Unseen Vietnam!! Hiking + Vietnamese Food in Ha Giang Province!

So tasty and an amazing texture and bounciness to the chicken. Hey everyone, hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens. I'm in Ha Giang province in northern Vietnam. We're in a village very near to Ha Giang city and we're gonna drive, I think it's quite a long drive, to Dong Van, which is another town in the mountains. We're gonna pass through those mountains in the distance there and we're gonna stop along the way. We're gonna see some incredible views and then also stop for a couple of meals. So that's the plan and I'm gonna share everything with you, this journey, the incredible scenery of this province in northern Vietnam and some food we eat. So on the way to Dong Van, we stopped at a couple of viewpoints. The road has been absolutely spectacular but the conditions have been kind of rainy and very foggy so the views haven't been that clear but we did come to a place now where we climbed up to the top and we can see an amazing view of the terraces. It's spectacular. Mountain air, cherry blossoms and we are gonna continue on the road but what a just spectacular region in Vietnam. We've stopped in a town which is called Yen Minh and we're gonna stop for lunch, I believe rice. Maybe this or no, this place. Oh, same place. It's a big family restaurant and they're actually known for their black chickens. Thank you. It's not actually hot, it's cold. It's a very busy restaurant so the food takes a little while but the first couple of dishes have come and one of their specialties is this pork belly. That skin is amazing. It's just kind of like wiggly and wobbly and so fragrant. That melts in your mouth. It's so soft and tender and the skin just totally melts in your mouth and then it has this herbal taste to it. A local vegetable. Kind of looks like the stems of broccoli. A little bit of a biggerness but really good. As we've been driving, I've been seeing a lot of bamboo shoots, fresh bamboo shoots on the road for sale but finally, we get to try bamboo shoots and these are thin strips of bamboo shoots which are then wrapped with pork on the inside, stuffed. Oh, wow. That is amazing. Oh, man. The crispness and texture of those bamboo shoots. The pork on the center just melts in your mouth. Winter melon. Winter melon, oh, nice. Okay, next dish is a soup pork with winter melon. Just simple and really good. Okay, and here we go. Here's the black chicken and we got it stir-fried with ginger. Oh, that smells delicious. Yeah, the fragrance of the ginger, oh, the texture of black chicken is incredible. A little bit chewy but still soft and tender at the same time. Just natural tasting. And yeah, that flavor of the ginger comes in really nicely as well. And I like how the food is not that salty but there's always some fish sauce and some soy sauce on the table that you can just dip each bite into. Add a little bit of saltiness. That black chicken is delicious. So much flavor. We made it to Dong Van. Unbelievable drive winding through the mountains. Actually took almost a whole day and we have made it. We actually came a little bit outside of the town and to the mountain. And we are here to take a hike. This is unbelievable, the scenery, that mountain air. And we're gonna take a little hike here for the day. Scenery is unbelievable. In the clouds, in the mist, and then just the rugged mountains. And because there are a few villages up this direction, that's why there's so many motorbikes going up and down bringing goods and people up the paths to more remote villages in the mountains. At the beginning of the hike, it was actually pretty busy. There were a bunch of groups but then they all stopped at that giant rock there and climbed that rock. And if you continue on the hike, it just gets completely quiet. Almost no sound in nature. And the views are otherworldly. It's such a rocky soil. Almost a moonscape in the fog with just plots of gardening and vegetables growing. Just so quiet and peaceful. Otherworldly views, unbelievable. So the hike this afternoon was absolutely incredible. And then we drove back down to the city of Dong Van and we're just having, well, ending the day with a dinner hot pot, local hot pot. Again, we're having black chicken and beef. We're gonna enjoy some Vietnamese hot pot for dinner tonight to finish off this day. And plus a mountain of herbs and vegetables. Oh man, that's something I love about Vietnam. Just never-ending herbs and vegetables. It's so good. Thank you. Oh yeah, nice texture. Chicken and dessert. Black chicken for the second time today. This time in a different form and shape. Hot pot. It's so tasty, again an amazing texture and bounciness to the chicken. And you need it too because it's hot pot, I guess that's why it's so popular here too because it's so cold and hot pot is, yeah, warming and the right thing to eat. I want to move into those vegetables but start with some of that tofu. Very wobbly tofu. Oh yes, whenever a liquid comes in a plastic pitcher in Vietnam, you know it's not water. Cheers! The beef? Oh, okay. Oh that vegetable is amazing. What is that? Buckwheat flour. Oh, wow! We eat it when it's still young like this. Oh, nice. It's a bit sour. When you cook it like a vegetable, the taste is like Chinese spinach. Buckwheat leaves. Really good. Oh yeah, a little bit sour, a nice texture though, really good and kind of like, I love all those stems as well, have a nice little chewiness to them. Very good. That was an amazing way to end this day. Again, more black chicken and the entire hot pot and we just sat there and hung out. We actually had black chicken twice today. It's been an amazing day. I want to say a big thank you for watching. Please remember to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed, make sure you subscribe for more food and travel videos. Good night from Ha Giang and I will see you on the next video.