Saigon & Mekong Delta (7/11-7/12)

Good Morning Vietnam!

Read below for our adventures during our first two days in the country in the South, and click HERE for our photos from the Mekong Delta and Saigon (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City).

Kimberly

We arrived to the country at the airport in Saigon and were greeted by our guide and driver to take us straight to the Mekong Delta. After a four hour drive through the countryside and a ferry ride across the Mekong River, we arrived in the city of Can Tho, the largest in the delta.

We woke up early the next morning to explore the delta... first stop, Cang Rai, the largest floating market in the entire region. As we floated through the market on our own little boat, our guide pointed out the dragon fruit, jack fruit, sweet potatoes and many other agriculture items that the farmers and wholesalers were trading on the water. Most of the people in the region rely solely on the river for all transport and as the only way to sell the goods they produce. It was amazing to think that much of the food we would eat during our time in Vietnam may have been traded at this market!

Next we went into the back canals of the river to see how the local people lived. Sadly, it was not the best of conditions, but (as always) the local people seemed very happy--smiling, waving, with little kids shouting hello as we floated past their houses. We visited a small factory (more like a house) where people were making rice noodles, and then to a fruit farm, and lastly to the weird farmer aka "snake man"....our guide mentioned something about snakes and snake wine when we got out of the boat, but I wasn't really paying attention until I noticed the large white vats, and suspected what might be inside them. All of a sudden, this crazy old man (who couldn't have been taller than 5' 1'') comes out of the house, pulls a snake out of a vat and hands it to Dan. Needless to say, I'm clear on the other side of the yard at this point, as the man is trying to get me to hold a different one of his snakes. After we convinced him that I really didn't need to hold a snake, he started running around, cackling like a witch in a spooky fairy tale...and then he brought us over to the large glass jugs of snake wine. It would have been really rude for us to have refused his generous offer to share a drink with him (especially as snake wine is a prized delicacy, rumored to have mysterious love potion effects...like a Vietnamese Viagra). So, once again, Dan ponied up and took on the brave challenge. I abstained from the snake wine, which Dan says tasted like a cross between hard liquor and sake.

Then, we went back on our boat to another floating market. However, soon after we started off, it began to pour rain...I mean torrential downpour. The lovely boat ride soon turned into Dan and me huddling for cover under an old plastic tarp, and then still getting soaking wet. So, we bypassed the market and instead started the drive back to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).

We finally arrived in Saigon in time for a walk around the city and dinner. Now let me explain what a "walk around the city" entails. The streets are completely clogged with traffic...but it's not just cars you have to worry about. For every car, there are at least 10 motorcycles, and there are still lots of bicycles, oh, and let's not forget the cyclos (a sort of wheelchair attached to a bicycle contraption where someone peddles you around the city for 10,000Dong ($0.63)). There aren't stop lights at most intersections (and if there are, they seem to be optional and for guidance only). So, just watching the cars, motos, bicycles, and cyclos trying to negotiate their way through the intersection is scary enough...let alone you try to cross it as a pedestrian! Luckily, we'd figured out how to play the game of "Frogger" pretty fast, and learned that if you just keep walking at a steady pace, the motos and cars go around you.

Our time in Saigon wasn't too exciting (other than Frogger). We went to a restaurant (Quan An Ngon) that had gotten several rave reviews for making all the different kinds of street food in one large very nice restaurant (think like a Foodlife for those of you from Chicago)--well, the only problem was that by 8:30pm, all the good food was gone, so after trying to order five different things, and being told "finished" for all of them, we asked the waiter what wasn't finished and had them bring that. Everything was mediocre, and they were out of everything except ice cream by the time dessert rolled around. I had really looked forward to this meal, and it was quite a let down.

The next morning, we got up early to visit the market, eat some pho at Pho 2000 (where Bill Clinton ate when he visited in 2000), and visit Chinatown (a.k.a. Cholon). I think we got ripped off by the cyclo driver (the book says 20,000 Dong, and he opened with 80,000, we settled on 35,000..and shared one cyclo--which I don't think you're supposed to do. It was a very cramped and hot and sticky ride to Cholon, which was interesting, but not remarkably different from other areas of the city. That afternoon, we visited the War Remnants Museum, which gives a sobering account of the Vietnam War, from the viewpoint of the Vietnamese. Just the effects of the chemical weapons we used to destroy their lands is quite disturbing. The photos of children with birth defects and burn victims were very sobering. At this point, I realized I was going through traveler's food poisoning round two for the trip, so we decided to spend the rest of the day watching a mish-mash of American TV, CNN, & BBC in our posh hotel room at the beautifully restored Hotel Majestic. (I think we're addicted to MTV's "Rockstar Supernova" now!)

All for now, we'll update you soon on our relaxing time on the beach in Nha Trang.