Early start today with a coach trip south west to part of the Mekong river. There was some extensive discussion on the way about the reasons for the volume of motorcycles on the road. Turns out having car makes no sense; pay for parking (free for a bike), maneuverability is easier on a bike and of course much cheaper to run. Naturally with the 3 men on the trip talk turned to what kind of bike they liked and of course Harleys were mentioned. David Reeves (our tour leader) and Jari both have Harleys so David announced they are BRFFs now ... Best RIDING Friends Forever!! So a little male bonding was happening.
Along the way we made a pit stop for a cold refreshing drink. Ordered my coconut milkshake and went to the little garden area to find Jari and one of the other travel agents, Jason, sampling some of the local beer: BBB (pronounced like baa baa baa). The pair of them looked like the quintessential Aussie blokes and they soon turned into the photo snap that had to be procured! It was also at this point Jari decided it was a good time to teach Giang some decidedly classless Aussie slang ... For the toilet. Yep ... Giang loved it - leaving everyone in the bus shrieking with laughter because he was enjoying saying it so much. I think Jari must have also practiced the few words of inappropriate Vietnamese his friend Van had taught him back in Canberra. And so the international tradition of questionable language exchange continues.
Upon reaching our destination, we all boarded a river boat for a cruise in the blissfully cool breeze across the Mekong to Ben Tre ... home of the coconut! We saw a coconut lolly 'factory' ... Nothing mechanised here, everything was done by hand from the opening of the coconut, crushing the flesh to release the cream and then cooking it for about 45mins with some condensed milk. It was then spread on a metal table and hand pressed along rivulets of wood. The lady with the mini cleaver made quick (and disturbingly accurate) slices of the coconut caramel. Two young teenagers had the task of swiftly putting each lolly its wrapper. As they were paid according to how many they wrap per day, their nimble little fingers blurred as they made quick work of the task at hand.
Giang arranged for someone to bring a python out for photo opportunities which resulted in hilarity because when the snake made it to my hands ... It's tail promptly swung in between my legs much to my embarrassment and amusement of all other tourists!
A smaller boat ride down the Mekong had some of us trying to paddle against the current. The little Vietnamese lady in my boat made sure we were aware that it was hard work with quite a few sighs for our benefit. She was also wearing a hoodie in the 30+ degrees and 80% humidity - so perhaps the sighs were warranted. A lot of the women (and men) cover their bodies to protect them from the sun darkening their skin. We tipped her anyway. Besides I got to wear a rice paddy hat!!
We were then entertained by the local singing farmers ... very interesting instruments they played and I'm sure if we understood Vietnamese we would have appreciated it more. One old guy playing the asian violin was particularly cute, with a bit of mischief in his eyes. He was very popular come photo time and a number of us had it translated that we were prepared to take him home with us. Pretty sure his friends are still giving him grief about that.
We had a 5 course lunch which included a traditional Mekong dish of Elephant Ear Fish. Deep fried and served whole - pretty scary looking, had teeth too! But DELICIOUS ... Flaked off and eaten (scales and all) wrapper in rice paper with mint, star fruit, coriander and mint. So good! I ate its tail ... Because it was there and I could. Tasted like prawn crackers. They brought out a massive orb in one of the courses. The waiter stabbed it down the middle and cut it open like a lotus flower revealing a sticky rice mix at the base. It was Vietnamese pancakes. Very very tasty. Jari won some brownie points here because he shouted the drinks for the whole party - 10 people. $34.00 - a pittance as there were numerous beer bottles on the table which had only cost $1.50 - my water was barely 50cents cheaper!!
Driven back to the hotel we had barely 4 hours between lunch and our 8 course dinner at one of the most beautiful hotels in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh - The Majestic!! Thank goodness Giang walked us home to our own hotel ... It made flopping on the bed like a beached whale that little bit easier!
Lisa
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Saigon ... and welcoming the fuzz!
Landed in Ho Chi Minh/Saigon and met our guide Giang (pronounced yang) through the throngs of family members waiting to greet a returned loved one. Yang was telling us that just one Vietnamese returning home means a family group of 20-25 waiting perhaps all day to see them. We witnessed one such scene.... Pretty young woman came through arrivals and was promptly surrounded by hugging, kissing and even crying relatives. The mother was most touching as she practically pounced on her daughter!
As our flight arrived late afternoon, it was a quick drive through the city with a VERY skilled driver to our hotel. Hundreds of motorcycles weaving in and out of cars, jostling for the tiniest space. Westerners have it all wrong, Asians aren't bad drivers ... They have a different code. We are regimented, controlled ... anxious and ready to explode if someone crosses the line. Asians just go with the flow of traffic and it makes sense to everyone and there is barely a cross face to be seen.
After a gorgeous Vietnamese dinner at another hotel, we returned and went for a quick walk to the night markets. Yang told us that by the end of the trip, our mission was to cross the road at the Ben Thanh roundabout successfully without being hit. The challenge goes against the grain for pedestrian respecting Australians. We started small, just crossing the street in front of the hotel. Look straight ahead and at NO point pause. Ok ... Heart pumping - fellow agent in front of us (him first ok!) ... Done. Stage 1 of mission completed!! The more exasperating challenge will be to tame my Vietnamese hairstyle! Perfectly straight in the morning ... looking fly ... And then BAM, humidity wraps its moist little tendrils around each strand and entices each to go its own way. Be free fly aways, be free controlled waves. UGH ... It's going to be the harder of the two tasks set!!
Post Script: have mastered crossing roads Vietnamese style but didn't get the chance to do the roundabout.
As our flight arrived late afternoon, it was a quick drive through the city with a VERY skilled driver to our hotel. Hundreds of motorcycles weaving in and out of cars, jostling for the tiniest space. Westerners have it all wrong, Asians aren't bad drivers ... They have a different code. We are regimented, controlled ... anxious and ready to explode if someone crosses the line. Asians just go with the flow of traffic and it makes sense to everyone and there is barely a cross face to be seen.
After a gorgeous Vietnamese dinner at another hotel, we returned and went for a quick walk to the night markets. Yang told us that by the end of the trip, our mission was to cross the road at the Ben Thanh roundabout successfully without being hit. The challenge goes against the grain for pedestrian respecting Australians. We started small, just crossing the street in front of the hotel. Look straight ahead and at NO point pause. Ok ... Heart pumping - fellow agent in front of us (him first ok!) ... Done. Stage 1 of mission completed!! The more exasperating challenge will be to tame my Vietnamese hairstyle! Perfectly straight in the morning ... looking fly ... And then BAM, humidity wraps its moist little tendrils around each strand and entices each to go its own way. Be free fly aways, be free controlled waves. UGH ... It's going to be the harder of the two tasks set!!
Post Script: have mastered crossing roads Vietnamese style but didn't get the chance to do the roundabout.
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