This Sunday, a couple friends and I finally solidified our plan to drive to the fabric market located outside Hanoi. We boarded our motorbikes, donned our sunglasses, and started the 30km drive out to the market. There are numerous fabric markets within the city, but we had been informed that the markets outside the city are cheaper and offer a greater variety. Since I'm leaving Vietnam relatively soon, I decided this was the opportune time to pick up some material to get some quality Vietnamese tailoring done. So, off we went, driving across the famous bridge that was built by the French (and withstood all the bombing during the Vietnam War, so it is quite a point of pride for the city), and continued driving straight until the street began to narrow, the houses grew less numerous, and farm plots came into view. The fact that you can reach farming areas within 30 minutes of driving is one of the reasons why I prefer Hanoi to Saigon; it takes at least 2 hours to even get a glimpse of a rice paddy when driving out of Saigon, since the sprawl is just so massive. We continued our drive down a mostly-paved road (a real treat compared to your typical countryside street) and found ourselves surrounded by growing corn, rice, beans, and many other vegetables too numerous to name. I was beginning to doubt that we were even headed towards a market when a slew of bright colors came into view. Instead of being situated like a traditional Vietnamese market, with stalls clustered around one central area, this fabric market abruptly began with shops on either side of the road, spanning down the street as far as the eye could see. We parked our bikes, and started to walk along the road, causing quite a scene with the locals, since they hardly get foreigners this far out of the city. The variety of colors and materials was a bit overwhelming, and we found ourselves stopping every 2 minutes, with shop keepers beckoning us over to feel the material and insist that no other shop could rival such quality. When we began bargaining in Vietnamese, the all too familiar look of shock followed, then big smiles and large price cuts. We stumbled upon some material that featured every single Super Mario character that ever appeared in the game, so I obviously picked up a couple meters of this to make a dress.... who wouldn't want a Super Mario dress?? All in all, we spent hours browsing the stalls, despite the stifling heat, and we left satisfied... our brains swimming with potential clothing designs (I left with enough material for two skirts and a dress, all for under 10 dollars).
Despite the fact that we were all sweaty, we opted to go out for some street food. We arrived to a famous seafood spot located down the street from my house, where they offer a huge array of shell fish, served "southern style". This included crab legs in tamarind sauce, spicy grilled squid, diced giant snails in a sweet glaze, clams steamed in a lemongrass broth, and oysters served with peanuts and shallots (note pictures below). My Vietnamese friends ordered a fetus duck egg, which I neglected to try, since I've had it in the past, and am not a fan of crunchy, half-formed animals. According to them, it is quite the tasty treat, but I have a feeling that this is one Vietnamese cuisine that will simply not grow on me. Overall, we ate a huuuuge amount of seafood, and ended up spending 5 dollars each. I've been here for almost 2 years now, and the cheapness of everything still never ceases to amaze me. I think that upon return home, the price of food and drink will be the biggest adjustment for me to make.
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