April 09, 2002
America
On a boat cruising around Halong Bay off the coast of Northeast Vietnam. If you'd like to read about Halong Bay, see my entry from 12/6/98. It's the same. Same weather, same, same.
Last night I stayed in Cat Ba, an island town on the edge of Halong Bay. The "Coca Cola Restaurant" in Cat Ba was great, I had some of the best food of the trip. Vietnamese food is the absolute best. Southeast Asian food in general is soooo good. Whether it's the spicy Thai stuff, the imported Indian curry, Lao sticky rice, Malay satay, or Vietnamese seafood, it's all good. I'd have to say, the Vietnamese food is my favorite (or maybe Thai). Last night I had the best fried noodles ever. Following the noodles I had perfect steamed squid and washed it all down with half-a-dozen Halida beers. The squid in Vietnam is second to none, it's huge and has this pink hue to it. They serve it steamed, baked, fried, stuffed, etc... It's yummy. I remember the squid feast I had in Hue (Vietnam) about three years ago and last night's feast lived up to my memory and my expectations. I also had some tasty and unusual chowder with mussels earlier at the hotel. The chowder was sweet with veggies, ginger, and hundreds of tiny mussels in the shell. You basically had to scoop up a spoonful and manipulate the individual mussels removing the meat and spitting out the shells. The shells piled up like translucent fish scales. Interesting and good.
Today we had a busy day. We started early taking scooters up into the island highlands first stopping at a cave that was used as a hospital during the American War. The cave wasn't very special, but the ex-soldier guide was absolutely precious. This guy was staffed at the hospital during the war and has been there ever since. His nationalistic pride was apparent as he belted out a Vietnamese anthem for us, smiling, clapping, singing. It was really cool and the song endeared him to us instantly and forever. Later as we exited the cave, he walked up to me and patted his chest with both hands saying "Vietnam!". He looked at me as to say "Where are you from?". I sheepishly replied "American" and directed my eyes to the floor. After a few seconds I raised my eyes to his. Above his smile and behind his glint I caught a look which came from deep within him and past through my eyes stopping in the pit of my stomach. It was a moment I won't forget. Later as we said our good-byes he made a point to shake my hand and embrace me as my fellow travelers instinctively snapped photos of the symbolic moment. It was funny to them, but it made me feel ashamed and proud if that's possible.
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