Today was supposed to be a light weight day doing the typical touristy stuff. We started off late after relaxed breakfast. The first stop was at Vietnam war museum. Given the US public outrage and anti-war movement during the war days, we were already exposed to the dark side of this brutal war. So nothing in particular from the museum came across as a surprise. The visit was more of paying homage to the lost Vietnamese soul in their own motherland. The majority of the tourists at the museum were Americans. We ran into an American Vietnam War vet who seemed to be in a very poignant and pensive mood. He expressed a sense of regret but with the positive outlook after becoming a ‘born again Christian’. After the museum, we headed off to Ben Thanh market, local Vietnamese market with stalls selling local handicrafts, souvenirs, and local delicacies. Rain started pounding soon after we entered the market.
The market setup was very similar to Chinese market in Hong Kong or China but less aggressive. Also, in comparison to the China market experience, the sellers seemed relaxed and not pushy at all. In a lot of stores the ‘no haggle’ boards preempted bargaining. With Win’s translation help, we struck some friendly chats with a few shop keepers. Overall, we found the Vietnamese to be quite friendly, chatty, relaxed, and expressive. While we wandered around the indoor lanes, we picked a handful of trinkets along the way.
We capped off that evening by visiting my high school friend who is stationed in Saigon working for a global Pharma giant. We got treated with authentic South Indian spread and got caught up with old stories.
The next day was planned to be an action oriented day as we had booked for ‘countryside adventure’ via Airbnb experience. The activities were concentrated around the Mekong Delta where local’s lives and sustenance revolve around this mighty river. It takes about 3 hours to get to the delta. Hence, we had to start off early in the morning. By now, the early morning routines and drill were well established to get started and get out of the door. The night prior Faris prepares his clothes, packs his bag, keeps his suitcase upright with a towel spread on it with the toiletries and clothe neatly arranged on top of it. Narein tries to squeeze as much sleep as he can till the last minute. On this day, as usual, Faris finished his routine and headed down for breakfast. Narein unusually, without much fuss, got up and headed to the ‘shower’. It took a while to discover that he was taking a nap in the bathroom.
Chau, our adventure guide for the day, got on time at 6:45 AM with his van for the commute. Chau, visibly a fit and lean muscular guy in mid 40s with plenty of overseas travel experience also hosts cross country biking trips. He was quite engaging in sharing his own life experiences (a late bloomer in life who moved out from a village to earn a degree and establish a profession) and keen to provide us the local taste of his backyard. After about 3 hours of drive amidst the morning traffic madness, we got off of our stupor when we arrived at the intended destination.
We stocked up with water and mounted on our road bike for the drive towards the river base. After about 15 minutes of bike ride along off-the-beaten track, we reached the boat. The boat served as the base for the few hours. Since there were no other guest signed up for this adventure, we got a bit of liberty in getting more of Chau’s time. The boys took turn to ride the boat over the course of next 45 minutes riding along the Mekong river.
A vast network of tributaries joining the main river before dumping into North Vietnam sea (a.k.a., S. China sea). We anchored the boat at one the connecting points with a tributary, offloading and boarding on to our respective Kayaks. It was indeed a very hot day and must have tanned a few shades kayaking over the next few hours. The locals living by the canals were carrying about their daily chores with occasional holler from kids with a clear enunciated ‘hello‘. An elderly gentlemen was raising the banks of canal front in preparation for the rainy season. The Vietnamese hat was ubiquitous. The scenery of lush greenery, canals, boats, lazing around in hammocks, weather (and possibly life) hardened faces, Vietnamese hat, etc., could easily be taken from the Marlin Brando’s ‘Apocalypse Now’ (minus the macabre).
We ran into a cat fish farm bustling with synchronized activities of moving baskets of catfish from the farm via wooden slide to a boat’s underwater hull.
Pretty roasted under scorching sun, we Kayaked back to the boat, loaded our Kayaks, and on to the next stop. We got dropped on the land and over the course of new couple of hours, we biked around. Chau took us around narrow lanes via country side. Clearly the civilization in this neck of the wood was dependent on Mekong delta. The narrow lanes were predominantly flanked on one side by mom and pop convenience stores, small sized brick houses invariably with hammocks tied to tree trunks and the canal on the other side.
A number of boat hawkers (selling bamboo sticks, pottery, etc.) announcing their produce via megaphone in a precise cadence.
After a break for lunch, Chau took us to a local market. To give a flavor of local experience, this is a well-treaded path for Chau and in that process he seems to have befriended a corner in that local market. The ‘stalls’ in that market corner have only virtual separation with folks selling about their own produce on a mat spread on the floor and makeshift tables – jackfruit, pineapples, greens, cut meat, and rambutan.
Chau’s presence lightened up the environment with folks poking fun at each other and bursting into loud laughters. One would easily interpret that revenue from operating such shabby looking joints would just help barely squeeze out a living. Contrary to that assumption, we found them to be quite self-reliant and not pushy with their sale. The pineapple stall lady even had a tablet with a data plan, live streaming video from her kid’s day care. We very much needed that respite and entertainment after the physical grill under the hot sun.
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