful food

Kaya - gorgeous service, large menu and very reasonable prices

Cafe Kantary - European style cafe, great for Instagram with Western style cakes and food

Street Food - head towards 711 area on the South west of the island

Why Koh Yao Noi?

If you want to see what Thailand was like 20 years ago. If you want to meet the friendliest locals (they are said to be the friendliest in all of Thailand and I'm inclined to agree). If you want to explore an island that is not over developed. If you are looking to relax but not be bored.

NQN and Mr NQN stayed as guests of Cape Kudu but all meals and experiences outside the hotel were independently paid for.

Source: https://www.notquitenigella.com/2019/01/24/koh-yao-noi-things-to-do/

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kchatjjigae · 5 years ago

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And then there were two.

As Miss Leila winged back to the states this morning, it just leaves your intrepid travelers SaraG and I to pick up the mantle and scour the streets of Seoul looking for the interesting. Today we find the interesting by hunting down Korea’s National Treasure #1, seeing a man about a fortress wall, hiking up-up-up to Namsang tower, jaunting off to lock some locks to a fence, try to gauge just how big is too big in shirts for SaraG, me finally break down and buy that jacket I’d been thinking about for days, but not before completely blowing the budget on an impulse buy, then we end the day and possibly our relationship, with a trip to the Han River.

Sound like a lot? Oh, it was. Wait until you see our step count for the day!

While we did our friendly duty and got up to see Leila off to her taxi for her early morning flight, we promptly curled back into beds and chilled, deciding we didn’t have the need to jump out of bed to push, push, push. Oh, we’ll take it easy we said. Just figure out as we go along, we said.

We were fools.

Once we deemed an appropriate time had passed for us to have considered ourselves ‘slept in,’ we poured over my tourist maps and the guidebook left to us by our Airbnb host….or possibly Leila. I can’t remember which. We considered what was left on each of our to-do list, which was surprising, not as much as we had figured. Making a decision which didn’t have too many rounds of “what do you want to do?”, we decided we were going to start out by hunting down Sungnyemun Gate, which is, officially, Korea’s National Treasure #1 (Since 1962). Sungnyemun Gate is one of the 8 gates along the fortress wall which surrounded the city during the Joseon Dynasty. The history on this gate is pretty amazing, from the reconstructions to the demolition of the outer walls during the Japanese occupancy to the arson which burned down the top wooded pagoda in 2008 by someone who has also set fire to one of the palaces. (Dude. Side note, what an A-HOLE) Check out their Wikipedia page here to read all about it.

Just like with the palaces, the gate is surrounded by the city, literally. The busy streets literally encircle it. Its one of those places where you get off the train, walk up and up, wonder, “have we headed in the right….oh, there it is!”

This is not the only gate which remains (I believe there are two more), this is the oldest.

Tempting traffic, trying to get the best shots of the gate we can in between cars, we hit the tiny park that surrounds parts of it and just take it all in.

Before moving on because we had more places to be! More history to catch!

But this was the best start as we were on our way to find something that was pretty high on my must-be seen list. The remains of the fortress walls that once surrounded the city. Gate. Walls. Seems like it made sense.

We decided to press on, finding our way to Namsan Park, intent on getting a close up look to the legendary Namsan Tower. Which, of course, makes me think of one question:

Do you know Namsan Tower?

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Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

While we did handily have our Naver Maps at the ready, really, it wasn’t super necessary. See that big tall thing in the background there, just keep walking towards it until you hit a hill and then just keep going upwards. In order to get there, we wandered through the local neighborhoods, skirting the edges of Namdaemyun Market, where we’d been with Leia and Lisa just the other day. We started to climb up higher and finally, as we seemed to be lifted out of the alleyways, we arrived at Namsan Park, the entryway to the trails leading up to Namsan Tower.

It was green and quiet, just us and a man in a suit on a chilling either before or during work. Or maybe it was just him in his usual clothes just hanging out, no work involved at all, who am I to judge his life choices? He barely looked at us, absorbed in his coffee and music.

To the right was now a length of stairs which lead up towards the trails, and next to that? The fortress wall! We were hiking right alongside it. It was a total kdrama moment…you know, just with less Kdrama hero and more sweat. What we didn’t realize was this was just the beginning of the train, the starter course, the hiking hors d ‘oeuvres if you will. It was wide open spaces which periodically lead to giant statues of people we didn’t know, marking essential bits of history we didn’t know.

When there were placards in English explaining what the statues were, their history, we stood and read them, learning a lot about the perseverance of the Korean people throughout history. And when they didn’t translate who they were? We simply made up a story.

One might ask why we simply didn’t take the tram up to the summit like any average Kdrama loving person in Korea for the first time. Easy enough? They were closed. They closed down like the week before we arrived and were out for maintenance our entire stay. Of all the rotten luck.

Except?

I love the fact that we actually hiked our way up the mountain. We got to wander the stair covered trails, through the trees, around vistas, all the while next to varying lengths of fortress wall in various states of rebuild, wonder if this part or that part was original, knowing a lot of it had been taken out by the Japanese during the occupation. We saw amazing views of the city, passing people of all ages coming up and down the paths. It was also something that SaraG and I were achieving together. Sounds weird but we’d been through so much during this trip, were faced with days alone with no one but each other for company, when before we’d only spent odd hours together here and there. Starting this new experience doing something physical, something challenging, I think it was a great way to kick it off.

There were two very different parts of the ‘park.’ The first part being more park-y with the statues and the open spaces. The second was the steeper, uphill hike. The two sections were separated by a snackshop. Well. There were other things there, but let’s focus on the most important thing. Though it seemed appropriate to have one of the packets of ramen, I just wasn’t hungry enough for that, so we simply got waters and snack bags. Dukboki flavored for me! It was weird. Spicy and overly sweet. I’m now addicted and pick up a bag whenever I pop over to my local H-Mart.

LAUGH. Actually, step back, before we hit the snack shop (where it was just the bored girl and us behind the counter), we hit the essential building,: the bathroom. As we walked there, we passed a man in a very loud yellow sports outfit shouting and acting crazy in front of a film team. You could tell when they weren’t filming, he was a little mortified for himself, but we tried not to stare too hard. Our guess? It was some sort of CV being filmed.

Fortified by overly sweetened snacks, we continued on, for the first time, I regretted my choice of the heavy sweater, sweating balls as we headed upwards.

But before long, the fortress walls getting older and older, we reached the summit. Or, before there, we arrived at the K-famous, fence locks. The walls were a sea of color, brightly colored locks attached to every available surface. Some attached to fencing, some affixed to the locks that were attached to the fencing.

There were layers upon layers of locks, digging through you feel like an archeologist of love, the top shiny and new, their vows of love bright and bold for everyone to see, but as you sunk lower, the locks were older, rusted, barely legible. It makes you wonder about all those people who were there before. How many of these people are still together? Are there people out there who went there on dates and fervently wished on those locks?

Once we were there, we became a little bummed out as this was a place that was on all of our wish lists and here it was, just us who had been able to make it. It wasn’t really fair. In honor of our comrades, we purchased them the cutest little locks, filling out their names with ultimate biases, found the perfect place, and attached them to history.

We wandered the top of the mountain again, as we did with SM town, got al the way there, looked at the cost to go to the top of the tower, and said…eh, we’re good. Come on, how much better could it have been from where we were? What we’d achieved on our own?

We found where you tuck away your keys, which honestly I’d forgotten about, thinking we would take the cute matching keys back to our friends. Nope, you actually toss them here and move on with the idea that your love will last forever if you can’t reopen the lock.

By then, we were famished, and we wandered Namsan looking for sustenance. Feed us Namsan, feeeeed us. There was a lot to choose from, which was a bit of an issue. You ever get to those moments when you’re just like, I don’t want to make another decision again, possibly ever? Sometimes I def hit those walls.

We ended up in a little Japanese place where a cute guy gestured us to a table. When you were there, you chose what you wanted from the picture menu and then fill out a little card telling the server what you wanted. SaraG and I decided to get an order of Katsu and one of dukbokki to share. It might be that it was delicious or it might have been that we were just famished but, yeah, it was pretty tasty.

Having no intention of hiking back down, we took the time to figure out what we wanted to do next as we ate, and planned how to get there. After lunch, our batteries recharged, we set off to investigate the different parts of the observatory area. Passing on hologram pictures of me with BigBang (turns out, not something I regret). Wandering outside, we realize the stop for the bus is right outside where we were, we decided to hop the next one to continue on about our day.

Surprisingly, the trip down was a lot faster and less sweaty than the way up!

Once down the mountain, we decided, you know, since we were right there, to wander around Namdaemyun market, just walking, poking in and out of the little stalls, trying to get lost, trying to see every corner but turns out? This is not a thing you can do! In one stall, which was long and skinny, packed tight with clothing until you could barely see what was inside, SaraG had trouble narrowing down all of the things she wanted to get. It was like this stop was made for her. Like it called out “SaaraG coome and buyyy meeeee….” She was able to pick up a bunch of styled shirts she’d been looking at during our travels.

While I waited for her to dig through racks, I decided to half-heartedly poke around. After my belly patdown, I’d been careful not to express to much interest in places like these. Being a lady of a specific size, I wasn’t that sure I was going to find anything that would actually fit me and wasn’t sure I was up for the inevitable disappointment when I didn’t. That was until I saw this red and black buffalo check long coat with hood layered with a black and white striped dress. Sounds weird? It was. And it was delightful. Though I hadn’t allowed myself to buy that jacket from days ago as I hadn’t wanted to spend the money, and this was actually only like 5000 won less and had thought and talked about it since this took SaraG going, “That looks great! You should totally buy it!”

And I did!

It’s huge, it took up an enormous amount of space in my already packed suitcase, it makes me look like I’m a hipster lumberjack and yet…I don’t freaking care. It’s probably the coolest thing I had bought to that point, and I bought it from a lady who worked a tiny little clothing stall in a tiny little corner of an overwhelmingly large and unique market in Korea. I think that just makes it cooler and therefor I am cooler.

I’ve put a lot of thought into it.

We wandered, pleased as punch with our purchases and decided to call it a day. And by day I mean, it was getting late and we needed to be off to our next stop. What had we decided on? We were going to take up Leila’s charge and find that park we’d talked about the night before by the Han River. That’s right, back to Kdramaland, baby!

Getting there was a HOOT.

Finding the bus we needed, we waited and waited. There were a lot of people waiting along with us. The bus came, all in its bright green glory, already packed to the gills and, with a deep breath, we pushed our way on. When we say this was a tight fit, SaraG and I essentially clutching each other as we leaned into a kindly ahjussi as the bus continued to get fuller and fuller. Back home, once the bus reaches a specific capacity, the bus driver will wave a hand at people waiting on the stop, “Full! Wait for the next one!” If they stop at all. Not so in Korea. It’s like they see each person as a challenge to see just how many people they could cram in there, we were mushed in with the old the young as people just leaned into the pile. We tried not to laugh, but it was hard to do. Periodically I tried to figure out where we were, where we needed to get off, but really, it was a crapshoot and we ended up getting off a few stops too late.

By this time, it was dark, and we walked the sidewalks, trying to find the Han River. SaraG made friends with a tiny little bit of a girl who had just been to the dentist with her dad. It was adorable. Reminds me of this time in Busan when we were in the elevator of our Airbnb with a halmoni and her granddaughter, and she was trying to get the shy little girl to bow to us. So. Freaking. Cute.

We cut under an underpass followed some signs, and there it was: The Han River! We got off the road at a perfect spot, one fo those boat launches paved in bricks leading down to the water. Off to the site was a long bridge. With us was another pair of friends, sitting on the ground, huddled, chatting and laughing quietly over the music playing from a phone. It looked like fun, so SaraG and I found a spot a ways away and popped a squat. The air had a slight chill to it, but it was clear and the perfect night to hang out with your friend by the water.

The real question is, what does one listen to while they are making a memory they’ll never forget? We scrolled through my phone and pretty quickly came up with this:

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We sat there, just looking at the water, taking in our time there, being with our friend, listening to the music we loved, the music that brought us together as people. I don’t want to be too gummy, but I’m not going to lie, it was a really big moment for me. It was like the accumulation of everything. There may have been tears. A little. Maybe. But I’m not telling.

It was the perfect moment and will always be one of the biggest highlights of our trip.

From there we took our selfies, our together shots. The river, the bridge. Then we realized the path continued on, and we walked the length of the river. Chatting nonsense, stopping for pictures, imagining stories of famous meet-cutes. The pathway was lightly filled with people on dates, people running after work, people walking their dogs. It was a piece of ordinary. Under another bridge, there was one of those community workout areas with the random young man working out. We wandered, walking further and further until we realized 1) we didn’t think we could get to where we needed to be from where we were, and 2) we were going to have to walk all the way back, picking an arbitrary spot, we walked until we reached it and turned back.

Such a great night!

The bus on the way back was surprisingly empty. Surprisingly? Thankfully? Either way, we were on our way back to Hongdae for food. Remarkably, and now I regret a little bit, we did pass up on a BT21 shop, but that might have just been us being done, tired and hungry and not a reflection of our love for BTS. After some debate we ended up in a ramen shop, hot soup seemed to be a great cap to the day. Then we realized we ate Japanese food twice in one day in Korea and chided ourselves a bit, but it was yummy., so we moved on. We also got to hear the guy in the table across the tiny restaurant mansplain to the girls he was with on whatever topic he felt they needed to be educated on. We tried very hard not to roll our eyes.

Steps, adventure under our belts, time to call it a night, right? Naaaawwww bishes, we weren’t done! Since I’d bought that jacket with nary a thought, I figured it was time to find that shop I’d seen the jacket I’d wanted a few days ago, throw the budget aside, and buy it,

I’m joking. At no time did I ever throw the budget aside. Believe it or not, I came in under budget! That being said, I dragged SaraG she voted “dur, I don’t know why you didn’t buy it before” and bought it.

We celebrated with street waffles filled with a myriad of delicious and decadent fillings.

Yes, we had just eaten ramen. Who is going to judge us? Not you, right??? Hands and bellies full, adventure level set at maximum, we called it a day. I’m not entirely sure how we could have even thought to top a night with the Han River and street waffles. Not. Physically. Possible.

Now for that critical question. Ready for that step-count?

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So this happened today… #steps #traveling #walking #seoul #southkorea

A post shared by Stephanie (@kchatjjigae) on Mar 18, 2019 at 7:02am PDT

BoOYEAH!

Korean Adventures Day 12: That Time We Didn’t Breakup By The Han And then there were two. As Miss Leila winged back to the states this morning, it just leaves your intrepid travelers SaraG and I to pick up the mantle and scour the streets of Seoul looking for the interesting.

#Korea 2019 #South Korea

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