(Backup) (Backup) Saigon/ HCMC

 We arrived in Saigon with no delays and our driver was there to meet us. We jumped into the van and were introduced to the traffic in HCMC. It is like nothing we have ever seen before. The driver told us there were 13 million people and 7.5 million scooters or motor bikes.  It appears to be organized ciaos times ten. WOW!  We arrived in one piece to a very nice hotel called the Grand Silverland Hotel and Spa, located right next to the night market. Our welcome drink was very refreshing.  Our room was very nice except it had no outside window which was a little weird. It provided complete darkness and it was very quiet. Once we got settled in we had afternoon tea provided by the hotel ( not very good) so we went out into the street so search for something better and local.

We didn’t have to go far as the food market was literally across the street and you could smell it from outside the hotel so we just followed our noses. It was kind of touristy in that there were no locals eating there however the beer was cold and the food some of the best we have had.   We wondered around the streets and found a pub to have a drink in. The humidity was around about 80% so it was rather warm.

 We decided to take advantage of our hotel pool and cool off and relax as our next couple of days were on tour seeing the Mekong Delta.

 Jason Superstar was our tour guide for the next two days and was right on time for out 7:30am departure. We had about a four hour drive to get the the Mekong from HCMC. We traveled from District one were we were staying through districts 3 and 7.  The city went on for miles until we got out into the country side made up of rice fields and other crops.

We stopped about half way for a bathroom and coffee break. The ice coffee is the best.

When we reached the Mekong Delta we jumped into Jason’s purple hammock boat and traveled through a very small floating market and up to a mangrove. The Mekong Delta is a huge maze of waterways that create many islands. Some you can reach by bridges but most you have to take local ferries that run between the islands, or local boats like the one we were on run the tourists around.

 Many people live on the boats until they have sold out of product and then they leave the water to restock.

Each boat has a large pole at either the front or the back with a sample of what they are selling attached to the top of the pole.

We changed boats to a much smaller which was powered by a small Vietnamese women standing with long narrow paddles.






It was so peaceful and beautiful as we quietly floated down the canal past huge jack fruit trees, banana trees, small villages and a pagoda being built. There was an artist high up on a pillar working on the most intricate carving on the entrance to the pagoda. Jason said the locals had raised funds to have the pagoda built and it would take about 1 year to finish.

We past by chickens, local dogs and a few birds but not a lot of wildlife. Too many people I guess. At one point deep in the mangrove it got very warm, so Jason took off his purple hat and started to fan me   Lol. It helped a bit but not much. Soon we came to the exit of the canal and got back into the purple hammock boat.

 From here we went through the main river and down a different waterway. We stopped at the dock and got off on one of the islands. Jason walked us around the island to see how the local people live.  They are very very poor, living in tiny rooms with maybe a bed but sometimes just a mat or mattress. Grandma's or Grandpa's look after the small children as there is no daycare and both parents are working just to survive. Jason handed me some candy to give to the small children but I wished I could have given them a bag of rice. Rice and noodles are the main diet here, if they are lucky some fish or eggs and they grow their vegetables if they have space. They also have local fruit.  

From here we went back to the car and traveled a short distance to Jason’s Auntie's house for a home cooked local meal. We started by helping roll spring rolls made of ground pork and veggies which were then deep fried in oil. We ate them right out of the pot and they were delicious. The rice paper was very tender and didn’t hold the oil, so I asked Jason the brand and he showed me the package. I was going to take a picture to see if I could find them and the next thing I knew Auntie was handing me a package to take home as a gift.

As we were eating spring rolls we had our first taste of home made rice wine. They drink it in shots and it was actually quite good. But after three shots we had enough.

 The food consisted of a sweet and sour fish soup which we had not tried before. It was yummy, the fish was very tender but I have no idea what it was. We also had fried pineapple with pork and a chicken dish with rice and another sour soup which I did not care for. The last dish was tiny shrimp which had been fried and were so small you did not peel them. Just popped them in your mouth and chewed. Mmmm. Had a few but not many. Lol.   Jason was also running a simultaneous tour with his cousin so we enjoyed lunch with two young Australian boys. After spending a little while at Auntie's we drove into Can Tho and Jason gave us a quick tour of the river area we were staying in and then to our hotel.

 

 Jason upgraded us to the penthouse suite on the 7th floor woohoo. Once we checked in and had a shower we decided to check out the area. We walked down to the river and had a drink on the Mekong, then headed to the lotus bridge and then ended up on a roof top bar overlooking the Mekong River, amazing. It was a warm beautiful night so we hung out there for a while and then decided to go for dinner at one of the local restaurants Jason had recommended.  By the time we walked there we were both dying of heat. The restaurant was small and opened aired which means no A/C.

We walked in and they tried to seat us in the back, the heat was so intense we asked to be moved onto the street seats but the young boy directed us to the seat by the door and showed me a portable A/C unit right by the table.  He then proceeded to fill it with ice and turn it on, wow now that’s what I call service. The food was really good as well. We ordered a beer, which was on the menu but they had to go buy it from the corner store and served it on ice, not great but it will do when you are dying of heat and humidity.   They tried extremely hard to make us comfortable so they deserved a big tip. We headed back to the room afterwards as we had to get us at 5am to go see the sunrise at the floating market. 

The floating market was great fun. We travelled by junk boat down the Mekong for about 30 minutes until we came to the entrance of the Chi Rang Market as the twilight was emerging. As we entered this section of the river there were larger boats carrying produce and advertised what they were selling by spearing the product on the end of a stick and displaying it at the bow of their boat. They were selling mostly root vegetables such as sweet potatoes, pumpkin, as well as pineapples watermelons.

 

 The best part of the market was getting to try the food from the food vendors floating among the larger boats. We had Vietnamese ice coffee, Bahn mi, BBQ pork with noodles and pineapple as well as deep fried banana pastry.

 It was all very good and fun to get from the vendors, one of which was Jason’s sister.  Most of the people buying were other vendors that would take the product inland to resale. We made two passes through the maze of boats and then headed back to the city.









Breakfast was available at the hotel but we were still full from our morning on the floating market, so we opted for coffee and a bit of fruit and then went up to our room to have a shower and get ready for our 4 hour car ride up to the Cu Chi tunnels.

Jason provided a couple of documentaries movies for us to watch, one was called the 'Napalm Girl'. This was a movies about a young girls life after she was hit with napalm gas in her Cambodian village during the Vietnam war. There was a very famous picture taken of her running naked out of the village having 1 degree burns to over half her body.  A reporter helped her and was able to get her transferred to a burn unit. She survived 17 surgeries and because of the photo that was publicized she became quite famous. She eventually defected to Canada and became a refugee when she stepped off a plane in Toronto with her husband with just the clothes on their backs and didn’t re-board to go back to Cambodia. She is still living in Canada today. The area the tunnels are located in are very close to where here village used to be. The area was part of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the war which ran from China to North Vietnam and was used to move supplies. The Americans could not destroy the trail so napalm bomb it in an attempt to stop the supplies. The publication of the picture was a turning point in the war as it brought to the forefront the human suffering of innocent children. 

At the halfway point we stopped at a local roadside noodle shack and had some really good noodle soup and another iced coffee. Then we carried on to the tunnels. We had the option of shooting AK47 and M16 guns at a shooting range but Bill decided not to. We opted to just watch the Australian boys. So we put on our ear protection and watched the boys get their adrenaline rush for the day. It shocked me at how loud they were, which was also the boys reaction. 

The tunnels had been enlarged and modified for tourism, but still gave you a sense of what it would have been like. They were designed in three levels the third being the deepest at 10 meters. There were air holes every 15 meters and were designed to look like mounds of dirt.  There were more than 250 km of tunnels with places for dining, living, meeting and fighting.

 A whole society of people lived under ground for 20 years. The cooking stoves had long ventilation holes so the smoke from the fire dissipated before it escaped. There were drainage wells and slides out to the river.

These tunnels were dark, damp and very hot.  They also had nasty booby traps made of very rootamentary parts but were very effective. These people new how to survive in the jungle, using it to their advantage.  Some of the entrances were so small you wouldn’t  even think a small child would fit into it. 

 We followed Jason through the maze of tunnels bent over at the waist trying to see where we were going. I definitely would not have survived these living conditions, I couldn’t wait to get out. 

After we toured through the other areas of the park we jumped back into the car for our 2 hour ride back into HCMC. On the way home we watch Good morning Vietnam. It was still funny but very thought provoking as well.

 During the last part of our afternoon the Vietnamese football semi final of the 'Asia under 23' cup had started. At one point Jason had checked the score and the team was down 1-0. Jason basically gave up on the team and said the game was over. I reminded him that a game is not over until the last whistle blows and he should not be so pessimistic. He blew me off, however a couple hours later he checked the score and the game was tied and going into an overtime shootout. Now he was excited. As we neared the city the streets became more and more congested.  Every cafe, restaurant and bar that had a TV had more and more scooters parked in front. So much so that the street became almost one lane instead of two. Jason’s data kept cutting out but we were driving so slow you could tell what was going on by just watching the crowds in the street. As the shoot out began, Vietnam was up one, then tied and then went ahead. As this was occurring more and more people were pouring into the streets on their bikes. As we got closer into town the traffic was at a crawl and people were selling Vietnam flags from the street. Vietnam won the shootout and the crowd in the street went crazy. Hooting and chanting, singing and cheering.  I’m not sure how our driver did it but he managed to get us back to our hotel and it only took an hour longer than scheduled. We unloaded and said goodby to Jason and checked into the hotel. In the hotel everyone was excited and smiling. They just wanted to be involved in the street activity. 

 We dumped our bags off in the room and headed outside to be part of the excitement. The street food market was very busy so we just grabbed a cold beer and walked down the street. People were setting up speakers and playing music and banging garbage can lids together, waiving flags and having a whole lot of fun. You couldn’t walk to far due to the number of people in the crowds so we decided to try and get something to eat.



 We ordered from three different stalls and eventually found a place or sit. A live band was playing so we sat and enjoyed our delicious food while we listened.

After a while we decided to go up to our hotel roof top bar and enjoy the activities from there. All in all it was a very fun ride into the city and evening, something we will never forget.  Tomorrow we are flying to Sihanoukville for 4 days on the coast of Cambodia.