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Published: April 8th 2012
We still had a very exciting time in Vietnam ahead of us – tour around the Mekong Delta. However first, we had to do a stop-over in
HCMC to decide where and how we visit the delta. Unfortunately because of the unplanned stop in
Phong Nha National Park and longer than anticipated stay in
Hoi Anwe only had 5 days left on our visa. We gave it a lot of thinking and research and decided to opt for an organised 3 day tour combined with Mekong border crossing to Cambodia. Not the ideal solution but we did not have enough time to do it ourselves. Looking at the bright side of it we found an agency with great itinerary and the cost of the trip came to a bargain 25$/day per two of us. There is plenty of agencies to choose from in District 1 in Saigon and really only differences are between itineraries as prices are pretty much the same.
We arrived in Saigon late in the evening and as usual we did not have anything booked but we knew that accommodation is a little bit more expensive in here. We were approached by a tout offering nice rooms
for 12$ so we went to check it out. The guest-house was located in the centre of
District 1 (where all the backpackers action is), close to all the bars and restaurant and it was very small with 3 rooms only. We were happy with it so we took it. After 6h in the bus we did not really feel like walking around and looking for even better value. Instead we went straight to the bar street and got some nice Indian meal. Funny how we always escape to Indian restaurants when we are tired of local food. You can never go wrong with Indian, and to our surprise Saigon is full of Indian eateries;-) After that we settled in plastic chairs on the street (literary on the street), drank cheap gin and tonic, watched fellow travellers and enjoyed truly great atmosphere of Saigon. We did not expect this town to be so nice at all and anything above expectations is always very welcomed on our travels ;-)
We spent two lazy days in Saigon, walking around, admiring colonial architecture and visiting whatever was left after Vietnamese War.
The War Museum was great in an educational way although some
of the pictures shown there were quite disturbing. We have to remember that this war happened only 40 years ago and the collection of photography and journalism from that time is quite extensive. We were deeply toughed by the exhibition about victims of gas/bio bombs and the effects that still exist in the society. You can just look around the city to still see the genetic effects of what happened. There is a big number of people without limbs, with twisted limbs or burnt skin etc begging around churches or public places. We also wanted to see
Cu Chi Tunnels and we were lucky to stumble on a promo by one of the agencies that took us there for 3.75$ only (prices range from 5-9$ typically). Of course it was very interesting trip and we got big appreciation for Vietnamese people that managed to live and survive in those tunnels for years. We were able to walk in the tunnels for 5 min or so and it was exhausting and very claustrophobic but you have to try it to understand. This part of tunnels has been already enlarged to accommodate for tourist so we can only get a glimpse of
what it felt like. Funny thing was that some of the photographs around the tunnels show different story to the one told by the guide so when I asked about it I was told that the film they show and the photos are just made after the war for tourist and are not from the war time – insane. Of course Tomek did what every man wants to do in Cu Chi Tunnels, which is shooting the M16 gun. It is not a very cheap thing to do as 10 bullets cost you 18$ so he split it with some other Russian guy. Apparently it was fun and worth the money;-)
We started our Mekong tour early in the morning but we still managed to grab a delicious 0,5$ egg banquette and coffee in the street before departure. On board of a bus we met Fanny from France (that we actually met before in Ninh Binh) and Rachel from US so we had a company for the next 3 days. The whole tour evolved obviously around Mekong and its inhabitants but surprisingly we were not dragged to any of the shops and souvenir making villages which was a big
plus. The first day we had a nice cruise up the river, ate lunch at the
Butterfly Island and generally enjoyed a very relaxed pace of the tour. Not a surprise that the minute we boarded the boat it started to rain so heavily that it was not possible to sit next to the edge of a boat. Well, it was not a surprise to us as abnormal weather became somehow normality to us but everybody else was quite shocked. It was a dry season in the end.
We got to see some rural area of
Mekong Delta and villagers took us on a long boat ride on the little water alleys. The scenery was stunning. We overnight in little and popular town
Can Tho where first thing in a morning we went for a cruise down the
floating markets. It was a different experience to what we had expected. We thought this would be somehow colourful touristy place but in fact it happened to be a normal day-to-day barter place where locals and only locals traded on their big boats. We loved the experience and we got to try the freshest pineapple ever straight from a farm (10,000VND/0,5$).
We managed to visit a fruit farm as well and it was this gorgeous garden look alike place with flowers, water lilies and loads of tropical fruit. It took us whole morning to go around markets and villages and it was really nice time. After that we were on the way to the border town on
Chau Doc from which the next day we would cross to Cambodia. We were amazed how life is going around the Mekong in this region. The water level changes twice a day by up to 3m and all the stilt houses need to accommodate for that fact. People wash themselves, feed and work with the river. Lush green plantations perfect for rice and fruit farms blossom around the 'magic life water'. We even saw JCB machine digging the road from a boat;-) Cham people live very simple and poor life and some of the houses are hard to be called houses. Some wood and metal fixed together to provide shelter and room. Complaining about anything we miss from home seemed highly unreasonable when seeing their way of life. Amazingly everybody is smiling and seems happy;-)
We still had a few things to do
on the way to the border - saw some temples and Cham villages, crocodile farm (shocking how they just farm them and sell them to Japan and China), some mountains and fish farm but by noon we were already heading towards our next country on the list. We were very tired that day because for the first time during our travels we had close encounter with bedbugs...brrr. We were placed in the agency hotel and the room looked ok-ish but only when we actually got on the bed they started to crawl up on the surface of a bed. We tried to change the room but the hotel was full and it was pre-paid so we just gave up. It was too late in the night to walk around the town and look for another place. This is when we were really thankful for our silk sleeping bag liners. The best thing we brought with us and it proved to be useful many times. However this particular night it just saved us from being bitten all over by hungry, blood thirsty bedbugs...
Border crossing was painless and smooth. We had pay the 'fee' on Vietnamese side
(1,5$ each) but really only because we were on the tourist boat and our guide was doing the visas for us. Cambodian border police took nothing for a stamp and it was really quick. When in Saigon we asked exactly where the boat would drop us in
Phnom Penh and we were told every time that in a city centre by the docks. After maybe an hour on the boat on Cambodian side we were asked to move to a minivan which would take us to PP. We asked again where it goes and got the same answer as before. Unfortunately it was just a wishful thinking for it to be truth. They dropped us somewhere outside of town centre where all the Tuk-Tuk drivers were already waiting for us. When we asked where we were they would not say but only mention a 2$ per person price for a ride. We started arguing with our driver, told him to take us where they promised us to be taken but they just laughed and showed us Tuk-Tuks. One of the drivers even told us that
“we tourist always say we don't have money when in fact we are loaded as 
inside colonial Post Office Building
Beata's favorite old building in Vietnam - mind the old map of Asia on the wallwhy else we would have come on holiday to Asia”. This is how they see us unfortunately. The fact that we were promised different spot for drop of and we paid for it did not seem to matter. Some Nordic girls that were on the same minivan got really upset as they did not have any Riel or $ and they could not pay for the ride. When we finally realised that we were not going to achieve anything we negotiated the price down to 1$ per person and we went to the guest-house of our choice near the food courts... of course;-) The rude driver did not get any customer in return for his speech about foreigners...maybe next time he won't speak so freely ;-)
Additional Note - Summary of Vietnam: •
31 days, 10 towns and a few villages •
our favourite place: Hoi An and Tam Coc second •
our favourite food: Lao Cai in Hoi An •
our favourite landscape: Tam Coc and Halong Bay •
train vs. bus: train, train and once again train (similar cost) •
our favourite activities: the fishing boat ride around Halong Bay and motorbike hire in Cat Ba •
our favourite hotel/guest-house: Queen Minni in Ninh Binh (6$ a night) and World's Hotel in Hanoi (12$ a night with breakfast and unlimited tea and coffee) second
•
best thing we bought: silk lanterns in Hoi An (6 different colours, shapes and sizes for 16$ total plus shipment home) •
least favourite thing about Vietnam: overnight buses and scams every step on the way •
our cost per day incl. visa and transport: 27£/43$ per day for both of us
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
A recent survey found the Vietnamese to be the happiest people on earth...
I initially found that hard to believe. I thought about it and decided that it's not amazing that they are happy; we would all be happier if we didn't equate money (once our basic needs are met)with happiness. Of course, living in our culture this is easier to say than do. Thanks for sharing your visit to HCMC and the Mekong Delta...one of my best friends, Kay, grew up in Can Tho.