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Published: August 2nd 2012
This entry on trip from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City is mostly bleak. I think that is reflected in the pictures. There aren't any really pretty things to see here, but they are interesting. This trip starts in Cambodia where a mini bus picked me up at my hostel for the beginning of my trip down the Mekong Delta to Saigon (a name used interchangeable with Ho Chi Minh City by pretty much everyone). There were a pair of girls from the Netherlands and another couple from Germany in addition to myself. About an hour into our bus trip the Dutch girls started asking when we would arrive at the boat. Apparently the hotel that sold this trip to them told them that they would be taking a boat for 6 hours from right outside Phnom Penh to the Vietnam border and then on to Saigon. The bus driver pretty much ignored them for about 30 minutes until they pulled the emergency brake and forced him to acknowledge their presence. His English wasn't that great but eventually they got him to ring the office and the girls spent about an hour on the phone complaining that they weren't on
the correct tour and that they wanted their money back. When we finally arrived at the border they refused to get out of the bus until their demands had been met. It turns out that there is a slow boat that runs from Phnom Penh to the border but they only run it in the high season. Either no one told the hotel or they were giving out false information. I really sorry for everyone. The girls had obviously gotten bad information, but their carrying on and on about it was very inconsiderate (to me if nothing else).
After the driver talked the girls into leaving the bus we crossed the border and had lunch while we waited for a boat to pick us up. Our boat trip ended up being about 2 hours which was more than enough for me. The Mekong Delta is interesting for the industry it inspires rather than its beauty. The water is very muddy and overgrown with plants. After two hours we docked in Cha Doc. The Dutch girls got on a bus for Saigon and the German couple and myself checked into a hotel. I had booked a three day tour that
cost a total of $50 including accommodation and boat trips. The only problem with this is that I was the only person on my tour. When I checked out in the morning the German couple was heading to Saigon and I was escorted to another group to see the Cham village and fish farm. The Cham are a Muslim ethnic minority in Vietnam. If their village is anything to judge by they are very poor. They were selling scarves and bracelets and the children were obviously well accustomed to foreigners. The fish farms were basically floating houses on the river with submerged cages for fish breeding.
After this mini tour the group I was with were heading on to Cambodia and I was put in a rickshaw and carried on to a hotel. This hotel was different from the one I came from, but someone had moved my backpack for me and I was instructed to wait for a minibus to pick me up. This minibus took me to a bus station and the driver bought a ticket for me to go on to Can Tho. I had no idea what bus to get on or when, but a
kind stranger took pity on me and tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to my bus. When I boarded the bus it was half empty and it wasn't until about two hours into the trip when we picked up more people that I figured out there were assigned seats on that bus. This was a very confusing situation where some Vietnamese girl was glaring at me for no apparent reason.
My seat was right up front and I had to endure the driver and his assistant glancing at me and snickering. At one point the girl next to me said "they want to know how old you are." I told them I was 29 and that set off another round of laughter. When we arrived at Can Tho station the driver helped me with my bag and got one of the station attendants to call my hotel for a pick up, so I forgive him for laughing at my age.
When I got to my hotel I had to explain that I was part of a tour and they were supposed to be expecting me. They called to verify that and told me to be waiting at
7:00am for the tour of the floating market in the morning. When I came down to breakfast the next morning there were about 60 people with various tours. I had no idea who, if any of them were my group. Eventually, the hotel clerk told me my group was the one that just left. So I had to chase them down the street. I can't say that I didn't get my money's worth with this tour, but to me the point of paying for a tour is for someone to hold your hand and take you from point A to point B without you having to worry about when and how to catch buses or get to hotels. If I am going to have that kind of stress I would just assume save the money and do everything myself.
The floating market which sounds really cool is just a wholesale produce market in boats. I don't know what I was expecting but I am not in the market for a bushel of pineapples so I wasn't very engaged in the idea. There was a boat selling drinks that I purchased a Diet Coke from, which just goes to prove
my idea that the coca-cola company unites the world. You can even buy it in a boat on the Mekong River.
After the floating market we took a bus to Saigon and I chatted with an interesting couple from Israel who take their two kids abroad for the summer school break every year. They said it is cheaper for them to travel for that time than to pay for day care at home.
I was lucky when we arrived in Saigon the bus dropped us off about 5 blocks from my hostel. Overall I wasn't that impressed by Saigon. I took a day trip out to see the Cu Chi tunnels. There as well as most of the museums in Saigon (even the art museums) seem to be a tribute to why we hate Americans. When you arrive at the Cu Chi tunnels the first thing you do is watch a documentary about how courageous and wonderful the Viet Cong were for killing Americans. They even invented a fun designation called the "American Killer Hero." A lot of the traps depicted in the Cu Chi tunnel museum are gruesome and ingenious. The tunnels that tourists crawl through are
very cramped and part of me admires the cleverness and dedication it took to build those tunnels and persevere against a technologically and financially superior enemy. But mostly the propaganda here violates my philosophy that you can hate the politics but still support your military. Everyone agrees that Vietnam war was a big mistake that should never have happened, but is it really necessary to celebrate the American Killer Hero?
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mom ellen
non-member comment
awesome culture experience
You were right when you said how beautiful Asia is. Nice pictures. Try not to be so down on the war histories. Our own country was killing each other in its own civil wars. We are no better. All cultures have good and evil. More history so we can learn more all around!