Saigon 1&2

You're reading this, so we survived.....

Arrived in Ho Chi Minh City without noteworthy event. Picked up instantly by taxi at the airport. Along the way he extolled the virtues of his hotel. We gathered from the business card that it was close to the Cam minihotel we had booked from Hanoi, so no great complaints. With unswerving certainty we arrived at their hotel! Rather than insist and get them to drive around (one way street and the Cam was behind us), we walked. This was a small challange because the street numbering threw us for a few moments. Nonetheless, we found the Cam, they were expecting us, the room was fine, they knew about the cycle tour pick up in the morning (meaning that the tour knew where to come and get us) and all's well... except when we woke up at 1:30AM to find that the power was out to our room and the 30 degree stiffling humidity was ebbing it's way into the room past the non-functioning air conditioning unit! Luckily they were already on to it, and it was less than half an hour before we had power and cold air again. Phew, it was a close one.

I need to add, at this stage, that Flash has been suffering a sore throat and such for a day or two, so we were already battling between not-to-cold to give him a chill, and the Saigon native condition, which is close to (but not quite) unbearable without the aid of electric refrigeration. You will find out why "but not quite" in a few moments as you read below. :-)

Breakfast on Friday morning was the best yet. One of the restaurants aimed at the million billion tourists around here was serving pancakes (crepes to those of you accustomed to USA style breakfast foods) with chocolate and fruit. I ate too much. And the guide came earlier than promised.

We picked up a Spanish couple (Jose and Laura) to join us on the two day tour. They seemed very sweet, and proved to be over the next day and a half. The guide, Hoc (pronounced Howk) was a sweetie. I would highly recommend the Sinhbalo tours and Hoc as guide. He's four months away from finishing his tourism degree, so look out for him running a tourism outfit. If he employs people like himself, it will be a great success. I know more useless information (WWAKTOS) about the Mekong Delta region, HCMC and Vietnam in general than ever needed or expected to. :-)

A quick trip out to the delta, via the restaurant with a veritable zoo in cages scattered about the property (monkeys. snakes, porcupine, the works) and we picked up our first boat ride of the day. Not before learning about the traditional long silk dress (ao dai, pronounced ow yay) worn by high school girls, which was most lovely to watch as they cycled home from school in their hats (some conical), tucking the dresses up to keep them out of the spokes.

The first boat ride took us first through the floating market. This was not what I expected: I was thinking of small boats rafted together to let people move between them. In fact, it's lots of medium sized boats carrying goods for sale (marked by hanging a couple of examples from a pole on the roof) that you can take your small boat up to the one you want and trade. We moved out onto the wide part of the delta, past the barges that were dredging up sand from the bed of the river, to be used in construction and the making of bricks, which is a big industry on the Mekong along with rice growing (more about that later) tropical fruit growing (more about that later also) and the making of "Mekong Water" (brief mention about that later). One sight that fascinated and impressed me was watching an empty barge move itself away from the bank of the river by swinging the digging jaws back and forth in a rowing motion, to row away from the bank. The first boat ride ended with the four of us and Hoc being deposited for an hour of riding before lunch.

The cycling was fabulous! The area is almost tropical. The heat was painful. The humidity was stiffling. The layers of DEET, sunblock and sweat were disgusting. The scenery was beautiful. The locals were totally excited to see us (and we only saw locals, two days with not one other foreigner in sight, heaven). The number of times I have heard and said "hello", to kids and adults alike, in the past two days is beyond counting. Late on the first day we had the guide teach us how to properly say hello in Vietnamese (Xin Chau, pronounced seen chow). So some of them got hello back in their own language, but I had the impression that they liked the English version better. More fun for them. I was absolutely charmed to be the object of their attention and amusement. After all, it's only fair that we take a turn, after gawping at everyone around us for a week solid. Of particular noteworthiness was the school we stopped to photograph. At first the kids wouldn't come off the porch, and then some got brave (to break the rules) and came half way towards us, and finally we had them pressing at the fence right up to where we stood. I even got a chance to show them pictures of themselves, that a few seemed to recognise.

Did I mention the scenery? And the heat.

At the end of our first hour of cycling we stopped at an orchard/restaurant for lunch. We were served by two immaculately presented girls who waited on us hand and foot. And I mean it! If we even slightly looked like we'd like some of the fish, suddenly there was a girl pulling meat off the fish and preparing a bowl for us. The hand-made rolls, were hand made FOR us, instead of BY us as in the past. It was divine. I don't suppose it will ever happen to me again in my life. And any thought we had that $100 per peson (they returned $40 to us on the bus ride out there, apparently it cost less with 4 than with 2 so we got a refund. Way too honest if you ask me ;-) was a lot for a two day tour in this country... dissolved. No Flash, I never fed you grapes, but I made sure that someone did! I'm sure it is unnecessary to add that the food was wonderful. At the end of lunch we discovered the hammocks that seem to hang between every tree on the delta. One of the selling points of this tour for me was that it promised a hammock siesta after lunch of the second day. Why wait for the second day, I say!

After lunch we caught another boat ride up the river (down, along, accross, somewhere). There was another drop point for a further hour of riding (including a wrong turn and smelling some fruit that no one knows an English name for but they won't allow it in the hotels because some people hate the smell. I thought it was OK from the outside). Followed by a final boat ride for a couple of hours to our home stay place. During these boat rides the boat owner strung hammocks across the deck and I lay and watch and read a book in paradise (a different one from the paradise I live in at home. This one is more green and has more water).

The home stay started out as something of a shock (to all of us I think, but no one would admit it :-). No walls. So definitely no air con, sorry Flash. They had canvas fold out bads in the style of massgae tables, in an outdoor "room". Complete with mosquito nets (that put my one to shame!) The showers had no hot water, of course. But who needed it!!! When you have no choice, everything is an adventure! I dubbed the room Camelot, because the mosquito nets gave it a medieval four poster canopy bed look (there were fringes on the top and everything).

I had a headache from too much sun and the throbbing of the boat for hours on end. But not enough to stop me enjoying dinner (with elephant ear fish again, and Mekong Water, the local rice wine, of which Flash approved) followed at the end by a group of local folk musicians who played and sang for us for about half an hour. It reminded me of Maori woman singing for powhiris. It was beautiful. I thought the main singer was striking and somehow dignified looking. It felt like proper folk music, even if we don't know the culture... that is, until they broke into their musical rendition of Auld Lang Syne. lol.

Being outdoors, the temperature was comfortable for the night. The interesting sound I kept hearing, Flash promised me, was made by a gecko he has previously encountered in Vanuatu. The rooster sounds that began at 5:30AM, before the sun was even up, those I recognised myself! It was not the first time this particular species has awoken me on this holiday.

Breakfast was bread rolls with the vietnamese version of cream cheese and jam. After which we embarked on the cycling day from... Nam (can't resist that joke, no matter how many times I've used it). I had a bruised butt from the previous day. Not bad bikes, but not good seats. Bumpy dirt pathways most of the way too (watch for motorbikes!). We rode a couple of hours before we stopped for "fruit". And what fruit! I had half a dozen different species of fruit I've never tasted, and some I've never heard of. First we tried custard (custer?) apples that Laura bought from a street stall. Those were good, but big seeds everywhere. I like Jack fruit and the other almost orange looking thing, but Vietnamese rock melom (the green flesh one) is not good. There is watermelon everywhere here, and we had papaya and fabulous fresh mangos. This was all presented to us cut up and around a big ring of crushed ice topped with a raspberry syrup. So after uncooked vegetables for lunch and dinner the previous day, we had melon and fruit from street stalls, with ice. If we're going to get Delhi Belly, we'll have earned it (BTW did I mention that the reason I have so much time to type this blog is because Flash is trying to sleep off the cold and upset stomach that have been bothering him rather much today!).

So, more cycling, including past a rice milling "factory" (using that word loosely). Where we learned all sorts of good stuff from our guide like the difference in yeild per acre in Hanoi versus the Mekong, and for different crops and duration of cultivation. We learned how they cut the harvest, how they dry it, remove the chaff, move it (you should have seen the rice boats!), what they use the chaff for (burn it to keep brick firing kilns going), and more... We even stopped to take pictures of rice paper drying before it's cut up into noodles. :-) I am so full of rice agricultural knowledge I could burst like a kernel of 2-day dried, 4-month grown, Mekong Delta sticky rice!

:Lunch was typically good, all the way up a small side brach of the river, like a boat ride up the amazon. Followed by the promised hammock siesta! I've read more of the book I brought with me than I expected to.

We rode through quite a lot of built up area. Interesting traffic crossing a few intersections. The period of time spent on the wrong side of the road was my favourite, although not the closest to an accident. In fact, the closest to an accident was the prang we witnessed on the road back into Saigon. No great speed involved so no one hurt. Bikes and people everywhere though.

Did I ever mention that our guide told us the distinction betwen Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City. He said district 1 (the central business and toursit district) is called Saigon, the whole city is called HCMC. I think it's a very nice tidy way to allow people to stick with the old name without looking like political rebels. Imagine dinner at Little Saigon, if it had to change to being Little Ho Chi Minh City restaurant. ;-)

Anyway, back to the story. We finally took a small boat back across the Ben Tre area and did one final short ride back to our pick-up point. It was the second time we rode through that town and over the great wooden plank bridge (traffic mayhem, no rules as usual). It was in this town I finally got my picture of a ridiculously overladen bicycle. Nothing will diminish my impression of the first motorbikes on the way from Hanoi airport to the city at 11PM, but I needed a picture!

We dashed past a coconut candy making factory, which was, alas, not in operation due to a power failure. Didn't stop me buying the candy at $0.40 per box. I felt like a criminal paying so little for it! Onto a car ferry and then back to HCMC and Saigon. ;-)

Since our return (and a richly deserved shower!) we have discovered that everything you could possibly need (batteries, cough syrup, burning digital photos to CD, stamps, dinner and an internet portal) are within half a mile of our hotel. And yes, we're still staying at the Cam, because the peace on th first morning proved that the Mad Hatter is a good judge of an acceptable hotel! We have not yet tracked down Dalat the cyclo, but we have scoped his street corner and know where to look out for him tomorrow. I can't wait!!

We're having such a fab time. Flash's "custard" has been turning up everywhere, and of course we'd never have it any other way. What's the fun of planning if you can't have everything shot all to hell? And what's the fun of showing up aimlessly if you can have a plan to disrupt. :-D

I only wish we could stay for longer. I've gotten the hang of crossing the street. I've truly met some locals. The food is fab! I, at least, don't seem to be having trouble with upset tummy (the Malarone does give us an hour or so in the morning where we're nervous about the tightness turning into something worse, but nothing so far). I've broken almost all the rules I was told about. And I'm having SO MUCH FUN!

More tomorrow, I'm off to bed to recover from days of cycling in the blazing humid heat. And eating far too much god food!
Love and Hugs
GBFSB