It was whilst watching Apocalypse Now when I first encountered mention of the Mekong Delta. Although the movie was filmed in the Philippines, Lt. Willard, played by Martin Sheen, heads along the river to find Marlon Brando’s character, Col. Kurtz, in the jungle of Vietnam.
My journey along the Hao River in a bamboo boat reminded me of scenes from that movie! The bamboo boat was skilfully steered through the trees and although I didn’t see much wildlife and I was assured there were no crocodiles nor leeches in the water. I could hear birds cawing above my head and my travelling companions spotted frogs and a mud skipper (at least I think that’s what this creature is called), but I am useless when it comes to spotting animals in the wild.
In wider stretches of the rivers trade is still carried out with people from nearby Saigon buying the produce sold from boats. The market was busy with people selling fruits, vegetables, materials and flowers. It was gloriously colourful and people waved as we journeyed downriver.
We stopped off at a few locations to see other industries in the area including rice noodle making, candy making and a brick works, all of which required a great deal of manual labour.
Whilst watching how noodles are made a Vietnamese grandmother and her daughter began prodding my chubby arms, pointing to my silver hair, laughing, and chittering in their native tongue. I am an anomaly in the East as I’m the absolute opposite to Asian women who are small, petite and dark haired. I’m 5’ 7”, statuesque and towered a good head and shoulders above them both. Keeping my cool and not wanting to cause an international incident I allowed them both to prod away, touch my hair, smile laugh and prod some more. They smiled, laughed and gesticulated wildly to each other. To say it was an invasion of my private space is an understatement, but it’s not the first time it has happened when I’ve been travelling in Asia and I doubt it will be the last.
At the candy making factory we were entertained by two lovely Vietnamese women who sang beautifully accompanied by two gentlemen, one playing a guitar, the other a dan nji. This is like long necked banjo with many frets and only two strings.
I was feeling a wee bit fluey and had dosed up on Ibuprofen so I did not try the candy which I was told resembled toffee rather than fudge. A snack of dragon fruit, mango, pineapple and oranges gave me a boost and thankfully the flu like symptoms lasted less than 24 hours.
The brick works was interesting as the red bricks are baked in a kiln I’d seen in a European history book dating back to the 18th century. How people work in temperatures of a thousand plus degrees in the already extreme climate is beyond me, but people do and the thousands of bricks made each week are used in Vietnam’s flourishing building industry.
We stopped for lunch at a crocodile farm. I had seen crocodiles in the wild for the first time in Sri Lanka last year and was amazed at how still they are. I mistook them for rocks on the riverbank! At the farm they were equally as inert and it was difficult to know which ones were real and which were plastic statues! It was only when I saw the interior of their mouths did I know. The inner muscle moves up and down very slightly as they breathe.
Farmed for their meat and their skin, these amazing reptiles glared at visitors with disguised disdain and I spent an hour touring the site admiring the beasts, before sitting down to crocodile curry. I love curry, but curry no longer likes me, (one of the vagaries of being in my sixties), and I hate to write this but, to my worn out palate, crocodile tastes like tough chicken!
The countryside of Vietnam is lush and verdant. Rice paddies intermingle with fruit orchards and agriculture is a thriving field of industry. (Pardon the pun!). Houses are on stilts as the river rises in the wet season.
Shops, markets and makeshift cafes line the streets. People work hard for a living whether it be on the river or on land, many residing where they work.
Water buffalo can be seen dotted around the landscape and of course fishing is another industry which is thriving.
Messing about on the river was a little tiring and I was delighted to reach the Victoria Chau Doc Hotel on the banks of the Bassac River in Chau Doc. This welcoming establishment was another throwback to the days of Agatha Christie and, after a quick swim, I had an early night.
Two days in and around the Mekong Delta were a far cry from the horrors of Apocalypse Now and I was looking forward to my onward journey into Cambodia which will be the subject of my next blog.
***
My time in Vietnam is one I will always remember. To read more about this fascinating country please click on the links:
I mention seeing crocodiles for the first time in Sri Lanka, which is a beautiful island with a great deal to offer. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
To learn more please click on the link:
Once again a big thank you to my fellow travellers who sent me their photographs. Pat, Dean, Eveline, Malc, Anita, you were a pleasure to journey with. I hope you are all enjoying the blogs and I wish you more terrific trips around the globe.
Comments