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Published: February 5th 2008
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After a short time in Saigon, we decided to move to the Mekong Delta. This area is called the rice bowl of Vietnam, lush green landscape and a wet climate, most of Vietnam's rice is produced here. The Mekong river is huge, starting in Tibet, then snaking its way down to Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and finally Vietnam, each country depositing its share of trash and layers of oil respectively; no, not really. It may be the dirtiest river in the world. But, it really puts things in perspective when you see locals bathing and washing their dishes and clothes in it. They simply have no other option ;(
We rode around in various boats, at one point down a snaking little canal, waiting for a python to snatch us at any moment. We visited a brick factory, a temple, a rice paper factory, a coconut candy factory, and one of the famous floating markets. The water really is like a highway here for many people, sails and propellers guiding the way. For others, it is a home, choosing to live in a shanty ole' house boat. The salesmen bring various types of wares on their boats, rice, coconuts, other fruits,
and veggies. They advertise by raising a large stick like a flagpole in the air, then spearing whatever they are selling to the top of it. We had breakfast on our small boat, a rice dish mixed with corn, salt, sugar, and peanuts, served in a banana leaf bowl and even a banana leaf fork. Completely biodegradable!
We then took a couple hours bike ride through the local villages, each person's head turning(one middle aged woman exclaimed we were the first foreigners she had ever seen!) upon seeing 6 funny looking white people. Here many people don’t understand. If the foreigners are so rich, why don’t they rent motorbikes, or even a car?
Our group was diverse. We met a couple from Ireland. They were on a 1 year honeymoon. The wife was a lawyer who just abruptly quit her job, and the husband a computer programmer turned online poker player. The wife hadn't ridden a bike in 15 years, she said, after swaying of the rode and crashing into a small ditch. Then, there was Skip, the quintessential German. 250 pounds of solidness, stern face, long nose, pounding low voice, and fists like concrete blocks, he was
unsurprisingly a fantastic beer drinker, downing one in two large gulps. And his lady, the owner of a beer garden who takes 4-5 months of in the winter to travel around this area. A free spirit. Anyways, it made for a fantastic night of drinking, our stories and personalities as mixed and colorful as a bag of tropical trail mix.
Our accommodation was rustic. We all slept in the same room made up of wooden bed frames, a small fan, and absolutely necessary mosquito nets. They must have forgotten the mattresses on the bed frames! No, that is just the way people sleep here, comfortable with the uncomfortable. It was surprisingly a great night of sleep.
The night before was quite thought provoking. While the others played cards, I lay in the hammock, just wondering up at the clear sky full of bright stars. As our host brought us goodies and beers, I thought, how easily could the world have flipped our positions, with us doing the serving for a couple dollars a day and she being the served. And if our positions did flip, could we fulfill our duties day in and day out like her, with
her gracefulness and constant smile? I doubt it. It further reiterated my feeling that the world is simply not a fair place, your position chosen in a split second. There is no rhyme or reason and it is terribly frustrating. We have found ourselves taken back by the generosity of the locals, their country not knowing peace for most of its existence, their daily struggle as normal to them as breathing is to us. It is a wild world isn’t it?
I guess there is a time and a place for thoughts like these. I could go on longer, but the memory on this dodgy computer is filling up with each keystroke. I don't know what it was about this place. The tourist cities paint a much more economically optimistic picture of the country. We were the only ones here, surrounded by smiling faces with empty pockets and shouts of "Haalllooowwww" with every pass. and waves. Tons of never-ending waves.
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Jess
non-member comment
Woah!
Wow! Asia Is Beautiful! I want to go there someday. Good Pics!