This is part one of a four part series
of our trip throughout Southeast Asia. Please use this site’s search function
to see other parts of this series.
It
was crazily amazing! Motorbikes and
scooters dominated the street. Traffic
laws were non-existent. Whatever does
exist is not at all enforced. Some on
their bikes bypass the traffic jams and jump onto the sidewalks to make their
way. Crossing the street is an adventure
all by itself. Traffic as a whole
doesn’t stop, but you get brave and start, slowly, to cross, no running, no
stopping, just a determined stroll across the street. Bikes, scooters, motorcycles and the few cars
and busses will slow down or swerve to avoid you. Bravery and an “I don’t care” attitude make
for a successful crossing.
A
side street was a makeshift market full of vendors. A Vietnamese vet of the war
stopped and asked if I was old enough to be here when the war happened. A small woman carrying ice water and coconuts
on her shoulder sold us a sweet and refreshing coconut cooler, and then let us
try to lift her supplies onto our own shoulders, posing for pictures. Several merchants and tourist police alike took
care to warn us to keep our cameras and other valuables close so as to avoid
them from getting stolen.
Beer
and refreshments throughout the hot, humid day were found at street side cafes
and roof top bars (one at the top of the Rex Hotel, the place where journalists
hung out during the war). Lunch was at a
stall inside the Ben Than Market. Two
big bowls of soup and two beers for $5.00 USD!
We took a sobering tour of the War Remnants Museum and then went back to
the hotel to freshen up before meeting our tour group.
“Pun
Pun” is the nickname of our guide. He is
probably in his early 30’s, working on a 20 month contract with G Adventures. He said last year he was on the road for 320
out of 365 days. He was unsure if he was
going to renew his contract. We guessed
that being on the road for that long was the reason; difficult on the social
life as well, I’m sure.
We
went to dinner as a group. It was
difficult to remember all of the names.
We have Americans, Brits, Irish, Germans and Italians as part of the
group. Pun Pun is a Thai. He said he uses the nickname since he said
his real name is too long and too difficult to pronounce. Two of the Brits in the group, singles, not
related, had each quit their jobs and are traveling for 6 months throughout
Southeast Asia. Ahh! Our dream; what a
life! We discovered that everyone except
for the two of us, are a part of a larger 30 day “Indochina Encompassed” G
Adventure tour. We were joining them for their last 9 – 10 days. We were envious. We felt like the new kids in class, those
that have joined mid-semester.
We
were up and out early, onto a bus, and then south to the MeKong Delta. We boarded a long boat that took us through
various branches and side channels of the MeKong River.
Our
first stop was at a riverside factory that made various rice products, namely
popcorn balls and popcorn, but made with rice instead. We then walked down a lane to a place that
made coconut candy. Each time we stopped,
the proprietors served us tea and samples of the goodies they made on
site. We also bought some to have for
later on the trip.
Back
on the boat, we headed over to an island where we stopped and listened to a
couple and two musicians sing and play traditional music. We couldn’t understand the words of course,
but by the way they were holding and looking at each other, it must have been
love songs.
The
way people lived was like nothing you have ever seen or could imagine. Meanwhile the river served as their
highway. Amongst us tourists were
working boats hauling goods up and down the river to remote little towns and
settlements. On one of the smaller
channels we got off of the long boat and onto smaller boats (3 to a boat was
all), where a stand-up oarsman (most were women) rowed us down the river to our
next destination. All of the women who
were rowing wore red sweaters and coolie hats.
I even wore one to fend off the searing sun.
A
long, hot bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh City ended the day’s adventure. Between towns were vast fields of rice and
sugarcane with bent over farmers wearing their coolie hats tending to their
crops. Once in a while you would see
water buffalo assisting the farmer with their hard labor. Interspersed in the fields were family grave
sites. The tombs were above the ground
(just like in Louisiana and New Orleans) due to the high water table.
We
were on our own once we were back in the city. We strolled around the Ben Than
Market area taking in the sights, drinking beer, and having a light snack. Mary Kay was in her element haggling over the
prices of t-shirts and purses being sold by the street vendors. She paid $4.00 for a t-shirt and $5.00 for
the purse. She’s an expert. We’ll need her talents when we buy our next
car.
A video of Ho Chi Minh and the Mekong Delta can be seen at the following link:
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