From Saigon we decided to try and make an effort to do things our way, away from the tours if possible. All started well when we got a bus out to the main bus station, with a sniggering bus conductor who told us to get off way too early….we didn't quite get the joke, but did get another bus! Then on to a bus heading in to the Delta, to Ben Tre. We seemed to have managed to get away, with very few tourists around, few restaurants with English menus (possible shot in the foot!), and no hassling from touts etc. Found a hotel solely inhabited by hammock swinging staff so couldn't be bad! Ben Tre itself wasn't that pretty, but had a good friendly vibe and the ubiquitous bustling market complete with live fish and vast quantities of wierd and wonderful fruit….also had a supermarket which got Rach quite excited as first we'd seen (and subsequently toured!) since China.
On the first day we wandered over a bridge to the far side of the river and found a lovely network of narrow concrete paths and little bridges, winding through the canals and paths, past loads of houses – most verybasic but some quite impressive concrete ones – there seems to be some money in Ben Tre, probably helped along by a spanking huge suspension bridge which everyone is banking on bringing in more investement, and a lot more tourists, in to this traditionaly very poor area. Everywhere we wandered, the cutest little kids voices rang out with 'hello, hello'- to be a common theme from now on. After this great wander, the next day we got bikes and headed off in to the conryside over the river again, passing loads of small villages, and smiles…and many more hello's! Stopped for a drink at one little shop where we soon attracted a group of the local women who seemed very taken with Rach's skin and healthy glow, and my legs! They continued to talk to us for a good 30 mins, the language barrier no problem to them.
We also booked ourselves on a homestay tour for the next day, imagining we would pootle off in our little boat to stay in a remote village where we would live village life….or something! Not exactly as it turned out, but still good fun. Hung, our guide, picked us up inthe morning and off we did pootle in our little boat. But we were inevitably back on the tourist trail, visiting staged sites including a coconut candy factory, all made and packaged by hand – and tastes absolutely delicious! Also to an orchard for some tropical fruit tasting, including the also delicious jackfruit, and some traditional music – here we, I'm afraid, parted from local opinion – we could not keep an entirely straight face through the singing, about which Rach may have said something like 'it sounds like a cat being punched' – an off day perhaps! We then headed to our homestay, which was basically a guesthouse with nice little bungalows. We were joined by a big tour group of French people which kind of took away the village atmosphere! Hung took us for a cycyle to the village and found some local ladies making traditional water coconut leaf roofs, and got us having a go – we were obviously awesome and I'm sure our roof panels fetched a heafty price at market. One particular old lady took a bit of a shine to me I must admit, just as well it didn't come to fisty-cuffs with Rach – looks like the old lady may have lost a few teeth in similar bouts and may have given Rach a bit of a tough time. Then back for one of the most amazing meals I have had, not just in taste but also volume with us recieving all the food on our table that a table of 5-6 of the French crew were getting – had a whole fish – bits of which which I was shown how to wrap in pankaces, a pork and egg boiled thingy, rice, fried veg, noodles, soup, greens, and fruit for pud….obviously as Rach couldn't have it all it was up to me to put on a brave face and eat. We did good!
The next day we were up early, and pootled off again in our little boat to a road bridge, where Hung had arranged for the local bus to pick us up for our next destination – very handy. So, after a wait on a very dusty road, sure enough our bus arrived and in we crammed, heading onward to Vinh Long. When we arrived we got our first xe om ride (motorbike taxis) to our hotel and just wandered for the rest of the day, yes again through the market! The next day we had again arranged a boat tour, this time just with us and the skipper to give us more freedom to choose what we wanted to do….or not! Went to the floating market which was quite cool, a load of boats selling wholesale fruit and veg, each with its chosen ware hanging from a mast so people could see what they were selling. We were expecting a bit more bustle and floating houses type affair, but was still interesting. Then our skipper proceeded to take us to some of the old standards – coconut candy, orchard etc.! We finally got across that we just wanted to cruise through the smaller canals, but apparently the boat was too big! Never mind, it was a nice pootle and saw loads of large blue and white kingfishers (sorry ma and pa, the only thing I forgot to pack was the SE Asia bird book…probably a blessing for Rach).
Plus, as the trip was cut short, we got to catch the bus onward to our next destination, Can Tho and then one straight on to Rach Gia, up in the north west of the Delta. The idea here was to catch a boat over to Phu Quoc Island (good name!!) for some much needed beach and hammock action before we hit Cambodia. So up Rach jumped at 6am the next morning to get the ferry tickets…..of which there were none due to storms out to sea! The storms had been going for a few days so there was a backlog for tickets, and even flights were all booked up. Thwarted again….never to see Vietnam's beaches.
So instead we decide to head straight for Cambodia. Jumped on xe om's to get to the bus station for a bus to Chau Doc (for a boat into Cambodia) – but then the inevitable happened and we had a low moment! The xe om's dropped us in a random petrol station at the most clapped out bus you can think of, but which did go to Chau Doc. They charged a huge fee, way too much, but my desire to get moving took over and we foolishly paid up. The bus didn't move for a while giving us plenty of time to stew, and when it did it hurt! On the bright side, 1) we could see our rucsacks through the loose and highly mobile metal sheets between our legs so at least we'd know if they were stolen 2) we gave excellent entertainment to the others on the bus who stared pretty much constantly 3) I reckon our spines needed rearranging anyway. Just as these philasophical thoughts kicked in…we were kicked out at a random junction, put in the hands of a street vendor who we were assured would put us on the right bus. Tempers may have become a little frayed at this point, luckily a minibus did turn up in 5 mins which they somehow squeezed us in to. The philosophical outlook kicked in as people did impressive acrobatices throughout the rest of the journey to somehow get in and out, and we arrived in Chau Doc…..and got a tuk tuk to Heaven itself!
Did our usual wandering around town and the market, and had a drink at a swanky colonial style hotel overlooking the river (decided not for food as may have blown our budget….the drinks did anyway!). Wandered back in to town and a couple of bottles of wine later all worries forgotten! The next day we hired mopeds and followed the hotel's hand drawn map in to the countryside which was a stunning sea of rice fields, with coconut trees shooting up out of them like fireworks.
There seemed to be school kids everywhere for the whole day, not sure where they were going….maybe they were just there to say hello to us! Went through lots of little villages and larger towns until we got to Ba Chuc. Here we couldn't find the skull filled pagoda, a reminder of all the Vietnamese massacred here when the Khymer Rouge did a raid (thousands butchered) but did find a market – surprising you say? We had a coffee in a tiny cafe where we became big news. Some old gents ushered us through to the back where they looked to be preparing for a feast, and then to an area where huge vats of rice were being cooked. Not sure what was going on (again despite our emmaculate vietnamese) – everyone seemed happy to chat away to (or at) us, and were very keen to have thir photos taken. Was great if a complete mystery. From here we headed back, on the way stopping to moped up Sam Mountain for an amazing view of the Mekong delta at sunset, flooded rice paddies as far as the eye could see, and Camodia beckoning on the horizon! And so off we trotted the next day….actually, pootled again in a boat.
Bloger: Pete and Rach
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Environmental pollution is a hot issue in the world. In Vietnam's two biggest cities, Hanoi and HCMC, traffic jams and industrial development keep the environment polluted and fresh air a rarity. To find a weekend escape from the foul air and the noise, I searched for a green place for my lungs.