OCTOBER 2014 : VIETNAM : Day 5 : Ben Tre (Mekong Delta)

I                                      

Today our tour company, Indochina Journeys, organised a day on the Mekong Delta with Mango Cruises.www.mangocruises.com It is a company that provides tours, guesthouse accommodation and overnight cruises for couples and small groups. Our tour today worked at clockwork precision from collection from the hotel at 8 to delivery to local guide, transfer via small truck through small tropical paths, river boat down the Mekong River, dugout canoe down canals with stops to view local industry -  coconut usage, brick building, rice noodle and paper production. Amidst this activity we were given snacks in grass huts,tea at a local home and delicious lunch at their guesthouse. Highly recommended.

Leaving Saigon. Saigon has a population of 7 million. Half own motor bikes!

The thick vegetation along the Mekong River. Two hours drive from our hotel in Saigon.

We were delivered to our guide and transported to the river on a small truck.

Our guide, Yeng, who led us to our wise-eyed boat.

Our very comfortable vessel.

All along the river were smoking ovens burning coconut husks into charcoal, which is sold for.power generation and fertiliser.

A small coconut factory, every part of the coconut used - furniture, matting, cooking oil etc.

Rice noodles and paper produced by small businesses. This woman makes rice paper for Vietnamese rolls and gave us a demonstration in her rudimentary, clay-floored home.

A canoe ride through the canals.

The Mango Cruises guesthouse and small restaurant.

                                     

Every course cleverly decorated with creatively cut vegetables.

       

Activity in the garden 

      

Lotus flowers everywhere, harvested for local floral businesses

       

Dinner with our Canberra friends, Shane and Kristin, and Mark's brother, Piers, at Thanh Toan.

       

M&M

2/10/2015

OCTOBER 2014 : VIETNAM : Day 4 : Ho Chi Minh City

                                       

Weather : sunny, 30o with afternoon storm

We are delighted with our hotel, the Sanouva. 3 star in the CBD. Close to restaurants and major sights.

   

Today was our Ho Chi Minh City tour with our Indochina Journeys guide, Tai.

                                      

The morning activity outside our hotel.

First stop the former Presidential Palace but since the fall of South Vietnam in 1975 it has become the Independence Palace, home to ceremonial occasions and is a virtually a museum, recalling the glory and downfall of the southern regime.

One of the welcoming suites, this one for ambassadors presenting their credentials. Impressive lacquer work.

Next stop the Catholic cathedral of Notre Dame, not a particularly memorable building but interesting for its presence and acknowledgement in the Communist city. There is a belief that the statue of Mary in the park outside has cried real tears. When it initially occurred thousands camped below it, keeping vigil, but the crowds were ordered to disperse to eliminate disruption in the area.

                                 

Across the road is the historic post office built by the French in the nineteenth century. The activity inside is overlooked by Uncle Ho.

We then had an hour at the War Remnants Museum. Not a heartening experience with tales of terror, torture, death and mutation from the results of Agent Orange - all graphically displayed. 

Lunch, included, at a local restaurant, Ngon,delish and lots of atmosphere.

Then for a bit of contrast, Tai took us to Chinatown's Kim Bien Market in Cho Lan or District 5.

There was a big influx of Chinese to Vietnam with the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

It is a huge wholesale market with clothing, homewares and a food section, specialising in dried goods.

                                     

Our final stop was at the Thien Hau Pagoda, built in the nineteenth century, and dedicated to a goddess who can protect people on the high seas. It has the most exquisite ceramic decorations, wooden carving and attractive courtyard.

       

       

                                   

       

Then the heavens opened and we made our way home through rapidly flooding streets

     

Dinner down near the river at a lively restaurant called Jaspar's, sitting outside on a small balcony, watching the busy traffic and nightlife on a steamy evening.

      

M&M

1/10/2014

SEPTEMBER 2014 : CAMBODIA : Day 3 : Siem Reap

                                   

Weather : 33o hot, humid with morning storm

Our last morning in Siem Reap and our guide, Soy, took us to the mouth of the large lake, Tonle Sap, to visit the floating village of Chong Kneas. Lonely Planet calls it the floating scam. It mainly comprises of Vietnamese immigrants, not popular with the local Cambodian population. Despite all this, it certainly was an interesting morning.

We drove along the canal south of the city.

There are flimsy shanty huts along the water, which are gradually being shifted from the bank to reduce pollution into the waterway.

Beer cafés along the route with hammocks for seats.

Arriving at the port, hundreds of ferries at the ready.

Tourists of all kinds waiting for the ferries.

Family activity on the river

Fisherman hit the nets to extricate small fish.

A school, hospital, small retail and even a Buddhist monastery...

Even small crocodile farms for leather goods

                                        

All manner of transport

                                       

A torrential downpour, the end of the rainy season

     

Back to the more solubrious part of Siem Reap to the beautiful gardens near the Raffles and Victoria Hotels.

     

A bit of advice for the would-be traveller. The Cambodian currency, the riel, is worth 4,000 to the US dollar. It was suggested that we take small denominations of American currency in notes as it is interchangeable. In fact, all menus and goods are given in US dollars.

Now back to Vietnam. For our meal tonight an unusual recommendation from the hotel. Down a nearby alley, up non-descript staircase to Cyclo - a set menu, cooked freshly for each table and with cooking class if you pre-book. Cheap, fresh and friendly.

M&M

30/9/2014