Saigon & the Mekong

After our days of leisure on Phu Quoc Island we hopped a quick flight back to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), by far the biggest city in Vietnam. We arrived midday and after settling in headed out to try to navigate our way to the War Remnants Museum. On our way we stopped by Ben Thanh Market, which while very interesting we found to be similar to many other markets we had visited in other countries. We're normally not huge museum goers and while this certainly was not the most well done museum that I've visited it was interesting to see some of the artifacts from the war and 'interesting' (in that same uncomfortable way the we experienced in Cuba) to see such an important event in our country's history from such a different perspective. After the museum closed, we spent the rest of the evening just experiencing what the city had to offer and hunting down food. We decided that having spent virtually nothing most of the trip we could splurge a little in the big city and ended up a nice sushi place with great cocktails. The (scooter) traffic was truly astounding even after two full weeks in the country.

Donut for lunch. One thing I did not expect to find in Vietnam.

Museum

Posters showing Cubas solidarity w/ Vietnam during the war. This November, last November.

So. Many. Scooters.

The next day we went on a great tour of the Mekong River Delta. We used the same guide my parents had used when they were there a month earlier and had a great experience. It was about a two hour drive southwest of Saigon and when we arrived we hopped on a boat with our guide and captain and proceeded to visit a number of interesting family run businesses. The guide was super informative, and we learned a lot about life on the river and the different trades in the area. We also got paddled down some canals in a smaller boat, and enjoyed a fascinating lunch at a family restaurant. It was a great way to cap off the trip.

Making rice pancakes

Drying rice pancakes

Mixing coconut candy

Chopping

And that would be rice wine fermenting in a bucket...

Looks very sanitary, eh?

Rice wine anyone?

He's making rice krispy treats!

Step 1: Throw rice in a pan of very hot sand

Step 2: Let rice pop b/c it's so hot

Step 3: Sift out all the yucky stuff. Then they mix it w/ coconut milk, put it in a mold to form, and cit it up!

The other kind of pancake making

coconut milk, mmmm

Many people live on their boats and sell produce off them for a living.

Lunch, anyone?

Jackfruit. We got a 'tour' of the garden area to learn about all sorts of tropical fruits.

We've both been to 5 continents now, and one thing that struck me throughout the length of the trip was that despite how different Vietnam was from anywhere we'd ever been, so much of what we saw could have been anywhere in the (non US/Europe) world. If you squint your eyes so you can't read the signs, the scenes could be Morocco, Chile, Turkey, or Nicaragua. While there are unique things everywhere we go, it's sort of comforting to feel at home around the world too.

We had one last evening to wander Saigon, and then a midnight flight out. Next stop: 10 hours in Tokyo.

We really enjoyed Vietnam. It was not one of our very favorite trips, but we are certainly glad we went. It was beautiful, relaxing, and intriguing. We both agree that our day on Cat Ba Island was our favorite, but there are many other highlights. We'd definitely like to get back to SE Asia, though it will probably be at least a few years.