Deet, Pray, Love

Another early morning today for our second yoga class of the course. The sky was initially cloudier this morning and it has been much, much cooler than yesterday.

I realise that with all this talk of vegetarian food, temples and yoga, this blog risks becoming a bit 'Eat, Pray, Love'. While travel affords me the chance to take some time to reflect on the life I have led so far and make changes I think might lead to a happier future, I am not expecting any great revelations on my character. Principally, I am travelling to have more experiences outside of the realm of those that I have had already.

The closest we have gotten to a routine is the daily anointing of mosquito repellent, at which K is far more diligent than I. Despite containing 50% deet (the active ingredient), the mosquitoes are not adequately deterred by this formula.

At yoga, we repeat the shoulder stand and 'fish' positions that we learned yesterday and added a few sun salutations into the mix. During the classes, we are covering hatha yoga, including the first three principles: proper exercise, breathing and relaxation. In theory, we have the fourth principle, proper diet, wrapped up. This leaves us with proper thinking to master. The instructor mentioned the opportunity to train on a 4-week intensive course, which I entertained for a while. Such a retreat would surely go a along way to achieving proper thought.

Our next thought after yoga was on breakfast.

Bánh is loosely translated as 'cake' and is applied both to savoury and sweet items. The word appears in many Vietnamese dishes: bánh xèo ("sizzling cake", a form of stuffed pancake), bánh cuốn ("rolled cake", filled and steamed rice paper rolls), bánh ướt ("wet cake", sheets of rice paper eaten with sauce), as well as the more conventional cake, bánh chuối (banana cake). Bánh mì means bread (literally, "wheat cake"), typically French bread / baguette, introduced by French colonists.

Street vendors selling filled banh mi are everywhere in Saigon, although the fillings are often a challenge for vegetarians, being pâté, pork, beef, etc. You may find one that sells egg or tofu, but we stopped by Banhmibistro opposite Le Van Tam park, which has various vegetarian fillings, mostly involving mock meat. I had a bistro special (bánh mì đặc biệt), which was stuffed with deli-style slices of 'chicken', 'ham' and BBQ 'pork', as well as lettuce, tomato, lightly pickled carrot and daikon radish. We ate it in the park, watching the industrious Sunday goings-on.

Later, I took us on a wild goose chase after a particular style of coffee know as ca phe trung. This particular confection seems to be a cross between a drink and a soufflé, involving an egg whisked into hot coffee. What better place to find ca phe trung than at its namesake Trung Nguyen Coffee, a chain of cafés in Vietnam. Sadly, this specialty appears to be unavailable outside of Hanoi (boo).

Despite my earlier rantings about chain coffee, Trung Nguyen Coffee turned out to be a pleasant mix, incorporating the best of independent and chain. Comfortable chairs, indoor and outdoor seating, relative quiet, and endless tra da (cold tea) were all available. Disappointed by the lack of egg coffee, I fell back on the usual iced variety, which came as a slightly baffling do-it-yourself set-up. The coffee was some of the best quality I had tasted, but pricy with it. I declined to try the (even pricier) weasel-poo coffee - the beans are 'processed' by civets -  which is ubiquitous here, although much, I suspect, is fake.

Cambodian striped squirrel

We spent much of the afternoon in the park with the other couples, who were also relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. Travelling while sitting still seems like an oxymoron. However, we are undertaking 'slow travel', which requires a long exposure to the country.

A local uses the exercise equipment

Despite the heat, K insisted on trying out the outdoor exercise machines in the park.

Later, I took us on a second wild goose chase for a craft beer bar, which turned out to have shut down in 2012. Sad face.

Before heading home, we entered the cool mists spraying from a local café. I ordered a yogurt coffee, which was as described: yoghurt with coffee stirred through it. It was an odd taste sensation - the bitter coffee mixed with the lactically sour, yet slightly sweet yoghurt. Yoghurt (often spelled in the French way, yaourt) seems to be a big thing in Vietnam, which might explain this otherwise baffling sign.

Dinner was cobbled together from yesterday's left-over ingredients. We made three dishes: a vegan beef, mushroom and beansprout salad, a rice noodle soup with the remaining okra and bac ha, and some fried tofu in a sweet and sour sauce.

Even if I say so myself, everything was punchy with flavour and very satisfying.