Mekong Delta: Phnom Penh to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)
Day 1 (February 6, 2007)
Our adventure started early in the morning on Tuesday, February 6. A minibus picked us up from our hotel in Phnom Penh. We were that last of the tourists picked up by the bus. The driver lowered the middle (aisle) seats so that we could sit down. There were about 15 tourists in the bus and we felt grateful about how comfortable we were as we watched buses rolling by with Cambodians stuffed into metal seats, hanging out the doors and perched on top of their public buses. Our bus drove us down to a boat. We sailed on a rather rickety boat - the best spot as on the roof if you didn't mind the hot sun on you - down the river to the border crossing. We climbed out of this boat, went to be discharged from Cambodia with a bump of a stamp, then boarded a different boat to continue to Viet Namese immigration. After a check for visas and papers, another full page visa stamp and signature, and we were on our way in to the town of Chau Doc. A question - why are viet Namese boats almost always blue? As we travelled down the Mekong, we saw fisherboats and cargo ships and farmers bringing goods to market in their two-oared dugout wooden rowboats. There is so much life on the Mekong - houseboats, ferry boats, cargo boats, floating fish farms, on and on... We arrived in Chau Doc where most of the travellers departed for their hotel in the town. Arieh and I had opted for the Guesthouse on the mountain so we got a longer boatride and an uncomfortable ride with luggage in a motocyclo to our Guesthouse. The Guesthouse, unfortunaely was not so great - we insisted on the nicer room (but larger) and upset the young receptionist of the hotel. She complied, however- and except for the hard foam mattresses we were fine.
Day 1 (February 6, 2007)
Our adventure started early in the morning on Tuesday, February 6. A minibus picked us up from our hotel in Phnom Penh. We were that last of the tourists picked up by the bus. The driver lowered the middle (aisle) seats so that we could sit down. There were about 15 tourists in the bus and we felt grateful about how comfortable we were as we watched buses rolling by with Cambodians stuffed into metal seats, hanging out the doors and perched on top of their public buses. Our bus drove us down to a boat. We sailed on a rather rickety boat - the best spot as on the roof if you didn't mind the hot sun on you - down the river to the border crossing. We climbed out of this boat, went to be discharged from Cambodia with a bump of a stamp, then boarded a different boat to continue to Viet Namese immigration. After a check for visas and papers, another full page visa stamp and signature, and we were on our way in to the town of Chau Doc. A question - why are viet Namese boats almost always blue? As we travelled down the Mekong, we saw fisherboats and cargo ships and farmers bringing goods to market in their two-oared dugout wooden rowboats. There is so much life on the Mekong - houseboats, ferry boats, cargo boats, floating fish farms, on and on... We arrived in Chau Doc where most of the travellers departed for their hotel in the town. Arieh and I had opted for the Guesthouse on the mountain so we got a longer boatride and an uncomfortable ride with luggage in a motocyclo to our Guesthouse. The Guesthouse, unfortunaely was not so great - we insisted on the nicer room (but larger) and upset the young receptionist of the hotel. She complied, however- and except for the hard foam mattresses we were fine.
Arieh climbed the mountain to see the sunset but had to take a ride on a motorcyle to make it up the hill to be on time for the sunset. He observed that the Vien Namese locals use the mountains for exercise in the evening and early morning. Groups of people are running or walking up and down the great hill.
By 7 in the evening Arieh and I were hungry, and just as we prepared to leave the room the lights went out- a power failure. We walked the short distance to the bottom of the hill and who should be waiting there in the pitch dark but two cyclo drivers - happy, no delighted, to take us to the town of Chau Doc to a restaurant. Away we went - pitch dark in two cyclos (one each) sans any kind of light (is this my husband who insists on helmets and tailights when we ride bicycles?) barrelling down the streets (albeit relatively\n quiet ones) to the Chau Doc restaurant that only our lead driver knew. The seats in the cyclo were narrow and hard, the road bumpy, the traffic increasing, and I was terrified. Arieh, however, was enjoying every minute of it. Who knew where they were taking us? But - we made it! I must admit our cyclo driver found us a lovely little restaurant and I think I had the best barbecued/grilled fish there that I've had in all the time I've been in South-East Asia. The return trip to the Gueshouse was uneventful. Chau Doc, by the way, never lost its power. The lights were on again when we returned to our Guesthouse.
February 7
We arose at 5:30 so that we could meet our group at 6:30 in Chau Doc. We joined the other travellers of our group for a fascinating cruise. we saw a floating market. Farmers bring their produce down river; they put a pole with a melon or onion or potato - whatever they are selling as a signal to buyers. Boats come from all over the area to buy: there were the small, hand-oared boats of the women who would sell the produce in the maket and the large barges which would take the produce to larger markets in the cities. We spent some time travelling among the boats as they banged together and hitched to each other to exchange goods. On this cruise we also saw fish farms under people's floating homes. The fish are contained by a structure of nets and ploles underneath the homes. They are fed by the family and by the tourists. You throw a handful of fish food in and all the fish jump up and lunge for it. I assume they sell the fish when they are ready for market.
We continued by boat to a port called Can Tho. We spent the afternoon exploring the town and had a lovely dinner to the noise of a group of Vietnamese celebrating a birthday. As the beers were poured the noise got louder - but all in good fun. The group sent over some birthday cake for our desert, and Joseph, our Montreal friend chagalugged a beer - all while worrying about the safety of the ice in the drink. (He wasn't feeling so well in the morning - the beer, or the ice???)
Feb. 8
We awoke the next morning to a wonderful tour led by a new guide who regaled us with stories and songs. We visited a village where they made showed us a rice mill and illustrated how rice noodles are made. Every part of the rice is used, except for the dust: the best quality rice is used for table service. the leftovers ground for "vermicelli" noodles, the husk is used for feed for the chickens and animals. We also saw rice paper making (picture). The rice paper is not for writing on; it is for eating spring rolls.
We continued to cruise the small canals through villages interconnected by monkey bridges - a bridge made across a river which is just a bamboo pole or poles, held up by other poles. It is a narrow bridge - but it is said that the Vietnames farmers ride their bicycles over it. The Mekong river floods and one is always aware of the houses perched on stilts and the fact that a lot of the housing and transportation floats.
In the evening we arrived in a port called My Tho (pronounced Mee-toe). Our last night in the Mekong delta was spent in a rather rundown hotel with a fabulous view of the river below. Inasmuch as the tour company chose the hotel and we were obliged to stay in it , I dug my heels in to insist on a toilet seat in the room. To my surprise, in spite of the vague look the receptionist gave me two hours earlier when I mouthed the words "toilet seat", a workman came, boxed seat in hand, to install it. Not to my surprise, it didn't fit. Arieh mentioned the "t. s." words to the manager later in the evening. Good luck, I thought.
Toilet seat (or lack of it) notwithstanding, that evening we walked with Joseph Somer, our new friend, to the opposite side of the river to find dinner. We found a rather substandard dinner - searched for tea and pastries - to no avail - and came back to the hotel. As we walked back, we saw hundreds of motorcycles parked outside a large and well-lit building. A department store had made it to Can Tho , and what excitement there was! The place was packed with shoppers picking over a rather, from our perspective, paltry selection of goods.
Oh - the toilet seat! Well, guess what! In the morning when we returned from breakfast - there was a shiny new toilet seat perched on the toilet - and it fit! Just in time for one use before we headed on to Saigon. The Vietnamese do their best to make sure their guests are well taken care of.
Feb. 9
On our fourth and last day we visited a coconut candy-making farm (actually just a house) - and an incense making factory. Cocunut candy has the same chewiness of toffee, but is much better. We cruised on the Tien river to Tortoise Island. On the way we viewed stilted houses and boat building workshops. We ate lunch in the heart of an island orchard and got to taste dragon fruit, pineapple, bananas, guava, and other delicious fruits that grow on Tortoise Island. Some villagers sang and played music for us. It was quite lovely. We then cruised in a tiny dugout boat through the canals which had the same beauty as the Bayou near New Orleans.
We then boarded our bus to Saigon. We entered Saigon and marvelled at the noise and traffic but not forgetting the tranquility and floating vehicles of the Mekong Delta and its islands.
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