Day 2: Mekong Delta Trip

And I have fallen behind already...

I am in Nha Trang now, but will try to recount the adventure that was the Mekong Delta. We took a private bus, with the 4 boys and a very energetic and eager guide named King, about 2 hours out of HCMC, due SW to a town called My Tho. As is common here, the transportation was half the fun, as again we were barraged with motorbikes and truck traffic exiting the city on some very interesting roads. We got an early start (730am) and all had heavy heads, so we were quick to snooze in the small van. The surroundings were far too entertaining, so I stayed awake for most of the chaos. I still bend over in laughter seeing a family of 4 fit onto a single motorbike. I can only compare it to monkeys holding on to their mother's stomach and back for easier movement. Many women that drive motorbikes also wear masks to protect from pollution since it is quite bad in HCMC. They have even turned them into fashion outlets, with designer masks and helmets turning into status symbols of sorts. Brave individuals even carry whole bales of hay (stacked a good 8-10 feet high), mattresses(Kevin swears), and furniture on their motorbikes. As you may imagine, this provides for a lot of confusion and heaps of honking. Incessant honking!

So we arrived at the My Tho port along the Mekong. The river, which flows through China and Cambodia before entering Vietnam, is huge at this point. A good 1/4 mile wide, I would say. It is bustling with junk boats, fishermen, sand dredgers, and brightly colored tourist boats coming and going. Not as intense as the motorbikes though, so it was a welcome escape.

With our trusted guide King singing and dancing to Michael Jackson and providing Mike Tyson impressions, it almost felt like we were back in the States. Our first purchase was 4 rice patty hats (somewhat as a joke, but paid off by providing shelter from the bright sun of the day). We made our way to an island, walked through some shops selling snake wine, shoes, fans; the usual tourist fair. Joe bought a nice snake skin belt, his 4th of the trip. We heard a traditional Vietnamese folk song w/ sitar and a few other unique instruments. It closely resembles the screeching of Indian music, but is very nice nevertheless. We sampled various fruits including papaya, pineapple, and 3 other unnamed but interesting tasties. Then we got to hold a rather large and imposing python. We were quickly ushered to taste snake wine (an aphrodisiac, not always recommended with a group of 3 guys, but when in Rome!). It is quite strong and did not exactly sit well with our uneasy stomachs. But we persevered and even bought some for all of you to try when we return!

Next up, we boarded some smaller canoe type boats driven by women dressed in traditional Vietnamese attire. They assumed the typical Vietnamese position, which involves crouching, flat footed, knees in front of you, butt touching the ground. (Words do not do it justice. We have tried to imitate it, hopefully in a few weeks I will be a master squater.) They paddled us through a very beautiful tree lined channel, whizzing past boats moving in the opposite direction. Our drivers clearly drew the short straw, with the task of paddling 4 American men is quite different from the typical Asian tourist. The slower pace made it so much more the beautiful and we did reward them with a healthy tip!

The next island had us eating lunch; spring rolls with cucumber, carrots, cabbage, and fresh fish, picked off of a whole fish served right in front of us. Although my sister Katie did give me a prep course on spring roll making in December, we had a dextrous waitress to help ease the process. Very tasty! We poked around the island, boated some more, and headed back to HCMC...only to get a flat tire on the van. A minor hiccup, but we were back on our way into the rush hour mayhem shortly after. On this ride, we drove past a circus/entertainment arena that advertised a cowboy riding a laughing donkey. The cowboy is identical to my friend Dan Lee with a mustache. I didn't realize he had come over here already...

That night, we dined on beef steak and shrimps (yes, always shrimps) in a restaurant just outside of a huge day market. The rest of the night, we hung out and played euchre in our backpacker neighborhood, Pham Ngu Lao. We went to the usual hang out with our friend Lin (bartender at a local spot), but Mark and I called it an early night for a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day... Tight spaces are no good for a hangover!