Part of the purpose of this trip is to expand myself through challenging experiences. While South East Asia might not be a difficult place to travel, for me, being 100% self-reliant, is. As someone who can barely navigate public transportation in my native country and tongue, the task of getting around Vietnam via local and long distance buses, on my own, is a bit intimidating. Thankfully, everyone from hostel staff members to bus drivers and even random locals have been amazingly eager to help! (Kind of negating the whole "self-reliant" thing, but whatever.) And so, I made my way from Ho Chi Minh to Can Tho in the Mekong Delta with no trouble. I arrived just in time for some much needed yoga on the rooftop deck of the hotel at sunset.
(I moved one of the hammocks to lay down my mat and the intention I set for this practice was fluidity.)
Afterwards I wandered the busy streets in search of some dinner but absolutely nothing was written in English (not a lot of tourists travel independent of a tour this far south). Eventually I just sat down at a random street stall and, without exchanging a word, the man working there placed a steaming hot bowl of pho in front of me. Perfect!
I woke up at 5 am the next day for a boat tour of the Mekong (which a couple staying at my hotel had booked and were nice enough to let me join) and I found myself in the middle of a bar joke: two Germans, a Jewish American, and a Vietnamese girl get onto a boat... (Now accepting submissions for the rest of this.)
(Sunrise on the Mekong delta.)
Yin, our guide, was great - very knowledgeable, funny, and she loved playing pranks on the better half of the couple I shared the tour with.
(Oh em gee I can't believe this is upside down! Ugh, sorry!)
We visited the Cai Riang and local markets,
(where apparently "duck-face" is an international phenomenon...)
and stopped at a small, family run rice noodle business
- Yin serving us fresh fruit all the way.
After gliding down one of the tributaries we got out of the boat to explore some of the farms on foot.
Weaving along the dirt paths Yin would stop every few feet to pick fruits, vegetables, and herbs for us to try: red and green chilies, lemongrass, various beans, Vietnamese apples, fresh green peppercorns, bananas, and a strange, mystery plant she said had medicinal purposes that smelled like a mix of rosemary, oregano, and eucalyptus. Then we had lunch at a tiny homestead and made our way across this makeshift bridge
to get back onto our boat. After arriving back in town I went to a cafe for some much needed coffee
(Hmmm do you think internet gaming is popular here?)
before making the 5 hour bus trek back to Ho Chi Minh where I spent one more night in the hostel I've now come to think of as my own. In the morning had a great breakfast on the rooftop,
and bid Saigon adieu for the last time to travel up the coast to Mui Ne!
Arriving in Mui Ne initially felt like pulling into any other small beach town - the one main street dotted with bathing suit shops and offers for kite surfing lessons - but getting off the bus I was hit with an infusion of south east Asian culture. The air was fragranced with incense and flowers, and in front of each restaurant live sea creatures flopped in buckets of water waiting to be selected for dinner. My first thought was, "Uh-oh, I could get stuck here for a while..."
And then the rains came.
I had one pleasant evening in Mui Ne drinking beer by the ocean with new friends Jeremy (California) and Lykke (Denmark). Then the first morning I awoke to was damp and grey, but I attempted to spend some time on the beach reading and watching the kite surfers
and apparently that guy.
In the afternoon I went on a tour of the surrounding area which, despite intermittent torrential downpours, was absolutely stunning. Mui Ne is known for its unique geography and I was not disappointed.
We rode ATVs and makeshift sleds down huge sand dunes,
(Clearly the coolest kid in the school.)
visited the red dunes,
and a local fishing village.
That evening, another Emma from the UK and I shared a great vegetarian meal, decided to ditch the rainy beach scene for the mountains, and booked bus tickets for De Lat for the next day.
In conclusion: here's a Buddha.
