Part 2 : A Two-day Visit in Phan Rang, Vietnam

The journey from Dalat to Phan Rang by bus (which was actually a van) supposedly took about 4hours but to our surprise, we arrived earlier than expected. Actually, this is my second time visiting Phan Rang as i had been here in 2011 with my sister Ika, visiting my Vietnamese friend, Marim. We used to study in the same university together in International Islamic University Malaysia (or known as IIUM or UIA) completing our degree and Marim went back to her hometown in Phan Rang, Vietnam after graduation in 2009.

This time around, we will visit n stay with Marim again for my husbnd said instead of directly go to HCM, it is better to see her now as the chance to catch up each other again is impossible due to living in different countries. However, things got a little tense up when we weren't able to communicate properly with the van conductor, so we had difficulty to inform her the place we should stop. The driver wasn't informed about the situation (i dont know hw 2say bus station in Vietnamese but google map didnt help much whn we googled for phan rang bus station), and it seemed everyone in the van trying to help us but we ended up like chicken-and-duck talk due to the communication barrier. Besides, the van was seen to hop on and off the passengers before arriving the last destination.

So, we desperately called Marim and luckily, Marim explained to the van conductor in Vietnamese and we finally stopped somewhre to take a taxi to Marim's house.

Fateh slept all the way through our journey until we arrived Marim's house. Actually, it is a blessing to have a Muslim friend from a non-Muslim country as accomodation and Halal meal aren't a big problem. Travelling is either by taxi or motorcycle. We had lunch and performed prayer at Marim's house before leaving to a beach nearby to savour the seafood.

The food of course was very tasty. Vietnamese cuisines from my opinion, is a mixture of Chinese and Thailand dish. Most meat is either freshly boiled with vegetables or grilled after being marinated with herbs. The fried fish dipped in Vietnamese chillie sauce has always been my fave since i visited her house in 2011!

Marim's mother cooked a lot for us and i was so flattered that she cooked my fave fish again and also the famous Vietnamese Pho.

Lunch: Vietnamese cuisines

Tasty meat (daging korbing during Aidiladha dish,)
Fish n veggies

'Pho' in the making

The famous Vietnamese beef noodle
(Known as Pho)

The salads or 'ulam'  eaten with 'pho':
Salad,mint, bean sprout anf basil leaves

Dont forget the chillie sauce and lime 

Fateh having fun eating

Vietnamese bread and eggs

Dating with a Vietnamese aunty. Haha.

Energy drink

One of the best seafood at the beach

Having Jasmine tea,coffee and
coconut ice cream at night

The famous Jasmine tea and Vietnamese coffee

12 years of friendship between
two countries

Actually, visiting Phan Rang is more like walking down the memory lane. Everything at Marim's house looks and smells so familiar; from the same friendly faces of her Mom and relatives, the aunthentic local food, the sound of birds, chickens n sheep outside her house really brought back the memory during my first time visit here. Due to time limitation..we didnt go to many interesting places. Plus, Marim's husbnd, Hasif is presently working,so with two daughters need 2b taken care of, Marim had to wait for Hasief 2finish work or ask help frm her cousins to bring us touring around the city by motorcycles. However,we still enjoyed our stay and owe her family for the great hospitality.

Two days n one night at Marim's and we were getting ready for the next adventure. We took a taxi to the bus station and continue our 7hour journey with our toddler to Ho Chi Minh City by sleeping bus.

(To be continued)