We've had two Vietnamese Ports - Ho Chi Minh City and Da Namg.
Ho Chi Minh City: Got up at 5am and watched the sunrise as we negotiated the Vung Tao river into Uncle Ho’s city. Spectacular as we weaved around the winding river. The ship leaned over one way, then the other, like the motorbike riders when negotiating a curve. What fun! Off to see thee Mekong Delta today. M said: “Oh, it’s 2 hours. Better take a book”. I replied- “No way. That’s two hours of looking at Vietnam!” Different views. But I was glad she didn’t end up taking one. I’d have arm-wrestled her for the window seat if she had!
The traffic in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) is the most extraordinary I’ve ever seen. Millions of motor bikes. Some carrying whole families, others with furniture. long poles, chickens and who knows what else. There are few traffic lights so when the cars and the bikes reach an intersection they all just drive forward and weave in and out of each other. Apparently the accident rate is horrendous. As for crossing the road………
We drove south to the mighty Mekong River and transferred to a boat – then to a smaller sampan. We sailed along the canals and out into the river itself. We visited a bee-farm, drank honey tea, ate lots of varieties of tropical fruit, and some coconut candy which was delicious. Getting on and off the boats was an adventure in itself. A long wooden bar at the front, which was angled into the air was the only means of getting on the boat. Nothing to hang on to or balance on while the boat was rocking – both in and out. SURVIVED AND ENJOYED!
Da Nang: We got up early to go on our excursion which was to Hoi An and the Marble Mountain. The Marble Mountain bit turned out to be a Pagoda perched on the top of a mountain – 150 or so steps to get up there, so I avoided that. M went up, but said it was a bit disappointing. In the Pagoda and an adjoining cave there is apparently a female Buddha, or mother Buddha. I never knew there was a female Buddha. Is that my ignorance, or do people just make this stuff up? Anyway I got to stay in the little town and look at the marble carvers.- huge works that are being carved with electric saws. Michelangelo, eat your heart out. But no Davids or Pietas. Huge fountains, statues of Buddha, Confucius, Jesus – ask and you shall receive. Nude women were a specialty. And then all around the ubiquitous little shops selling little marble objects. I went for a walk – mistake! Lovely ladies took my hand – led me into their shops. Showed me endless stuff I could buy. “One dollar”! Two elephant boxes. Snuff boxes. (perhaps pill boxes – who uses those these days?) In the end I bought a $1 owl. Sort of like a ransom to get out of the shop.
We then drove on to Hoi An – a UNESCO World Heritage City. On the way we passed the Da Nang airport that used to be the American base, and China Beach of R & R fame (plus novels films etc),
Hoi An was lovely in a Third World way – i.e tons oc Culture but unsealed roads, heat and poor people. We wandered through Hoi An and some people had clothes made for them (in the time we were there). We visited a silk farm which showed the process from silkworm to weaving. Had lunch with all the other tourists and photographed madly.
On the way back our guide Jim (Jimh?) asked us the most common name of the Vietnamese in our countries. We said Nguyen. He told us that the Nguyen Dynasty were the last rulers of Vietnam and that the last Emperor had 500 wives and concubines. I’m sure he said 500 because I thought to myself that that’s about 18 months worth. And I forget how many kids. Because the Emperor couldn’t remember all the kid’s names (nor the women’s I’m guessing) he called the kids the same name – one name for the boys and one name for the girls. Is this made up? Who knows!
