Somewhere in the South China Sea, heading south on yet another lovely day. The sky is a bit overcast but it feels like 30 degrees, even with the wind from the ship's movement and the area is calm. I say this because it was very windy and a bit rocky as we left the Mekong River last night. However we have 4 sea days until we reach Komodo Island on Thursday, so I can handle this sort of weather. Some of our "new" passengers are already bemoaning the upcoming days - let them get off & walk I say.
Yesterday was our visit to Vietnam and we had a very early start as we had to assemble by 7.10, so an early wake-up and small breakfast as I wasn't up to much, given that we had as lot of travelling to do. We were docked in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, about 4 hours up the Mekong River. It was very reminiscent of our river cruise as we sailed up (& down). Interestingly, the locals still call the city Saigon and clearly there are major differences in attitudes, food & culture between the north and the south (but we thought it safer to " not mention their war!).
Our trip involved a 1.5 hour coach ride to Me Hong (Mekong), through Saigon and through the countryside. Although it was relatively early, and a Saturday, Saigon streets were congested with motorcycles, carrying 1, 2, 3 & sometimes 4! Thankfully for them there are very few cars. The reading system was generally good and there are major motorways out of the city - 6 to 8 lanes. But they are tolled and we're stopped a number of times on various sectors. Once clear of the city, we entered the rural area, where rice is the major crop. Apparently last year Vietnam overtook Thailand as the top rice producer. They also overtook Brazil as the top coffee producer too. The paddies initially were very small fields around the family home, but as we got further out, the paddies got much bigger. One thing that struck us though was the large headstones scattered amongst the rice. Apparently they bury the dead on the family land, not in a separate area as we might, but all over the place. Must be a nightmare when harvesting etc.
When we arrived at the wharf terminal, there were about 10 buses, from different touring groups - but when we returned there were nearer 100. I don't know where they all came from, but apart from the half a dozen or so Princess tours, most seemed to be Asian, so tourism is on the up. However, I am ahead of myself (again). Our tour was a trip on the Mekong Delta to an island and we boarded our ancient wooden boat, which had a number of holes in it, a very noisy & smelly diesel engine, yet somehow floated and motored. We went up the river a little and over to an island, where we were offered a drink of honey, bee pollen, lime & lemongrass tea - it was actually very pleasant. Onwards we went to visit a Vietnamese home adjacent. Enough said. Next we walked a little way and arrived at another venue, where we were offered all types of local fruit (including the smallest bananas I've ever seen) & some more tea of some sort. All very touristy, but nice, we then had local performers doing song & dance - very local songs finishing with "If you're happy & you know it ....." Oh, and that is when the donation boxes came around!
I should point out that there were probably up to a dozen groups doing the same things, but spaced out. However once the food/song & dance was over, it was across to the next group, and on and on. There were of course markets operating to help loosen the wallets. Next was a walk through the jungle path to a little creek which ran into the Mekong. We all got into little wooden boats (these were in even worse repair & held 4 passengers and a girl at front and back, who did the paddling. We got out just before we reached the river proper thankfully as I'd hate to be in real water in these things. Next up was the coconut confectionery manufacturing, which was also interesting, but very much a tourist thing. The bloke had to unplug the fan from an adapter to enable the grinder to go. I am sure that the goods for sale actually came from a factory elsewhere and from a Health & Safety angle .....
It was getting hotter by then, as it was coming up midday and we were pleased to reboard our big noisy boat and head off under the huge bridge linking the island to the mainland and part the numerous fish farms anchored in the river. We soon reached a large hotel/reception place where we were to have lunch. They had a number of open-aired rooms and in one there was a wedding group of up to 200 people (so money is not really a great issue in this part). We were seated in groups of 4 - two at each table. We had a great banquet of prawns, whole fish (like a snapper) which had been cooked whole and flesh wrapped in rice paper with pineapple & cucumber - this was all done at the table. Pork, some sort of roll thingy, a sort of sweet bread type of thing which came out as a big hollow ball and was cut up for nibbles. Finally noodles and a soupy dish - but by then we were pretty well done. Oh, almost forgot, a local beer 333. It almost evaporated in the heat.
So back to the boat & back to Me Hong, but on the way they cut up pineapples with a machete, initially with a triangle in the top for a drink and afterwards cut in half to eat. We didn't. Found our bus and journeyed back to the ship - arriving just as they were disassembling the gangway. At least with a Princess tour we knew they wouldn't go without us. But we sailed quickly thereafter. I suspect that as we had quite a journey down the river, the tides are probably important. We did not see many big boats on the river and the larger ones berth much further away.
On the bus our guide offered a sample of rice wine, made locally. It was only 40% :-) As one Aussie quipped, best to empty it into the petrol tank, as it would make us go faster. Another said that they had the same stuff in Australia, called Methylated Spirits. I had a sip in the cap of a water bottle - not again! Our guide said that Vietnamese men die early as they smoke & drink too much - certainly just about every man had a cigarette, including the soldiers on duty and the men in the toll booths. As far as drinking was concerned, every town & village we passed was full of men gathered together - no sign of the women.
Since I started this, we have had rain, sun & more rain. Considering the monsoon is still around we have been extremely lucky and hope that this will continue. Komodo Island is our next port and unless we are rated by the Komodo Dragons, I'll update after we are back on our way. Do not want to think too much that it is only a fortnight until our voyage comes to an end. So many things to talk about (& only 2,300 photos so far - who's for a photo evening, weekend :-) ).
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