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Published: January 20th 2007
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Sandface
There must be a connection between the spice and the children. Well it's official, Vietnam is quickly climbing the list of my favorite countries in the world on a seemingly daily basis. The food, though not as popular where I come from compared to it's other Asian counterparts is something that I've grown accustomed to and enjoy more than ever. The soups, vegetables and coconut milk I intake everyday are making me feel refreshed, strong and simply put -good. At this point I can share similar words about the trip in general.
After a few days in Saigon our pack of travel goers ventured south into the liquid like lands of South Vietnam's heart and soul -the Mekong Delta. Buses and ferries took us into the very important wetlands that seem to fuel nearly 40 million people along the coast of the South China sea. The fishing boats, coconut fields, rice patties, farms and whatever else you'd find in an Asian agricultural epicenter were explored by us in a rushed couple days where nobody looked back.
The delta wasn't exactly how I pictured it would. After seeing photographs of American soldiers trying to force out Viet Cong on what looked like long lost dikes in the mist, in truth, today
Jeep
Shot from the rear as I wait in the jeep for Ryan to buyout all the stores wine. We're heading up to the sand dunes to sled and watch the sunset with vino. it's much different. There are so many rivers in the area that bridges are being built everywhere, and while that's taking place our bus was put on ferry after ferry. The rivers in the area are populated very densely with people, and although it doesn't look it, the area is very crowded. Later when we took boats deeper and deeper inwards, you wouldn't have guessed there were many people around at all until you got off and peeked through the brush to see factories of Vietnamese creating coconut candies and rice paper.
After our exploration of the agricultural areas we spent a night in the third largest city in Vietnam. You’re probably waiting for me to mention the name of this place but my memory is foggy so for the time being so you’re out of luck. We had grand plans of trying mouse, snake, dog and other strange dealings but instead opted for our old failsafe -pizza. This turned out to be a great idea as the next day found us breaking our fast while a pour Australian girl was violently ill from snake she ate the night before. Though scenes from Indiana Jones came to mind, I
Fishing Harbor
Just a simple photograph of the Vietnamese fishing boats anchored near Muine that I couldn't resist posting. think what really bothers me about eating snake is just how the restaurant owners keep them in aquariums waiting to be slaughtered and cooked. This was a bit of a culture shock for me because it seemed just so incredibly out of place making eye contact with the dazed reptiles.
Our second day in the delta area took us on another boatride to one of the famous floating marketplaces. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but exploring a market by boat is easily the most pleasant way to do it. Normally the marketplace is crowded and slow moving within the mobs of people, low roofs, crowded stalls and strange smells. The floating market I found was better to see, though obviously not to experience. Sitting in a boat gliding between larger boats you notice that people actually live here on their boats in the market (though normal markets likely have stalls where shopkeepers live as well) and kids washing vegetables off the backs of boats was a normal sight. Each boat held a pole with a few odd vegetables dangling in the wind displaying to the world what they hold in for stock and sale. I’m not sure how
Deltagoers
For some reason it was mainly women who paddled these boats all day, here's a quick snapshot of one in particular heading to the floating congregation of other such women as they barter their veggies on the river. often they get updated however as rotten cabbage and what not seems to be more common than their fresh counterparts likely for sale in the baskets on deck.
After experiencing our exciting insights in the delta region we headed back to Saigon and prepared for a truly great sleep (markets and buses start early) before we jumped on a bus the next day and headed to Muine. I had half hoped we’d stay an extra day in Saigon just to return to the waterslides, but alas there’s simply too much here to see, time is of the essence. The bus ride onward was as easy as pie and the reccomended outfit we purchased tickets from did not dissapoint as they delivered us with a warm smile to a nice place right on the beach with Air Conditioning and hot showers for only $5 each.
Trying to be as efficient as possible, we wasted no time hiring a jeep to drive us deep into the nearbye sand dunes and canyons for sunset and an afternoon of relaxing atop the windy piles of dryness. The hotel wanted more than we were willing to pay for a jeep and driver so
A Welcome Addition
Displaying my new Chapeau to the camera. Given the heat and power of the sun this was a great purchase. Note my razor burn (or what I refer to as "Razor Butchering") is almost healed after the barber incident in Saigon. Ryan hit the streets in search of a better deal. While he didn’t manage to find anyone, his actions seemed to have the effect we desired on the hotel owner because the price was quickly lowered and everyone seemed happy. Cruising through Muine our driver kindly stopped at his favourite liquor store where we found $2 bottles of win and 50 cent beers , both of which were eagerly invited to our picnic in the sand.
The kids who populate the dune area were surprisingly aggressive salespeople, as they approached us with their sleds wanting us to follow them to the choice locations selected by generations of sand children some decades ago. They would have carried me up the hill had I let them, and their keen attitudes did not go unnoticed. It all turned out to be good fun even after the kids started to cry over the amount of money I felt fair to pay them. While I did initially feel guilty, James did explain to me the art of cry-mastering he so artfully carried out in our childhood during attempts to gain sympathy judgings on his part by our parents, and that furthermore the kids could
Hands Up
It started in an attempt to document the fusion of sand and skin I was experiencing bodywide. With no success capturing that, the kids of the Dunes (some Asian cousins of the San People I believe) wanted their limbs in the picture as well. be fake crying in an attempt to get more money. Though this did actually help me sleep better at night it still worried me.
Later once the wine and beer had kicked in from the dunes, sporradic instrument games errupted around the dinner table until we wobbled down the road to an abbandoned bar with two fellows from Calgary. Memories are foggy but do contain a lot of drinks, Koren kneeling on the pool table yelling, me wandering around in my long johns (it was laundry day) and ultimately the biggest show of the night… Ryan versus his Jockey underwear. Though we all know who won that bout, Ryan did score a few good shots against the underwear as earlier today I noticed it on our floor in a ripped but victorious heap. Though it still remains unclear how Ryan managed to bruise himself so badly in the battle, he took the loss in stride and slept it off in our Air Conditioned abode.
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Anton
non-member comment
Love it
Love all your entries Jason, wish I could enjoy SEA with you!