(Version française plus bas)

When I visit a town, I love going to the market- or farmers’ market as you might call it. It is always a frantic area to explore with new sights and strong odors.
In Hoi An, I unfortunately missed the early tidal wave of conical hats getting off to the fish market at five o’clock in the morning. But I smelled freshly picked aromatic herbs, looked at yellow rice noodles used for traditionnal dish ”Cao lau,” and ate delicious shrimp dumplings poetically named ”white rose”.

Freshly picked aromatic herbs.

Vietnamese brooms and baskets.

The fish market of Hoi An.

Making sugar cane juice: ''nuoc mia.'' Yummy!

Drinking nuoc mia.

Hoi An.

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LE MARCHE AUX POISSONS DE HOI AN

En terre inconnue, j’aime toujours me balader du côté du marché. Il y a une frénésie indescriptible de couleurs, d’odeurs, de visions nouvelles.
A Hoi An, j’ai malheureusement manqué de peu la marée de chapeau conique arrivant au marché aux poissons à cinq heures du matin. Mais j’ai humé les herbes aromatiques fraîchement cueillies, regardé les nouilles de riz jaune utilisées pour le plat traditionnel ”cao lau”, et dégusté des raviolis à la crevette portant le poétique nom de ”rose blanche”.

“Don’t eat at the food stalls! You’ll get sick!”

A common refrain heard from well-meaning folks back home. The reality is that you can get ill from eating anywhere here. Sure, you don’t help your chances when the meat they slice for your bánh mì has been sitting in the sun all afternoon. But quite often you will find delicious Vietnamese specialities at the food stalls at an absolute screaming deal. As part of Jet Set Zero, this is an important factor when making dining choices. And there’s something to be said for passing by the Western restaurants and sitting down at a local food stall to watch your food being made and sampling some amazing local fare. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet.

A typical food stall in Hội An selling cao lầu, a regional speciality which includes doughy noodles, bean sprouts, fresh herbs, fried croutons and grilled pork.