Mekong Delta

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A short flight from Danang took us to Saigon, also known as Ho Chi Minh City, and back to big cities with throngs of motor cyclists.

We spent an interesting morning visiting the Cu Chi tunnels near the end of the Ho Chi Minh trail, a ninety-minute drive from our hotel. This is where members of the National Liberation Front or Viet Cong lived while fighting American troops. We went down a short section of tunnel, which we could only traverse while bent over, although there were areas such as the kitchen, meeting rooms, and a 'hospital' where we could stand upright.

The tunnels enabled the NLF to appear and disappear instantaneously by means of well-camoflauged entrances to the network of tunnels. We also viewed a variety of nasty-looking traps they devised that all resulted in a person falling down and being pierced by sharpened bamboo or metal spikes in various parts of the body. While these wouldn't necessarily kill the victim, loss of blood and infection could be a serious problem for anyone not treated quickly. The traps also likely made the troops afraid to move around.

From Saigon, we took a side trip to the vast Mekong Delta and discovered that our Nam Bo boutique hotel in Can Tho, which was probably once apartments, had a great view from its restaurant on the fourth floor.

We took a boat along the river to the floating market, a maze of boats selling fruit and vegetables they'd bought from farmers along the river to people in smaller boats taking them to their town or store to sell. Each wholesaler advertises what he has for sale by skewering a sample on top of a pole on his bow. A few minutes further along the river took us to a noodle 'factory'. It was interesting to see the traditional procedure although I have to admit to hoping that the rice noodles we buy in Canada are not made in such a facility. Our guide also had to make a small payment to a homeowner to allow us to tramp through his property to reach the factory, there being no public right of way from the river. The river was busy with various-sized boats and even a man paddling himself along on an inner tube with his hands. Buildings along the town bank layered ramshackle corrugated iron huts on stilts with fancy newer homes and hotels.



We returned to heavy rain showers in Saigon.

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Photos

Mekong Delta
Typical canoe for the smaller channels

Elephant Ear fish
Lunch tasted better than it looked

Mekong delta bridge.
Many new bridges are making the delta more accessible.

Floating market
Wholesalers bring the produce from the farms and supply the smaller retail boats.

Melons
Time for breakfast.

Rice noodles
Now I have the hang of it.

New construction
The river is still lined with old ranshakled building on stilts