What a feeeeeeling!

It's 5.30am at our hotel in Rach Gia, but the government-run loudspeakers on the street will not let us sleep. This morning they've decided to play the soundtrack from 'Flashdance' to help people on with with their day, followed by some (government sponsored) messages that we didn't understand. They choose a different song every day. Fine, it's their country. But why so bl**dy early? And why Flashdance?

We were told our afternoon ferry had been cancelled due to the weather, so we'd have to stay an extra day here. The initial disappointment wore off as Rach Gia turned out to be much better than expected.

We got on famously with the locals, and spent our day wandering round some of the shops:

Admiring some of the pastel-coloured buildings:

And enjoying the hustle-bustle of daily life in Vietnam:

Maybe as a consequence of Vietnamese people getting up so early, they often seem to forget to change out of their nightwear:

Women especially enjoy wearing their silk pyjamas round the clock, doing their shopping, cooking, or even tending to their water buffalo out on the paddy! Sometimes the men get involved as well, as the chap above demonstrates. By the way, he also gets my vote for Snoop Doggy Dogg in the Celebrity Look-eee Like-eee competition! :-)

Back at the Buffalo Soup restaurant, we tried out their signature dish (which I think is their one and only dish!), and it turned out to be one of the culinary highlights of the trip:

Here is Al getting a demonstration from the waitress on how to put it all together. You put some of the thinly sliced buffalo meat into the hot bowl of vegetable broth, throw in some of the huge herb mountain, and crack in some noodles. A couple of minutes' cooking later and you're ready to go. Served up with a delicious lemongrass marinade (that tasted very much like horseradish), it was a delight for the tastebuds. Not only that, but the 3 of us were fed for only 50,000 Dong, which is a mere £2! We'd love to be able to give you the name of the place, but it didn't seem to have one. All we can say is that it's on (I think) the second street on the left as you exit the hydrofoil dock, and it looks like this from the outside:

 

So if you're in town and want to check it out, happy hunting - and happy eating!

Namaste!

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