Ho Chi Minh City (still called Saigon except during governmental activities) is home to 9 million people and is HOT (although I was corrected by our tour guide. The Vietnamese like to say that their country is ‘warm’. Right. Like Minnesota is ‘cool’ in winter.) Please note: the city is not being attacked by bright, white UFOs in the above photo. I think my camera was just reacting to all the ‘warm’ in the air.
We set out early to My Tho, a village near Saigon, passing a checkerboard of rice paddies and industrial developments along the way. The excursion was labeled “Mekong River Delta Cruise”. I wasn’t sure what to expect (that ‘child of the 60’s’ thing, again). Were we going to see the ravages of war or lush waterfront?
Thankfully, (I think) what we ultimately boarded was THIS: (but I’m getting ahead of myself)…
Even though the ‘larger’ cruise was labeled “Imperial Awakening”, it seems that was just code for “Temple Tour 2018”. Before we got anywhere near the Mekong Delta, we detoured to the Vinh Trang Pagoda, which was, like the other temples we’d visited so far, A: beautiful, B: full of New Year’s devotees and C: all starting to blend together. And there are still more to come… (You don’t see the throngs because I think people clutter my photos. So I wait.. and wait… and sometimes I’m rewarded and the people disappear.)
After the relative peace and calm of the temple, we boarded the Mekong River yacht (above) for a boisterous sail across the waters to a bee keeping/candy making/ exotic fruit tasting extravaganza on Thoi Son Island. I’m pretty sure our on-board guide was telling us all about the Mekong River and its history, but between a terrible PA system, a tinny speaker and a lush accent, all I heard was “Keep arm in boat”, so I did. Just the one, though.
I was disappointed that we weren’t able to sample durian during the exotic fruit taste fest despite my request to do so. (Here’s a quote from the Smithsonian: “Durians have a notorious aroma likened to rotting meat, turpentine and gym socks. If you’ve smelled a durian even once, you probably remember it.”) Our guide looked horrified and instead, we got milk apple (which was delicious!) and these fairly ‘normal’ fruits:
My fruit disappointment was more than assuaged when we lined up to board our Sampan, or ‘3 boards held together by twine and some blue paint that seats 6’ for a 20 minute ride down Sampan creek.
I was okay with all of this (until I learned that the Sampan drivers – nearly all women with ferocious biceps – average about $1 (USD) per day, augmented with tips) knowing we were headed back to the ‘yacht’. I’m not a strong swimmer, but the likelihood of drowning among these sampans was surely remote. However, while watching our travel companions be gently deposited on shore, our Sampan decided it would be ‘fun’ to row out into the Mekong river to join our ship, docked offshore. ‘Fun’ would have been eating durian. I prayed for the twine to hold, being VERY mindful of all the cautions we’d received about the Sampans: DON’T stand up, ever. DON’T shift your weight. To exit, CAREFULLY stand on your seat (yes, NOW you can stand), in the exact middle of the Sampan, and JUMP off, being careful not to tilt the Sampan. Yikes! The ‘yacht’ suddenly looked very substantial and a goal to be reached.
On the ride home, we passed numerous ‘businesses’ (some buildings, mostly tents) that were filled with hammocks. After lunchtime, most of the hammocks were gently rocking. We learned that renting a hammock for a post-meal snooze is a booming business in Saigon; armed with this knowledge, we began to see hammocks everywhere..
I am endlessly curious about the way people live all around the world and try to capture photos of homes, neighborhoods and events when we travel. This is not a great slideshow – all of it was shot from a moving bus – but here are some houses in the outer reaches of Saigon, just in case you’re curious, too.
Next: a bit more Saigon
Thank you for sharing the “fruits” of your curiosity. I,too, enjoy seeing a slice of life.
Oh, ho ho! My dear erudite friend! You always make me want to be a better writer. Thanks for your pithy comments….
Thanks Elaine that was a fun and memorable day. Well written.
Hey everybody! Nancy was THERE with us! I’d love to hear some of your impressions, Nancy!
I LOVE having you as my tour guide! It’s almost like I’m there – except without the jet lag, excessive sweating and transportation fears! The best part?! I can enjoy the trip while sipping my favorite tequila. Well, right now it’s tea, but it COULD be tequila.
Morning tequila would have probably helped with the jet lag! Note for next trip… However, we DO wish you’d been there. (How many countries has John crossed off his bucket list now?) Miss you in a near-drunken manner…
I had no idea the Sampans were so small! You were very brave to get into those tiny flimsy boats. I suppose the coast guard in Cambodia would not approve them as sea worthy.
Hi Bobby! Sampans come in many sizes, but they’re mostly kind of small. They’re supposed to be flat-bottomed boats with oars, but we saw the word used to describe flat bottom boats with motors, too. And, yes, we saw them out on the South China Sea, so apparently the Vietnamese Coast Guard thinks they’re ok!
I am sure your “travel companion” was thrilled to have you share that photo with the array of fruit. I would be the unshaven dude with a backwards baseball cap photo-bombing in the back! Where’s Roger???
Hopefully, our ‘travel companion’ never sees this photo! Every time I tried to edit her out of it, most of the fruit disappeared, too. I should have superimposed Roger’s face on her body – that would have answered your question AND taken care of her unsmiling puss!