I really like ice in my beer. I'd never say that at home, not with my $11 porters and IPAs, but here, where everything is hot and sticky, nothing is more refreshing than a (very) light lager poured over big chunks of ice. To paraphrase Tony from an episode of No Reservations; "Beers is served over ice here, and it melts before you can finish it."

Honest to God, this is probably the best thing that I've ever eaten, period. It is sticky rice around a core of sweet banana and pork fat, wrapped in banana leaves. We had a few different kinds at Tien's house, but this particular one made me giggle with pleasure. I laughed in delight. This is the greatest thing ever.

Bánh tét. Wow.

Another Bourdain-ordained dish: banh xeo ("ban seaow"), or Vietnamese pancake. The resemblance to the French crepe is probably not accidental, but the filling is all Vietnamese - pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, etc. You pick up pieces of eggy crepe and filling, stuff it in lettuce with herbs, roll it up and dip it in fish and chili sauce. Killer. This was at a group dinner with the other SIT Vietnam group.

My homestay sister waking me up one morning.

Cats and water vases at Tien's house.

Tons of jackfruit at Bac Hai's farm. These things grow to the size of basketballs. You eat the flesh from around the big seeds. Google it. I love them.

My National Geographic photo contribution. No Western blog would be complete without one.

Lunch being cooked at Bac Hai's (pictures of the outside to follow in a later post). Great, great food. Always too much to finish.

Pigs on the farm. They stay in these pens so that their dung can easily be washed away into the biodigester bags, where wastes get broken down into methane for the kitchen and compost for the orchards.