SE Asia 2014 Day 4

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After breakfast, we check out of the hotel. We have repacked so that we can live out of one carry-on for tonight. On the bus and we are off to the Mekong Delta, about 3 hours SE of Saigon.

It's a long drive down Highway 1, the main road that stretches the length of Vietnam. We use the opportunity to observe ordinary life in progress as we drive by.

There are countless shops and businesses right lining the highway. There's nowhere to park, so clearly the target clientele is motorcyclists. As I've noted before, everyday activities often spill out onto the sidewalk and even the road. It's rare to see someone sitting at a table. More commonly one squats or sits on a low stool. We see people engaged in everything from preparing food to fixing engines in a squatting position. Lots of construction and reconstruction is under way.

As we get more into the countryside, we start to see rice fields and farms growing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, stretching as far as the eye can see. At apparently random locations in the fields, you can spot mausoleums. A.J. explains that family members traditionally are interred on the family land. According to the Buddhist rituals, the remains are first buried in a simple wood coffin and left for about three years, after which the bones are cleaned and placed in the elaborate mausoleums that we see. Traditional Buddhism does not favor cremation, believing that it destroys the soul. However, these practices are obviously not practical in the cities, so cremation is now increasingly common.

We stop for a break at one point at rest stop designed especially for travellers. It is a little oasis of calm, an artificial village with canals and bridges plus small buildings that can be used for private meetings or meals. There is a grocery store and gift shop. We are excited to see XXXXL (4X) size T-shirts for sale. However, I try one on and it fits me but barely. Nope, not big enough for the boys.

We finally reach the mighty Mekong River. This river has its origins in the mountains of Tibet, and it traverses six countries and 4500 km before spilling out into the Mekong delta region of Vietnam. It is the breadbasket of Vietnam, or more accurately the country's rice and fruit basket.

We cross the very modern My Thuan bridge, built by Australians, to the other side and the town of Can Tho. After winding our way through the town, we board a medium-sized tour boat that will take us to our lunch destination. Various fresh fruits are laid out for us at the back of the boat.

The Mekong is wide and turbulent. The water is brown from the silt that has been washed into it upstream from the seasonal rains. A.J. says that during the dry season the river becomes blue-green in colour. Pieces of vegetation and garbage float by. There are many boats of different sizes and shapes travelling in all directions, including cargo boats, ferries, dredgers, tourist boats like ours, and house boats where entire families live.

We are delivered to a plantation on a peninsula that juts out into the river. It grows a wide variety of fruits and has several farms. There is a small restaurant with just enough room to accommodate us. We eat outside, sheltered from the sun, where there is a nice breeze. Even so, It is really, really hot. But any discomfort is overshadowed but the meal, the best we've had so far on the trip. The pièce de résistance is deep-fried elephant ear fish, served standing upright supported by a wooden rack. (This is not only convenient but also means that we do not have to flip rhe fish, which considered bad luck.) The server scrapes off some of the fish and makes us fresh rice-paper rolls. There is other delicious food but I keep coming back to the fish. The flesh is so flavourful and the skin so crispy.

After lunch we are entertained by musicians and singers. One of the instruments played is the bau, which we actually heard the night before on the Saigon night cruise. The bau has a single string that is bowed and plucked with one hand while the other manipulates a stick that controls the tension and thereby the pitch. It has a haunting, singing sound that, believe it or not, reminds me of Jimi Hendrix in a lyrical mood. The older man playing it is really good and has a variety of techniques for coaxing interesting sounds from this simple instrument.

Following the show, we set off on a trek through the plantation along a narrow, twisty path that snakes along the edges of fields and canals. A.J. points out the various crops, which include bananas, papaya, mango, pomelos, oranges (with green skins), jackfruit, coconuts, ramatan, cashews, and more. Did I mention that it's really stinking hot? We are drenched with sweat by the time we reach the far side, where sampans are waiting to convey us back to the main river. Climbing in and out of these rickety boats is not easy but we manage it.

The journey along the canals back to the river is memorable. It's like being in a movie, as we glide noiselessly past immense tropical trees bent over by fruit. Everywhere you look, the vegetation is rich and luscious, with roots and vines tumbling over each other in the rush to grow. Bird calls fill the air, and colourful butterflies and dragonflies flit about our heads. This verdant environment is the polar opposite to places like the Middle East, where one's eyes strain to detect a patch of green in an ocean of rock and sand. Here life explodes in a riot of shapes, colours and scents.

At the end of this journey, our original boat and driver await. We transfer from the sampans (quite tricky for some of us) and are soon back on the Mekong. Fresh coconuts have been tapped with straws to provide us with a refreshing drink.

Next stop is a brick-making facility. The clay-like sand dredged from the river bottom is cleaned, then pushed through an extruder and cut to produce bricks of various shapes and sizes. Moulds are used to produce utility pots and vases. After they dry, these items are fired in ovens fueled by rice husks. I think I mentioned that it's hot outside. Inside the brick factory, it's an inferno. I can't imagine people spending most of their lives in such an environment, but they do.

The boat then takes us to a factory that produces some specialty items. We attend demonstrations of how coconut candy, rice paper, and puffed rice are produced using traditional methods. Very interesting and, in the case of puffed rice, very hot. We also see how rice wine is distilled and have the chance to try some of the different types, including various fruit flavours and, of course, snake wine, reputedly a powerful aphrodisiac.

Back on the boat, we swing over to one of the larger towns in the area, Vinh Long. All along the river, small huts are perched precariously on stilts so that the water at high tide does no more than wet the floor. Some are in good shape, but most are ramshackle, and one wonders how they manage to survive. There are many house boats and we can see families preparing their meals, washing up, and even relieving themselves in the river. Somewhat incongruously, at the end of the bay stands a large romanesque cathedral, built by the French.

The boat returns to the Mekong and transports us to our lodgings for the night. It is the Mekong Riverside Resort, located on an island in the river. The facilities are very clean and modern. We are each assigned a cabin that overlooks either the river or the inner canals. The room is nicely appointed, and once we are able to coax the AC to life, quite comfortable. We are in the middle of showering when a steward knocks at the door. I throw a towel round my waist and let him in. He is here to turn down the bed, a task that includes deploying a gigantic mosquito net from the ceiling that completely envelopes the bed.

We have supper back in the main lodge of the hotel. The meal is completely western this time, including cauliflower soup, pork schnitzel and chicken with mushrooms. I suspect it is intended as a deliberate break from the exotic fare.

We retire after supper to our cabins, figure out how to get under the mosquito net, and fall instantly to sleep.

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Comments

[Karen]

Hi from Ottawa
Hi there - reading your blog David almost brings me with you on your and Vi's travels......cold here! Hugs