Hanoi + Ha Long Bay + Saigon + Mekong Delta  |   March 2018

"Narrow streets punctuated every block, overflowing with storefronts and people and parked motorbikes. Restaurants sprouted from cooking pots and short plastic chairs in alleyways, serving local delicacies like bun oc, pho and bun cha. We ate rice paper crab rolls fried in oil. We ate banh mi sandwiches wrapped in paper. Each corner was decorated with foods wrapped in banana leaves and barbecued meats skewered on wooden sticks. We sipped egg coffee from wide cups and fought for our lives every time we crossed the street. I wasn't certain about Ha Noi at first, but little by little her charms found their way into my heart. I loved the narrow buildings with floor after floor stacked on top of each other. I loved the way children played on parked motorbikes like jungle gyms. At night we walked the markets, navigating our way through stands of clothes and trinkets, evading the taps and pulls from vendors demanding our patronage." 

-Tess Thomas, The Laughing Diet; “Good Morning, Vietnam”