I am now back in Saigon for better or worse. I took about five days to explore the Mekong Delta- four of those on the back of a motorbike with Cuong (pronounced 'kung', approximately). It feels like a lifetime since I left Saigon. Returning, i find it strangely comfortable.
My time with Cuong was incomparable and memorable, to say the least. We rode 70 to 150 kilometers a day, stopping for many ca phe da's (vietnamese iced coffee), photo opportunities, lunches and the like- all welcome respites of what Cuong referred to as 'numb bum'. Experiencing the Mekong Delta with a local on a motorbike encompassed everything I have ever known in travel- basically, wonder and fear. A fairly constant, 'let go, it is what it is'. I was in control as much as i wanted to be but that was and is as little as possible.
Cuong was fairly constantly asking, 'you happy?' and i invariably responded in the affirmative in one way or another. I felt like i was joining Cuong as a friend on this adventure except for that question and the occasional related comment or action which made him seem more my servant than friend. I would have been more comfortable and perhaps happier if his comfort and happiness was not relative to mine; i am pretty uncomfortable being in a position of power. Of course, i did hire him... i consider us both fortunate that i (and so he)was happy throughout most of the trip.
I don't imagine that Cuong would have altered the style of the trip much if he had been alone or with a friend; i am happy to have had what felt like an authenticly local motorbike adventure through the delta.
Relative to the population, there may be more coffee shops along the highways of vietnams rural south than in seattle. In a strange way i could feel at home. Each coffee place is of course independent in the delta, but they strangely common. We would pull off of the highway and roll into the place (i am still unsure what to call these coffee stops) and stop the bike just steps from shaded hammocks and tables. With my fairly large backpack strapped to the bike, and my smaller backpack (with passport, camera and other valuables) as a pillow, I would sink into a hammock and wait to place my order. Being that we did this at least three times a day, up to maybe six, my language skills here are best demonstrated in the ordering of coffee. I can order it, say thank you and say that it looks great.... I can also say that i am american- which i did every time. This is what you call a positive feedback cycle- now that i can communicate something, i am far more like to do it- the more i do it, the better i get- the better i get, the more i do it... and on and on. Guess what i'm drinking right now? Ca phe da!!! Chuc ngon ming!!!! Ha.
Cuong has a good understanding of when stops are required and the numerous coffee stops were a perfect break. We had a host of other stops, daily vietnamese roadside bbq lunches, lotus ponds, bonsai gardens, scenic photo stops and a stork garden to name a few. The stork garden was perhaps the most memorable break. About twenty years ago a family of storks landed near Long Xuyen and today there are thousands of the birds with a wonderful habitat. Like most of the delta, the land is flat and wet- the birds have plenty to eat and no natural preditors... or so i thought. On my way up a staircase to a viewing area, Cuong asked if i wanted lunch here, 'sure' i said, and continued up. I was sooo happy to find some canadians at the top of the stairs- a rare chance to speak english comfortably. After a while Cuong brought me down and we sat down to a nice looking bbq'd STORK. I tried to share my sense of how this was funny with Cuong, 'see stork (pointing up to the trees), eat stork (pointing to the plate).' Stork meat is reasonably tasty, i guess, though the organs certainly aren't. All in all i would prefer to eat uglier birds. I guess thats a cultural thing.
We stayed in a very simple hotel our first night, in Ben Tre a small town just across the Mekong river and a very new bridge from the larger My Tho. In retrospect, a lot changed when we crossed the Mekong- up until a few months ago, the majority of tourists visiting the delta would only go as far as My Lo rather than continue with a 3km ferry ride. Things are much slower and smaller- less touristy on the west side of the Mekong, in my opinion. After showering at our hotel, visiting the local market (which aside from the stacks of warm meat pretty well resembled the sunday market of hilo hawaii), and stopping twice for ca phe da, we drove back towards the Mekong, through another smaller market, through very narrow alleyways and right up to a dock, where we embarked on a very memorable boat trip.
Hearing that the trip would be a '4 hour tour' was a good sign, i thought. A three hour tour would have set off some alarm bells... We began our trip on a 20ft motor boat with a captain and a smiling lady who as far as i could tell, was our cook. On the first leg of our trip we motored quite slowly downstream, headed for a smaller row boat, which would take us up a small canal. Our boat was slow if noisy but i immediately began to get a sense of the peace and ease of the river. The Mekong is enormously long and wide. Along with its hundreds or thousands of tributaries, it seems to have perfectly flattened all of the delta and in no hurry.
Up the canal, which was cut through swampy coconut forest, we arrived at a sort of tourist bee farm. Doning the traditional conical hat, i sat down to tea, fruit and of course honey. After i politely declined buying a jar of honey i was encoured to wrap a rather large snake around my head... which i did. I saw a couple of bee hives another much larger snake and many plants which i recognized from hawaii and we moved on.
Back aboard our motor boat, we set off for a second canal. I still don't know what our destination there was- within a minute of starting up the motor boat, i knew that something was wrong- the motor was knockig and slowing down. Not far from shore the motor completely died and Cuong and our captain disappeared to fix things up. In the interest of saving my guides the embarassment of leading a failing tour and my own relaxation, i played dumb and enjoyed the quiet for a few minutes. While docked, water had entered the engine and with a little time and much yelling it was fixed. The most enjoyed part of that whole ordeal was when i was attempting to push our boat away from trees and the shoreline as the boat floating without control downstream.
The next stop was depressing- a temple on an island which was now home to a variety of caged animals. I was happy to cut that leg short and move on to a wonderful shrimp bbq on the boat. With a contained fire burning on the bow of our boat and embers flying everywhere, we made our way to the center of the river and tied up to a tree to watch the sunset and cook dinner. It was wonderful to feel the languid motion the river and eat in silence while the sun descended into the Mekong.
After dinner, with darkenss appoaching and the risk of abandoning a burning boat diminishing, we headed back to the west side of the river. Our captain maneuvered our boat very nearly into a tree and kept us there. Within maybe a minute, the tree lit up in hundreds of points of light and suprised and amazed i watched fireflies for the first time. At this point, with the captain at the back of the boat taking orders from Cuong and our smiling lady friend, we rounded up as many fireflies as we could grab. I really wasn't sure how i felt about bottling the fireflies, but unable to communicate my hesitation i totally went for... rather successfully as i can reach at least 18 inches farther than your average vietnamese. I took a few pictures of the fireflies in the bottle- the one advantage of having contained them, i guess- and we headed home.
After another shower, Cuong suggested that we go out again, this time for a short scenic ride. Though i was exhausted i was also beginning to fully trust his judgement and we hopped back on the bike. Crossing the river again we rode through the tourist strip of My Lo before pulling off onto a rode which followed a branch of the mekong. This road was very busy at night and lined with local restaraunts and cafes. Just up the road we stopped to see a fountain which was right in the middle of the river on both sides of which were park benches and everybody, it seemed, from My Lo. The fountain had vertical jets lit with slowly changing colors as well as dynamic jets which shot water in the arches of a cranes' wings and wonderfully evoked the grace and peace of a large crane flying just above the river. This, i am sure was the point of our ride and i'm glad i didn't miss it.
I was quite lucky to get experience a couple of homestays in the delta. We stayed with a good friend of Cuongs on the second night, in Can Tho and with his parents in Chau Doc, the next night. Can Tho is a larger town stretched across two sides of a river with a lively tourist industry and wonderful 'floating market'. We stayed with Cuongs friend Han who ferries tourists through the market on his boat and lives with an extended family in a simple house with a dock for the boat right on the river. We were joined by Han's neighbor Du- the three friends were really excited about there reunion. I felt great to have been the catalyst for the reunion- it felt good for everybody- i was paying Cuong as a guide and Han for food and lodging. For their part, Han and Du were extremely welcoming and seemed really happy to have me there. We all ate rice soup with fish on a tiled patio over the river and drank rice wine... for about four hours. Our bottle of rice wine was refilled twice and rice, vegetables and ice were continually added to the soup, which simmered for hours on a propane burner. After about an hour of eating drinking and talking (through an interpreter in the case of Du), Han and Du declared that i have a very good nature! We had a really wonderful time and when my communication slowed down (the three friends had much to talk about and Cuongs' english is fairly limited) i brought out my ukulele and played music as they talked laughed and smiled. Much later, after a failed attempt to find an open karaoke bar in the maze of alleys which is Hans' neighborhood, we called it a night. Cuong and I slept under a mosquito net atop a bamboo mat on the same patio where we had eaten.
We awoke- actually i was awaken- before sunrise and set off for the floating market. Early in the morning, the river there fills with hundreds of boats selling every food you could think of. We enjoyed our usually ca phe da as well as pineapple and a local style of noodle soup. You just throw a vender a rope to tie up to and exchange money for food. Passing the multistoried tourist boats on our way back home, i felt so thankful to be able to experience for a day a more authentic version of life on the river.
After again thanking Han and his family, Cuong and I worked our way through the alleys and onto the highway towards his parents home in Chau Doc. I was really excited about Chau Doc- it seems atypical of the delta region. Whereas the delta is flat, Chau Doc borders Cambodia and is hilly with a neighboring mountain. The culture is quite veried as well, with khmer, chinese, indian and vietnamese influences. Unfortunately, I started to develop a fever within an hour of Chau Doc and didn't feel any better after a nap at a coffee stop. I didn't eat much that night, toured a temple, and briefly met Cuong's family then went to sleep after taking an antibiotic and panadol from my pharmacy within a bag. The night was not fun- my fever rose for a few hours than disappeared and i slept. In the morning i let Cuong know that i was going to cut our tour short- we had planned to explore Chau Doc for a couple of days- and move on to Phu Quoc island. Before we left for the bus station, Cuongs mother appeared with a newborn baby girl- less than a day old and truly beautiful. Cuong had surprised his parents with our visit, but we got our own surprise!
Phu Quoc was a three hour bus ride and two hour ferry ride away, which i wasn't looking forward to, but it is also home to a regional airport making it my quickest way back to saigon and decent doctors if i so required.
I was squeezed in the middle of a local bus- 150km in three hours- and spoke most of the vietnamese i know... for about 1 minute. I ended up showing the people next to me a bunch of pictures on my camera and pointing at things out the window.
I made it to Phu Quoc in the middle of the afternoon and immediately fell in love. It was wonderfully reminesent of hawaii- pristine beaches, similar vegetation, mountains, slow drivers and good natured people. I rented a pretty nice bungalow near the beach, showered, watched the sunset and went back to sleep.
The next morning i didn't feel great- the antibiotics were helping and panadol controlling my fever, but i wanted assurance that i had not contracted malaria.... for which i was exhibiting the beginning symptoms.
To make a long story short- i got on the wait list for a flight at the airport, made a few friends while waiting and left phu quoc after less the 24 hours.... the bright side: the doctor pretty much laughed at my fear of malaria.
Yesterday I spent yet another day in Saigon which has begun to feel like home. I went back to the War Remnants Museum- probably the one place every visitor of saigon should see. After a couple of hours of looking at the horrors of war, i left feeling numb. I wanted to communicate this feel if only through eye contact. I felt like crying and screaming.
At the bottom of the stairs as you leave the museum sit a tank, a fighter plane and some large guns. I was as horrified outside of the museum as inside, seeing people mimic the American and Viet Cong fighters with the tools of mechanized death as props- shooting or getting shot- and laughing.
Today was a great day to leave Saigon. I am at a quiet and comfortable hotel in Hoi An and very happy to be here. I am planning on getting some tailored clothes and relaxing for a few days. I feel owed some time for ukulele on the beach and i intend to make that right.... right now.
