Miss Saigon?

We crossed from Cambodia into Vietnam and headed for Chau Doc.  Chau Doc seems to exist for two reasons.  Firstly it's close to the aforementioned border.  Secondly, it sits within the heart of the fertile Mekong Delta, where the majority of the Muslim Cham population now resides after being pushed from central Vietnam when the North and South first became one.  We took a boat ride on one of the delta's many rivers.  The delta is absolutely teeming with life - fish, birds, humans, pigs.  Eh? 

The thing is, like anywhere, living on the land costs money; rent, taxes etc etc.  If you live on the river, these charges don't apply.  As such thousands of people live in floating houses near the river's edge.  These folk still need to earn money to live however so the more enterprising have built small floating farms.  We visited one such farm that had an enclosure (beneath the house) holding some 70,000 Catfish as well as a sty housing 5 or so poorly exercised pigs.

Because these people live on the river, other enterprising people have set-up boat-shops that remove the need to go ashore for groceries.  The picture below shows a fruit and veg' market but we were assured that there are also fish markets and supermarkets that sell "everything, including beer."

From Chau Doc we bussed to Ho Chi Minh City, better known as Saigon.  Saigon has quite a cosmopolitan feel (by local standards) and a strong French influence.  We visited the colonial Post Office and sent two pairs of jeans, two fleeces and a jacket back to Herefordshire.  It rained a bit and was most memorable for our visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels.  This vast tunnel complex was dug by the Viet Cong during the war.  There was an opportunity to go underground for 100 metres, with the tunnel starting "tourist size" and then getting narrower every 10 or so metres, with exit points after each section.  My claustrophobia meant that I barely got to the bottom of the entry steps before heading back 'air-side.'  Kate came out a few minutes later almost crawling through the ultimate exit.  Sod that!

As well as the tunnels themselves, we watched a first-class government sanctioned video about the war that explained how the American devils were repelled by the locals using guerilla tactics.  We saw some of the traps they used - not nice but very inventive.  Our guide for the day was actually a South Vietnamese war veteran who had fought alongside the yanks.  It was great to get a balanced first-hand analysis from someone who was actually there.  A good day.

From Saigon we headed to the coastal town of Nha Trang via the first of three overnight trains.  The train was reasonably modern, if rather cramped.  Kate and I share a cabin with a couple from Toronto.  They are yet to complain about my snoring.   Nha Trang had the potential to be a really nice couple of days.  It's right on a huge beach for a start.  As it was, the two days were a near total washout.  We had rain that was reminiscent of sunny Blaenavon.  Non-stop.  On our first day we did brave a visit to a natural spring where we were covered in mineral-rich mud before going through a number of cleansing processes, including a salt-pool.  It was cheap and the rain didn't matter.  On the second day Kate and I got a taxi (Kia Picanto!) to the local market.  Kate bought a vest and we both invested in pillow cases (very 70s Miami) for the subsequent train journeys.  We then walked back, in more rain.

Nha Trang to Hoi An meant another overnight train.  This time it was less clean, less modern and generally less pleasant.  The journey was worth it however as Hoi An is pretty lovely!  It’s another coastal town but centres around a tidal river.  The town was also looking its best as it was hosting the international beauty pageant 'Miss Earth' while we were there.  

We ate close to the waterfront and Kate and I hired push-bikes to explore.  We must've traveled a good few miles, including to the beach and all over town. 

This was one of our best days yet and the saddle-sore could do little to diminish our enthusiasm.  One of the things that Kate and I wanted to do was to visit the local orphanage which cares for handicapped kids.  We went to the market and bought enough fruit to fill both our daysacks and a few sweets.  We couldn't stay long as our bus was leaving within the hour but we saw a few of the unfortunate kids as well as the areas where they live, eat and in some cases do physio.  We both found it pretty tough but the staff seemed genuinely grateful to see us and our small donation. 

We then got back on another bus and headed to Hue.  I can't really comment on the evening's activities as I felt full-up with cold so opted-out and slept and watched BBC World News.  It might be worth mentioning at this stage that the full horror of the scenes in Phnom Phen (Cambodia's capital) then became apparent.  We'd heard about the Water Festival while we were there less than two weeks ago and none of us expected it to result in nearly 400 dead.  Thanks to AJGM for the message which allowed us to alert our tour leader who then checked that all other tours were unaffected.

Anyway, back to Hue and today's activities.  I felt a bit better so along with those from the group not suffering from self-induced illness (a few apparently had a BIG drink last night) we donned helmets and set-off on a motorbike tour.  Motorbike is a bit of a stretch to be honest - these were scooters.  Anyway, we visited some temples, a pagoda and the rice museum. 

The rice museum was brought to life by an amazing 75 year-old woman who didn't speak a word of English but sang and demonstrated her way around the exhibits.  Some of our colleagues have offered to adopt her as their grandmother.  Total star.

Competing with the rice museum for the day's highlight was the journey itself.  We off-roaded, used dirt tracks, traversed bridges with no sides and one memorable bridge in particular that was so narrow that the railings threatened to remove my knee caps at any moment. 

I have to say my man perhaps wasn’t the best rider.  I don't think he was used to hauling an additional 90kgs on his bike.  His bike was also just about the oldest in the fleet and the rear shock bottomed-out A LOT!

Anyway, having eaten and negotiated to get access to a shower we headed back to the train station to board our final overnight train.  This is where I'm writing this from.  I am pleased to report that the train appears clean and comfortable enough.  Unfortunately after the train North to Hanoi we then have a four-hour bus journey south.  The good news is that Halong Bay is what awaits us.  This should be one of the highlights of the trip and we're praying for fine weather!

Laters,

T & K