The Mekong & the Land of Redtape

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After a 2 AM bedtime the 6 AM departure from Phnom Penh was a bit of a rude awakening. Surprisingly Adam, the 6'6" Scottish boy, showed up to become my Vietnam travel companion. Non too happy at that hour I might add! Overall I have to say it was a great day. A group of about 10 tourists climbed onto a minibus to the boat dock & began our tourney down the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc, Vietnam. On the way we met the crazy National Geographic man that apparently is their "train expert" traveling abroad riding the freights & reporting back. Running into him repeatedly for the next few days made me question the validity of all this. A horrible traveler, rude, impatient, completely incompetent...giving Americans a GREAT name for themselves! The entire trip took about 8 hours on various vessle types. Boat number one was rather barge-like equipped with a singular table & a few chairs in the middle.

At the Vietnamese border we stopped for food & paperwork. The villagers were very friendly & the children shouted choruses of "hello, hello!" Dabbling in the local fare I tried a fried rice/coconut mixture dipped in a variety of weeds & sweet & sour sauce. Rather tasty I might add. We finally arrived in Chau Doc, a sleepy little port town. Attempting to find another boat to take us to Cantho--Vietnamese style, on a barge with chickens--we befriended a boy that offered to peddle us to the top of Sam Mt. for the sunset. As we sat in the cyclo like two fat Western kings we realized how pathetic we were having this 70 pound kid drive 5 km to the mt. At the base we convinced another random guy to rent us his motobike for the trip to the top. Up we went topping out just as the sun set across the delta. It was absolutely spectacular...lush, green, rice paddies everywhere. On the way down we passed pagodas, temples & children all along the street. Our sweet friend peddled us back into town & once again we walked around as the great spectacle we are...tall man in SE Asia still trying to find the mystery boat to Cantho. Eventually we gave up & grabbed dinner on the street, grazing through the markets. Bread stuffed with chicken & who knows what else & a probably not too safe milkshake to wash it down.

Next day...Cantho here was come. Abandoning our dream of boat travel again, we boarded a kamikaze minibus to Cantho complete with a crazy driver & screaming Vietnamese men & women as he rushed passed moto drivers & huge trucks. Once in Cantho naturally we were "taken care of" by a government worker & excorted a hotel complete with hot water, a/c & live snakes, turtles, frogs & crustaceans in the lobby. No, we are NOT in Kansas anymore. Adam & I ate at a very nice little hole in the wall restaurant. Yes, mouse was definitely a menu option. We had a few drinks & walked the waterfront. A very satisfying day!

The next morning we caught a motorized small boat for a tour of the floating markets & the mangrove channels. Men & women sell their wares aboard watercraft advertising their specialities on tall masts. We stopped for lunch, drank some scorpion wine & met Mr. Wandering German whom I think explained his real name best as a mildly old, drunker than used to be ubber something, something, something. He was peddling around Southern Vietnam. What a great spirit! That evening it was dinner overlooking the river & a Ho Chi Minh statue watching over us.

The next day we said goodbye to the snakes & Adam's last chance for increased vitality to take a bus to Saigon...Ho Chi Minh City. We got to Saigon around 5 PM & promptly headed to a bar. There we met a couple of Kiwis, one of them also 6'6", an English girl & dear Wolfgang. We eventually left the bar after a few hours of conversation & most likely a few too many drinks. Ah, let the games in Saigon begin.

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Comments

[nikkid]

ummm....
what's up with this scorpion wine? does it tingle all the way down? seriously, you drank that?