Another bike ride with the bike-and-breakfast gang in Hanoi. The routine is always the same: meet at 6.30, bike around Tây Hồ (West Lake) and stop somewhere for breakfast, which invariably is phở, the Vietnamese noodle soup. (There is also a coffee break later on.) With plenty of places serving phở around the lake, there is always somewhere new to try. Today’s offering was fine. The fried dough sticks were freshly made in-house and the phở was nice and spicy, with tasty chicken. An extra frisson was that today Vietnam holds elections to its parliament, the National Assembly, and the television news provided round-the-clock coverage. The excitement and tension was palpable. Not sure that it affected the taste of the phở, though, which I will happily give 4/10.