To be honest Cua Lo was not the best for us. It was a one-night stop and the weather was horrible. Normally, it seems to be a lovely beach town. But with the rainy/cold-ish weather, we had been experiencing on and off from the north + a cheap hotel that sadly had no hot water (solar-powered heating with no sun = cold shower). Cua Lo wasn’t the best memory.
My love did go out and get us a bunch of snacks, which saved us. Ordering takeout was not working, so dinner was chips and Choco Bun things (which basically are better Joe Louis).
I will use this moment to tell a side story:
From Cua Lo to Phong Nha it rained some more. It was pouring and we wanted to stop for a break to eat. We were looking around for a restaurant “With good chairs’’ is usually the protocol. Good chairs meaning that I am able to comfortably sit on them. Vietnam is full of restos with little plastic chairs to sit on. Which my ass will either break or I will have a hard time squatting down and/or getting up.
Anyways we thought we saw a sign and a large group of people. We pulled into the driveway.
We make hand gestures and ask if we can eat there. And a man says ‘you want to eat with us?’ and we answer yes. They say ok, and within 5 seconds a large metal table is brought out with tall, sturdy plastic chairs. They say ‘ you can eat with us’, as a group of people started to sit with us.
I forgot to add that the man had approached us asking what languages we spoke, he spoke Spanish and Jehan gestured saying that I did too. So we are soaking wet, freezing cold and my spanish brain turns on.
The man asked if we ate Vietnamese food and if we knew how to use chopsticks. I said yes to both as he explained the different portions of food, it was a glorious hot pot.
He noticed me shaking with my chopsticks from the cold and said ‘are you sure you know how to use them?’ and I explained myself. In the end, he told us to go ahead and eat with our hands. There were veggies, eggs, a sort of beef, chicken, and sticky rice cake.
The men were very chummy with Jehan, offering him ‘Vietnamese wine’ which is very strong and reminds me of moonshine.
The men drank and got a little flirty with me, they wanted me to stay and Jehan to leave haha. They were very inquisitive about why we were not married. I was proposed marriage from one of the men and he did not understand that I love Jehan. It was very funny.
Long story short, the cherry to this story is I asked a young man who spoke English ‘out of curiosity and to confirm, is this a restaurant of a family gathering.’ He confirmed our suspicion, it was in fact a Tet (New Year’s) gathering that his family had organized. I apologized and was both embarrassed/delighted. They did not accept any money for the food. We are now in many of their family photos. Everyone wanted to shake our hands and exchange kind words.
This is only one of a few side stories so far but it was a kindness we really needed. Vietnamese people are the most generous and friendly people I’ve met overall.
p.s a grandma kept smacking my ass on the way to the bathroom as if there was something on it. And then proceeded to grab the ass of another lady with a smaller bum. As if to rub some of mine off onto here. It was very funny.
