Saigon diary II

3. A River so Fertile

Mekong Delta is said to be one of the world largest producers of rice (behind Thailand). And how could I miss it?! Definitely, no way;)

A 2 Days 1 Night Mekong tour was perfect. It was a lot of hours on the boat along the river, we saw countless smiling faces (happy people I call them). It suddenly made me wonder what would it be like to live among them, leading a simple and easily contented life. A life without car, stressful job, million dollars' dream and etc. Someone I met later on told me, I would be thinking otherwise if I am in their shoes (true, such is life!). At the same time, soaking in their warmth, all my happy memories floated back to me... it touched me, deeply.

The tour wasn't as great as I thought. However, an awesome company and a ever-so-willing-to-help tour guide made it all a worthy compensation. Our tour comprises of cycling in a village (which I unfortunately didn't do so after a lucky fall off Pulau Ubin, it has put me off cycling on mountain bikes on narrow paths with river; I also did not want to endanger the lives of other motorists/cyclists, LOL), a village tour, crossing the Monkey bridge (made up of planks and branches), cruising along Mekong river, a night stay in Can Tho city, plus a morning visit to the floating market.

Anton who said I looked Vietnamese

We toured with 6 Dutch, 4 French, 2 American and including 2 of us, Singaporean. The American couple are on a English teaching stint in Busan, Korea, like us they are on a short 5 days trip. The rest, however, are on a month long journey, some have just began while others are near the end of it. The 3 French are in town to visit otheir friend (Anton) whom works in Saigon and are doing the travels together. One Dutch couple has caught me by surprise, they are so organized, probably the best among us. They have booked everything well in advanced before the trip (and being rewarded with much better accommodation than us in Can Tho!). Another male Dutch couple whom I got acquainted with, one of them shared my special liking towards the smiling children by the Mekong village/river.

Kids playing marbles. Kids playing "zero point". Doesn't it remind you of something... ;)

Travel is so fun, there's always interesting people on the road.

4. Soaking wet in Vietnam

One more day left in Saigon after the tour. Back again in the bustling city with 3 millions motorbikes, crossing the road is often a challenge. The tour guide's advice: Close your eyes, and cross the road. The motorists will stop for you. I haven't had the courage to try this!

Ben Thanh night market is more enticing than the day's. Dining was good and cheap and the stall owners were less aggressive and pushy. I had the Avocado shake (which they do it with condensed milk), it was simply yummilicious!!!!!!! Lecker! They did a slight twist to my beef Pho which has a garlic soup base. Still very appetizing though.

Shopping at Ben Thanh seems to be the easiest thing to do, not the cheapest. But because of the unpredictable frequent rain, we were stuck there for lunch and unavoidably also some quick shopping. I got my lanterns at S$4 each, not the best bargain as Syndy got hers at USD3-4 for so much bigger ones.

Having heard much about Cholon (Chinatown) in Saigon, we went to take a peep. Tuesday itself, being Mid-Autumn Festival (Moon Festival the Vietnamese call it), was in fact only for kids (as we were told). There wasn't much celebration but the variety of mooncakes was something we wanted to explore. They have Shark's fin, roasted chicken, fruits, etc in them! It was near the end of the festival and there was 50% off everything which came up to about S$2 per mooncake. Cheap!

There are said to be 3 magnificent Pagodas in Chinatown but we haven't got a map and surprisingly most people there spoke minimal Chinese/Mandarin. With some help, we managed to only locate a small temple/Pagoda. Petite but sufficient for a nice short visit.