Advertisement
Published: April 5th 2023
Edit Blog Post
Our river cruise took us further down the Mekong Delta to Sa Dec, a typical village on the Mekong where we stopped at the local market. They work here 364 days of the year - one day off on a national holiday only! The market was labeled a fish market but there was everything that a Vietnamese family could want here! We saw them butchering chickens - dropping them in boiling water, plucking and chopping up with hatchets. Talk about fresh! The fish was even fresher as it swam in tanks, and basins ready to be killed and taken home. Lots of vegetables as well, many I had to ask about as I didn't recognize them.
We stopped at a fading French colonial home that was the site of the true life romantic novel by Marguerite Duras, whose youthful, real life romance with a Chinese man in colonial Vietnam caused a scandal. It is Vietnamese Romeo and Juliet story with a very different ending. Our guide, Tenh (who said to call him Ten as he was tenth born in his family) told us the whole sad story. I need to watch the movie now! On board, we were
treated to a Vietnamese style of opera, narrated by our dear guide Tenh and of course, it told the story of more young lovers!!!
The next day, we visited a Viet Cong training camp just south of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) called Xen Quit. You could wander through the swampy area via a series of walkways or travel by a small boat with guides. Our group walked the entire area along the walkways. They had recreated the thatched huts that served as training rooms, message centres, metal working shops, etc., complete with mannequins to play the Viet Cong roles. There was also some bunkers built in the semi dry areas - pretty shallow and wet! Not much protection from bombs but... they also used them to hide secret documents. It was very hot and humid. I can't imagine what it was like living there from 1960 to 1975 as a war training camp. It was pretty much like living in a swamp! We saw some bomb craters as they were bombed by the Americans a couple of times but basically the Americans knew about the camp and just left them alone. One of the more interesting
areas was a helicopter trap - reeds with bamboo spears sticking up, located in the only open area that helicopters could choose to land. It was call the "Grounds of Death" and had anti-helicopter grenades according to the sign. The walkway culminated at a gorgeous pond filled with water Lillies (see me in front blocking all the beautiful scenery)!
Next stop was at Cai Be where we stopped at a very interesting entrepreneur shop. We saw them making popped rice then next to that station was a distillery where they made Vietnamese moonshine. Next to that station was a toffee making station and finally a lovely Vietnamese lady showed us how they made the rice paper for those delicious Spring Shrimp rolls that Darold and I have been eating every day here in Vietnam!!!
We walked along the canal in this city to see Breadfruit protected in net bags, then a stop to Mr. Kiet's Historial house (Since 1838). The family stilled lived there, even though groups of tourist like us trapsed through every day. The home was build of ebony wood - solid throughout. There was the ancestor alter that we saw in
most Vietnamese homes and several rich wooden furniture pieces as this was a very wealth Vietnamese family - an official of some sort.
We continued on along the canal where I took a photo of the once common Floating market from this area. The floating markets are becoming a thing of the past as more bridges get built and life is moving from the water to the roads! But there is still a lot of life along the canals and I have shared several photos of this including the numerous kite fliers who were out along the river (it was a Sunday and not a work day)! I also caught a photo of the famous "Mekong eyes" - many boats have these 2 eyes painted on their bows.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.054s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 7; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0288s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb