hanoi bia hoi

From vietnam

bia hoi is 'fresh beer'. its locally made, superminimicro-brew beer in vietnam. we hear different rumors about it, like its brewed from rice, or that there's no fermentation process involved, and that its not sanitary. all we know for sure is that its delicious. its refreshing and light and can be found at most any intersection in hanoi. two days ago we sat ourselves on a street corner for five hours drinking bia hoi and people watching.

From vietnam

got two short videos of the intersection on vimeo... nothing much happens in the videos, but you get a sense of the old quarter on any given night. check out the video below for what happens when the cops come... the vendors seem completely terrified and i'm wondering if the tourists should be slightly more alarmed given the reaction of the locals.

oh shit, its the cops! from kevin smith on Vimeo.

last night we took a cyclo around town near sunset. cyclos are like a human-powered bicycle tuk-tuk, except you sit in front of the driver. and its a helluva lot slower. we took a 1.5 liter bottle of bia hoi with us for the sunset cruise around old quarter. this city is amazing... its got small, crowded streets, incredible french colonial architecture, and a good amount of old gnarly trees. its a vibrant, busy city. and the food has been fantastic.

From vietnam

From vietnam

From vietnam

lkm got real excited when she found the balloon lady. she got her own rooster.

From vietnam

my sister alicia and nico are on their way to vietnam right now. we're going to feast our way through vietnam for the next few weeks, from hanoi to saigon. its gonna be great.