Our Mekong Delta tour started with an hour and a half drive in a rickety old "combi" to get to the ferry. Was this a sign of things to come? Upon seeing the boat, our reaction was one of surprise as you can imagine. I was able to count 16 life jackets for 22 people! The day was warm and sunny however and the trip was quite enjoyable. It was so interesting to see how the delta people live.
The people who live in this area use the river for everything from laundry to bathing to washing food and more. The banks are lined with fertile farms and shacks.
Our first night was spent in Chao Doc in a very basic hotel with a shower which was actually the whole bathroom! No shower curtain, no enclosure, just the floor to stand on. We took everything out of the bathroom which could get wet and just went for it! Perhaps bathing in the Mekong isn't such a bad idea!
We were up by six the next morning and taken on an even smaller boat to visit a Cham Village. The Cham people are a minority group who make up .5% of Vietnam's population. They are Muslim, worship in a mosque in the town and speak Arabic. After a tour of their village and a demonstration of weaving their beautiful cloths, we were taken by mini van to our next stop which was the town of Can Tho.
Unfortunately it was raining but we made the best of it and explored the town. With the early mornings, it was nice to have some time to relax. Ross was able to catch a taped San Diego/ N.Y. Jets game on T.V. and so he was happy.
The following day we visited the floating market not far from Can Tho. It was another rainy day but we persevered. At least it isn't snowing!There were hundreds of boats, each boat selling a different product. They "advertise" what they are selling by attaching some of their product to a tall pole for everyone to see. So, if you want to buy a melon, you look for the pole which has a melon dangling from it and head for it.
At 12 o'clock we left by bus for our trip to Ho Chi Minh City/ Saigon. Although it is only 170 km. away it takes close to six hours to get there due to the roads, weather and traffic.
As luck would have it, and unknown to us, the bus stopped right outside the door of the An An 2 Hotel where we had booked the next four nights. We are staying in District 1, the downtown area, which is still called Saigon. The area surrounding this is Ho Chi Minh City. The city has a population of 7.1 million people and there are over 4 million motorbikes.
Yesterday we toured Reunification Palace. If you are of our generation, you may remember seeing on TV, helicopters airlifting the American civilians from this city during the Vietnam war.
Last night we met up with a very nice young man from Mississauga who has been living in Saigon for six years. Our thanks to Bonnie and Ken for providing this contact. Mark teaches English at an International School here and is married to a lovely Vietnamese lady. Lu's family owns a restaurant called Margheritas just around the corner from our hotel. It was wonderful to spend the evening with them and to be treated to a Vietnamese Hot Pot - seafood and vegetables cooked in a large pot at your table and served with noodles. I even managed to eat it with chopsticks!
Today was spent touring the Cu Chi Tunnels, 70 km. northwest of H.C.M.C. The elaborate system of underground tunnels are over 200 km. long and were built to house the Cu Chi people both during the French war in the late 1940's and the Vietnam war. Entrances to the tunnels measure about 18 cm. by 30 cm. The tour ended with a documentary film made by the North Vietnamese Government giving their perspective of the "War of Liberation" against the South Vietnamese and the Americans.
We have one more day in Saigon before we start heading north up the coast of Vietnam to the beach town of Mui Ne. We are looking forward to relaxing with a pool, the ocean and temperatures in the 30's.
We enjoy reading your comments.
Until the next post,
Joan & Ross
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