Amber JohnsonBucket List Item #1: Meet a Local-CHECK
Bucket List Item #2: Eat!-CHECK (Of course I did this throughout Vietnam, but I really ate a good variety of food here).
Bucket List Item #3: Drink Vietnamese egg and yogurt coffee-CHECK
Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam
My first day in Vietnam a local girl, about my age, approached me on the bus with a huge smile and asked if she could follow me to my hostel because she hadn’t booked anywhere to stay yet. I said of course, gave her the address and she confidently walked right down the middle of the street, through the crazy traffic with her suitcase in hand and guitar strapped to her back.
I was instantly impressed with her fearless approach to something I was a bit unsure if I could tackle right away (crossing insane motorbike traffic). I was also quite content that she voluntarily took control finding the hostel because another sleepless night, a foggy head and another 100 degree destination was not kicking me into gear.
We clicked well with each other right away and I was so enthusiastic to be meeting a local right away. I actually wasn’t sure where she was from right away because her accent seemed a bit like a southern American accent (I realized later that this was the typical Vietnamese-English accent).
We spent four days hanging out with each other and she taught me so much about Vietnamese culture. For example, she finally explained to me why so many people cover their faces in masks and wear long shirts and pants even when it’s boiling hot outside (I saw this in the other Asian countries I had visited as well). She explained that people don’t want to be brown. It’s more beautiful to be white so they cover up as best they can to keep their skin from tanning. And there I was wanting to soak up the rays! I had always assumed that the masks were because everyone had a cough. Well, it was good to know people were healthier than it appeared.
She introduced me to so many varieties of food and some funky fruit; many I may not have tried since I had no idea what it was. I told her I was vegetarian and her eyes lit up with excitement. “Me too!” She would giggle with the same reaction every time we realized we had something else in common. We were both 28 years old, vegetarians, not morning people, drank way too much coffee, loved to read, along with many other similarities. She was so funny and had this blunt humor that I really enjoyed. She referred to her stomach as her boyfriend because every time she ate it was upset with her. #1-CHECK!
Each day we walked around, checking out the markets and sights and trying different vegetarian street food..YUM! Just look for the tiny plastic table and chairs and you will find cheap, fantastic street food and entertaining people-watching to go with it. #2-CHECK!
Since Bobbie was also a coffee fanatic we drank Vietnamese coffee everyday, sometimes two or three times a day! I thought regular coffee was addicting but I couldn’t stop obsessing about getting my next Vietnamese coffee; A rich mixture of drip coffee, condensed milk and sugar. I ordered it black a couple of times to decrease my sugar intake, but it tasted like motorbike fuel so my sweet tooth won that one.
Later in my trip I was able to try Vietnamese egg coffee (the regular coffee with a whipped egg stirred in), and Vietnamese yogurt coffee (exactly as it sounds). I loved them all and it was a nice break from the weak, instant coffee packets I had been desperately shaking in a water bottle in the months before. #3-CHECK!
Meeting Bobbie was a great start to my Vietnamese adventures and my tummy was happier than I could have imagined.
Would you try egg coffee?
My Grandma used to make egg coffee when I was littler (not that I drank it then) but it was made much different. A raw egg was placed on top of the coffee grounds and then brewed.
I had never heard of it before but I really liked it!