Hey all...As we've been on the move a lot lately...we've been neglecting our writing to some extent, which will affect detail. So Sorry.
Yo...'cheers' in Vietnamese.
Getting to Vietnam was another adventure in anticipation! We decided to journey by boat via the Meekong Delta...the most lush and productive land in Cambodia and Vietnam. I figured that if I had to live in these countries...it would be here that I made my home!! Anyway...as usual, we were collected at our guesthouse on time in Cambodia...then transferred to another transfer point, only to be transferred to the actual bus that would take us to the boat that would take us into NAM! We were lucky to meet a nice couple from Carlysle (England) named Rory and Shona. Adventurer's too...and nice to chat with about our 'Same same...but different' experiences (classic saying in southeast asia...bloody irritating after awhile to tell you the truth!...in fact, they should make a T-shirt that says 'Same same...REALLY' or something). Anyway...we made it down the pot-holed road...only the 4 of us in a 15 person van (twilight zone-ish...usually the opposite like 15 people in a 4 person van). We were soon ushered off to sit on their child-sized stools (for some reason they ALL have plastic furniture that we'd use for kindergarden kids) wondering if we were REALLY where we should be, if we purchased some labour camp ticket rather than the boat-ride, wondering why the heck only 4 of us were there! We DID opt for the slow boat, and not the 'touristy' fast boat...but at a savings of about 200% (6$ rather than 18)...it was the right thing to do! All was well...we were eventually led down a dirty path behind the tilted-stilted house, and only a 50 seat river boat. With only about 12 people aboard...the spaciousness and quiet (besides the harley sounding motor) was another treat...and the boat-ride REALLY picked up for me when I realized we were allowed to scramble along the outside of the boat, and scale up onto the roof!! Luckily, I had the insight the night before to buy a 1998 bottle of Bordeaux...nothing special...but a '98 for 6$ on a boat-ride through the Meekong, listening to a combo of good tunes including Louis Armstrong (What a wonderful world) and the Stones (I think), sipping (gulping) wine, and sunning my white body on the roof of a boat in the middle of another planet was a COOL experience! The farms, the kids playing in the river, the landscape were all out of the old vietnam movies (one of their accuracies anyway)...JJulia joined me for a tan and a foot rub...and we took it all in. Strangely, it seemed to be cow-washing day...as ALL cows seemed to be getting a MUCH appreciated bath in the river! ANyway...neat stuff!
Arriving at the vietnamese border was another experience. Not sure if we'd be rejected entry, as we were arriving a day LATER than our visa indicated, we had our luggage carried without our approval, only to have the porter DEMAND a dollar for his minute of un-requested work. We did get through however, and sat and enjoyed our first Vietnamese soup on the shore while our replacement boat was readied. The rest of the voyage was much the same until arriving at our destination of Chau Doc...a town (with the population of a large Canadian city) whose economy seemed driven by the river...many floating houses and fish farms...more boats than dogs (remember...they used to eat MANY dogs here though...but there were a TON of boats)...all competing for the loudest engine prize! This town was a neat introduction!! Despite the dirt roads, like in Cambodia, the kids were the first noticeable difference...approaching us to say 'HELLO'...rather that 'YOU GIVE ME DOLLA'. It was more crowded, streets filled with shops, restaurants, booths of ALL kinds, side by side...all with BLARING music!! It seems the Vietnamese don't like to socialize (my assumption), so they drown out any possibility with loud music! We toured around with our new friends after we got a NICE hotel room...and taught some eager 20-25 year olds a little english while we ate at a river side restaurant. Another noticeable difference...the Vietnamese portions of food are QUITE small!! Affordable...but small! It's funny too...despite a meat costing 1-3$...you don't order 2 of them out of principle it seems...it's like no matter where we go...we have to do things for the 'AFFORDABLE' price of the region! I suppose that's good for our budget!
From Chau Doc...we caught our own bus to Saigon. It was a 'local' bus...not typically for tourists...but more authentic. If you get a chance...read the book 'Catfish and Mandela'...it describes Vietnam PERFECTLY!!! ANyway...after I tried to fit my 6'2" body into a seat made for 5 footers...and feeling temporarily satisfied...we headed out. It seems all the buses are privately run, and have a crew of 3-4...1 INSANE driver with one hand permanently on the horn, the other out the window making relations with the other bus drivers (mostly nice), the money collector, and the bagger/client recruiter. This last guy would stand in the open door (in our case a 12 passenger van), and holler out at the passing people, telling them how much, and where we were going. If there was a taker...he'd shout the message to the driver who'd JERK to the side of the road, and while still rolling, the recruiter would pull the new passenger on-board. No matter how full we were...there was always room for more! Naturally, there are stops along the way...under the guise of bathroom breaks, the bus crew settle themselves in for an hour long meal (at a relatives' cafe), enticing all the others to have a meal along with them. We tasted some local fare along the way...I had the sort of typical soups (pho) with HUGE chunks of fat (meat) in them (rather than all the other parts of every animal under the sun), and Julia sampled the wee chunks of fishy flavoured rice (the size of a raisin)...which when wrapped in banana leaf, were about the size of a tennis ball. This...in the description of all of our bus-rides really...to some degree. AS with ALL driving in Veitnam...I've never heard such abuse of the horn, while they all simultaneously ignore every one of them (in a sense) against their own self-preservation instinct. If you're in someone's way...they'll drive there anyway and expect you to move. The lack of regulations and order is tough for us Canadians...adn whenever someone beeps behind me, I take it VERY personally and find it hard to ignore...particularly because they hold the horn blast for so long, and they are loud enough to deafen you! But for the locals...it's like no noise is made at all...they might react by moving over a few inches, but making sure they don't swerve...otherwise...death!
Arriving in Saigon, we successfully found another nice hotel right near the tourist drag this time. This is where the irritations of Vietnam really set in too. Not immagining it possible for the roads and traffic to get any more chaotic than it was in Bangkok or Phenom Phen...it DID!!! HUNDREDS of motorbikes pass you each minute, no matter how small the path, along with cycle-taxis, cars, donkeys pulling wagons, rick-shaws and of course...busses. It's shocking to see someone carry on a moped or even a bicycle what we'd use a half-ton truck to carry!!! Their loads are enormous...and often, a family of 4 riding on 1 moped...if any helmets are to be worn, it's the parents who wear them (this is rare too though), while letting their infant child(ren) chew the handle bars (or even breast feed) while wiping through the traffic at break-neck speeds! Although we heard of accidents...we surprisingly didn't witness any...but apparently the highest cause of accidental death in Saigon is head injury due to motor accident! Another thing which is now common place here, something we were primed for after Cambodia but not nearly to this degree, is the hustleing street kid merchants. Not only kids though...they all sell the SAME DAMN THING!!!! Books (photocopies) by the ton, bracelets, tiger balm, post-cards, sunglasses, zippo lighters, cigarettes etc. THey all looked stunned when you don't buy from them, for many...you have to either be rude to them or ignore them (after you've said NO once as they won't go away until acknowledged) altogether. If you don't want their merchandise...many of them will the whisper to you 'want some marajuanna, hash, cocaine, opium, acid, exstacy?? Unbelievable!! They aften use the same 'intro' lines too...'Whaz yurrr naaaam? Wherrrr yuuu frooooom?'. GOD...originality was NOT taught in their school system, and you can hardly blame communism...as they aren't that either (really!).
HAving said all that...the vietnamese are survivors!!! They are incredible artists and craftsmen, many of them are honest, hard-working, and TOUGH people. Little old ladies carrying huge bundles, hunching down on hard pavement for HOURS to cook, sell, sleep, etc. I admire them in many ways...but almost which I was deaf to tour here. While in Saigon, we ate many vietnamese dishes (ironically though...I still prefer the Vietnamese food we've had in Saskatoon!), we walked through huge markets, getting pulled and proded into people’s little stalls…all of them miraculously knowing what we needed and wanted. Some of the merchants would get quite insulted if you didn’t buy something from them after you’ve tried it on or asked questions about something or tried to bargain for more reasonable prices. It also seems that they think ALL westerners (whites) have TONS of money, they figure we should give them a BIG chunk of it…a very ‘memememememememe’ kind of place. It’s too bad really as I suspect many of them are wonderful people, but have caught the capitalist cold...which is actually a sweaty fever here.
