Wednesday, March 4, 2009

March 3 Ben Tre to HCMC



We started the day off with a bike ride before breakfast. At 7:15 the village was hopping with everybody either breakfasting or their way to work. Apparently the markets start up between 6 and 6:30 so that people can eat at the market or buy their food for breakfast.
We were back before 8:00 and then we set of for HCMC by minivan bus. The more affluent take the minibus because it’s air-conditioned. They are popular and we were packed in tightly. There were 17 of us in a van that would hold 11 in North America. Good thing I just had a shower.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

March 2 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)





We went for a bike ride again this morning and then took a Motorscooter taxi into Ben Tre. Taxi cars are hard to find in the delta so Joan (under great duress and stress) climbed onto the back of a scooter one last time. Ben Tre is on a branch of the Mekong River and is a busy port. It also has a huge market that was filled with fishmongers. There were more kinds of fish then I could ever name. Alongside the fish were the shellfish and the snakes. The surprise was the locals doing their shopping without getting off their scooters. Even in the covered market scooters were driving right up to the vendors and leaning over to select the produce. Most of the scooters are between 50 and 100cc’s. But they are all 4 stroke engines and still pollute. Ben Tre is connected to an island just offshore by a footbridge. Again the crush of scooters was incredible. I created a traffic jam when I stopped to take pictures. We stayed long enough in Ben Tre to take pictures of the sunset and then we took the motorscooters back to the hotel in the dark.

Monday, March 2, 2009

March 1 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)




This morning we took the bikes and went out for a ride again. In the afternoon we took a boat trip through the delta. There were only the 2 of us, but we had a crew of three: A captain, a young boy who was jack of all trades, and a young girl who spoke English. The captain was a bit shaky, the young girl could speak English but she couldn’t understand a word we said, and the young boy was a delight to watch. Before we even got to the boat he was knocking fruit off the trees for me to eat. We cruised some of the smaller rivers and then stopped at a tourist spot where they made coconut candy. Again it is similar to maple sugar. They boil the coconut milk down to fudge. Because it’s so sticky they wrap it in rice paper and you eat the whole thing, rice paper and all. At the same spot I had my picture taken with my pet boa constrictor and we had a singing group give us a concert. About 8 musicians for 2 guests. Next we looked for water coconuts and the young boy put on a show. He was hacking, testing, and jumping on and off the boat until he found the perfect ripeness. He then cut off a bunch, but they fell into the water so he jumped in after them. Then because he was wet he went under the boat to do some work, then he hacked open the water coconuts and fed us. Ten kilos of water coconuts gives enough to feed 2 people. We visited fish farms, museums, shrines and then the sun set. We motored slowly home until we found a tree full of fireflies. Then the young boy hopped into action again and filled a jar full of fireflies for Joan. Either he’s fast or the fireflies are slow. We slept the next 2 nights with the bottle of fireflies in our room.

Feb 28 Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)




We boarded the minibus at 8:30 for a trip to the Mekong Delta. We had no reservations and no firm plans, just 4 days to wander the delta. I had a business card from the bus company and a brochure from the hotel at which I wanted to stay. The clerk at the bus company boarded the bus to tell the driver where to let us off and passed on the name of the hotel. I was pretty sure I could find the place since it was so close to where we got off the ferry. However a new bridge has opened and the ferry doesn’t run anymore. The driver told us where to get off and handed our bag to a motorcycle taxi with instructions and Joan and I were on two motorcycle taxis again. This time my driver ha,d our one large suitcase in his teeth. Okay not really the suitcase, just the name tag because it kept flapping in his face. We arrived at the hotel safe and sound and spent the afternoon biking through the delta. The Mekong Delta is the breadbasket of Vietnam. All of it seems cultivated and crisscrossed with canals and rivers. The Mekong River has 8 major and several minor outlets to the ocean. When biking you cross a river every 200 meters. We were riding along narrow roads, paved paths and dirt paths. The whole time we passed house after house. If we weren’t in a small village, each house had about an acre of garden or orchard. Some houses were poor - some seemed incredibly rich. These mansions were only accessible by motorbike, there was no way a car could travel these paths. We finished our day with a supper of elephant ear fish.
Note to TimG: The bicycle was a 1 speed, calliper brake, low tire pressure model that hadn’t seen an oil can in 5 years. On my second trip my front carrier basket fell off and dropped my yogurt and apples in the middle of the road. When I got it all collected and went to ride home, I discovered my back brake was broken. So I carried the basket in my right hand and used the front brake only.