On to the Mekong Delata the next morning which I was super excited about because HCM was really westernized at first glance and quite commercial with tons of smog. My tour guide introduced himself as Lionel Ritchie and then referred to us as "the Lionels" for the rest of the day, in addition to the continuation of my habit of having singing tour guides. Man oh man had I forgotten the hit making machine that was Lionel Ritchie.
Today was fabulous and packed full of nonstop action until we blew a tire (which will come later). The group of people was also fantastic. There was a basque couple, 3 Swedish guys, and a wonderful family of five from singapore. After about a 2 hour drive we boarded a boat and went to taste natural honey tea, have snacks, and be sold bee venom and cobra venom to rub on our faces and take daily teaspoons of. Who wouldn't want such promised elixirs of youth if you can dismiss the fact that you are in the middle of nowhere and want to take the risk of a family doctor from basque and a urologist treating you when neither has epinephrine or antivenin? (you might have guessed I focused on using Jedi mind force to dissuade the group from such action.). Randomly out of nowhere singing Lionel appeared holding an absurdly large python around his neck in textbook " let's wow those tourists" fashion. After that there was a fruit snack on another island with traditional Chinese (not Vietnamese) music, which the chinese people in the group thought was hysterical. I sat with the family from singapore and learned about hot foods and cold foods and how even food has yin and yang. If you do it correctly every meal is balanced and has a purpose. They also talked to me about various eastern medicine methods. And I learned that the muscadine type thing I had been eating is called longan fruit. It tastes like melon in grape form.
Our group was then taken to canoe for about 20 minutes through canals on this particular island and after that we proceded to the coconut candy making village on a different island. They took us through the process of making the candy and then generously gave us the opportunity to by large amounts of it (buy 5 large packs and get 1 free). There was also a sweet banana wine tasting. I personally would have described it without inserting the word banana. It was pure alcoholic sugar. I decided to forego the candy and the saccharine firewater and bought my first fresh coconut hacked open with a rusty machete right before my eyes. I first drank the water and then scooped the meat. It was cold, super refreshing and just plain wonderful. Continuing the theme of no loitering, Off off and away again. The food continued at the next stop (which I would bet is a reflection of the Vietnamese vision of western fatness and how to please us) this time to lunch where the swedish guys and I ordered a fish that I named Henry the 3rd (continuing the tradition the Scots had started in halong bay) and made spring rolls out if it. Lunch was quick if you wanted to go biking which was made much more exciting by the brakeless bikes. We cycled through villages and by temples At some point Inetta and I broke off from the group and wandered. After all of this back to the buses to drive to Can Tho, deeper in the delta. At this point we were joined by more excellent people. A couple from Oz, Paula, a vietnam vet, and 4 guys from Denmark in addition to some others.
So far this tour was a flurry of activity and we were actually talking about exactly that when we got a flat tire We stopped at the next shop, woke a guy in a hammock up, and then were quickly on our way again. We later stopped for toilets and snacks because the guide had discouraged use of the facilities at the hammock guys place. On further inquiry that was inspired by the fact that the toilets and the chicken yard were one and the same. At the second stop I purchased a fabulous take on the rice crispy treat: ginger flavored. Back on the bus we all shared our snacks which made it even more exciting.
The bus ride was long, over 3 hours and led to the opportunity to all get to know one another and share information about all of our trips and our homes. This is also where I learned about nha nghis and began noticing that they are everywhere. A nha nghi is a happy endings house and is rented by the hour. These houses are necessary in Vietnam not due to prostitution although i am positive that constitutes some of the business but because of all of the room sharing and mutligenerational housing. Married couples use them with much discretion. Hotels usually have only one entrance and exit whereas these have several.
If you have been watching CNN you know that the Mekong Delta has been victim of floods in the last couple of weeks and I was able to witness it first hand on the drive and once we arrived. The street in front of the hotel was at least knee deep in water. The guide explained it now has to do with how full the river is and the clogged sewage drains. That's right. I said clogged and sewage. The bus in an effort to prevent us from wading actually hit the hotel. Upon arrival I discovered I was booked in a different hotel and was taken there where my room was on the "special" massage floor, a full description of which would change the decency rating of this blog. I decided I was definitely not staying there which a more difficult than usual decision to make because it involved wading through the muck back to other hotel. It was dark which assisted with my denial about what my feet were touching. I ended up with a great roommate and able to go out to dinner with the group (minimal wading since it was directly adjacent to the hotel).
The restaurant we went to was not one usually frequented by tourists. I must say it also had the most diverse meat collection I have seen: shrimp, chicken, pork, beef, squid, prawn, frog, duck, snake, bird (& different from the two other birds), and rat. I don't even wish I could tell you that I dined on rat sautéed with garlic or maybe even frog. No chances this evening with a full day if boating scheduled the next day. Morning glory it was.
After dinner the whole crew wandered around the town and we went to the night market and happened upon a funeral smack dab in the middle of the fruit and vegetable section. It might seem like an odd place for the funeral celebration however place and date and time of day are all left up to the monk who is leading the deceased to their new home to decide.
The pics: mekong delta:
Canoeing though the Mekong, my coconut, the menu, cobra venom.
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