Saigon and Mekong

The holiday days are starting to run out. Soon it will be goodbye to Saigon, as we have hired a guide to take us on a two-day tour in Mekong to experience life in and around the sprawling delta.

The first pictures are of the food we’ve eaten in the past few days here - it’s incredible how quickly you get used to a different type of food than at home. And how easy it has become to eat almost everything with chopsticks. But funny enough, we are starting to think about whole grain bread and other typical Danish food, now that there isn’t much time left until we go home :-) Humans really adjust quickly when it comes to being satisfied.

We enjoyed the atmosphere on our evening walk on the last night. The upcoming celebration of the 50th anniversary of the reunification of North and South Vietnam is becoming increasingly visible in the cityscape. Lots of red t-shirts with the red gold star on the chest, and many places are practicing marching in beautiful uniforms. They are really setting the stage for a grand party, although it is also quite clear that some are reluctantly putting on the prescribed t-shirt!

The next morning, we and our luggage were picked up by our guide Anton and a driver, and the course was set towards Mekong. However, a few stops were planned along the way.

Anton came to Denmark as a boat refugee when he was very young, and as he was unaccompanied by adults, he was placed in a refugee children's home until a temporary foster family took care of him. He received his education in tourism, but it wasn’t easy for him to find relevant work in Denmark, so he made do with odd jobs until it became possible and safe for him to return to Vietnam. Now he lives in Mekong with his wife and two children, who have Danish names. His story shouldn’t be recounted here and fill up the page, but it can be passed on verbally if anyone wishes. Very exciting.

Since Anton still speaks really good Danish, it was a pleasure to have Vietnam’s history narrated by someone who is both a fantastic communicator and knows what he is talking about. Having him as a guide was a huge bonus.

The first stop was at a small temple - not for any specific religion, but more a mix of several, as I understood it. There was of course an entrance for women and another for men. Only men were priests, or whatever they are called. The building was lavishly decorated with plenty of details, so there was enough to look at.

Next stop was at a company that makes rice popcorn and candy mainly from coconut with added ginger and other flavorings. Everything was tasted and approved :-) We also tasted rice liquor from a glass jar where a snake was submerged. It was lying there ‘marinating’… Anton claimed it is the Eastern viagra, and served generously to the gentlemen of the group. We others also tasted the drops - they tasted of nothing but had an aftertaste of something rotten… Of course, we could buy a lot of things - bamboo sticks, bamboo kitchen utensils, a tea warmer made from a large hollow nut, and of course bags of candy and popcorn. Outside in the parking lot, a large snake was wriggling around in a cage. It was probably waiting to become viagra 😊

The last stop with the bus was by the riverbank, where a narrow motorboat awaited us. We only took the essentials for one night and left the rest of the luggage back on the bus. Upon reflection, that wasn’t a good choice when hearing stories of illegal things being sewn into tourists’ backpacks. Luckily, the four of us naive ones were surrounded by honest people!

The boat sailed across the Mekong River and deep into the smaller canals, where the floating markets are located. Unfortunately, it had become midday, so there was no activity at all. Anton explained that this floating market is no longer very profitable, because the vast majority of transport now takes place via the road, so not many 'pass by' as before. We sailed so far into the tributaries that the water level became too low even for the flat-bottomed boat. Here, two rowing boats awaited us. On each boat, a woman stood at the back and rowed - somewhat like gondolas in Venice, just with two crossing oars. It was incredible how quickly they could move the boat. It was fun and very exciting to see the surroundings up close. There were fish in the water that looked like the goldfish we often see in aquariums, but not many birds. Allan had been talking throughout the trip about how few birds you hear. Anton’s explanation was actually quite simple: if you’re hungry, you eat anything edible, so in many places, bird life is very sparse. Food for thought!!

After a nice trip, we arrived at our Homestay - a lovely house with a large covered outdoor area where we could cook, eat, and relax. The rooms were nice, and the beds were fitted with protective mosquito nets. Nice to be able to look forward to going to bed without smelling of mosquito spray.

The hostess had made lunch for us - elephant ear fish with salad and large river crayfish for three of us and a fresh spring roll for me, as I don’t eat shrimp or anything similar.

After lunch, Anton took us out for a walking tour in the area. It was evident that right here there was more money available than in many other places in the country. Nice and well-maintained houses with beautiful tile-paved driveways. Green surroundings and the river flowing right in the backyard. There were also trees placed on mounds, which we had noticed in other places without understanding the reasoning behind it. Anton explained that many plant trees this way so they can easily dig them up and sell them during Christmas/New Year. A bit like a potted Christmas tree in Denmark. Suddenly, it made sense. Many trees and palms along the river were laden with fruit and nuts - a rich pantry.

Before we turned in, we had to cook dinner ourselves - though under the skilled guidance of the sweet hostess and her son. We made the obligatory spring rolls followed by rice pancakes filled with salad, bean sprouts, and chicken. Very delicious! And as usual, fresh fruit for dessert.

Well, to the sound of singing cicadas, we crawled under the mosquito net and had a good night’s sleep.

The next morning started with a bike ride, but first breakfast consisting of an airy baguette-like bread and omelet - with banana and mango. And iced coffee for me - I’ve developed a taste for it since I don’t quite handle their filter coffee, which is quite a heavy laboring midwife coffee.

While we were eating, the man in the house had prepared bicycles for us. No gears, almost inflated tires and handbrakes, and off we went. I felt really good to be back on a bike after almost 5 weeks - I love that mode of transport. The plan was a ride of about 10 km, but as sometimes happens, ‘something’ got in the way. In short, one of the travel companions rode beside the track down a slope because the bike's handbrakes couldn’t keep up with the body's momentum. It cost blood, sweat, and a broken bone in the forearm.

It brings sweat to the forehead and heart-pounding when that happens far from civilization. There isn’t a hospital nearby, and the means of transport is a scooter, which the injured one was also transported back to the Homestay on. They contacted the insurance company, and we were referred to an international hospital in Saigon.

For obvious reasons, the injured person couldn’t row back with the small rowing boats to the larger boat, so he had to be propped onto a scooter and driven there - certainly not a fun trip. The rest of us boarded the rowing boats and enjoyed the return journey. However, since the water was extremely low in that part of the river, the many water hyacinths had clumped together, completely blocking the waterway. But since it was the only way as we were in the boats, we had to work together to fight our way through. The rower certainly fought bravely, and finally, she resolutely jumped into the water to move the plants around and create a clear path for the boat. We helped as best we could to propel the boat forward, but we were probably not much of use in 38 degrees of humid heat. The rower, however, was so impressive, and she kept chatting with Anton, smiling and laughing despite the hardships. We were about an hour delayed when we arrived at the larger boat, where we were awaited with some impatience by ‘the broken arm’.

Then, after the boat trip back to the minibus, we were driven directly to the hospital instead of the airport hotel, which had originally been planned.

The hospital was really efficient - straight into the emergency room, where they took good care of the patient. X-rays, wound cleaning, and checks for broken ribs or internal bleeding took about 1½ hour from arrival. Fortunately, the doctors assessed that it was safe to fly home with the arm in a splint - a huge relief that all four of us could come home together.

The airport hotel, which was just a hotel close to the airport, which we chose to avoid traffic chaos in the city - and the many roadblocks due to the reunification celebration - turned out to be quite nice and clean. Even though it was possible to rent a room for 2 hours for only 130,000 VND, we booked it for the whole night 😊😄🤣

Dinner at a Korean restaurant and then into bed.

The trip home was supposed to take about 13 hours from Saigon/Ho Chi Minh to Paris, but since we didn’t get flight permission over Pakistan, we had to go around. Therefore, the flight time was significantly extended, and we had to land in Dubai for fuel. So when we finally reached Paris, we had been sitting in the plane for about 17 hours, and our flight to Copenhagen had of course long since flown. So there was nothing to do but to spend a night in Paris. Normally, you might think quite well of that idea, but we weren’t exactly thrilled. Fortunately, Air France took good care of us. We received some provisions and water to take with us to the hotel we were directed to.

The next morning, we were up at 5 to reach the airport on time, and fortunately, the rest of the trip went as planned. It was nice to set foot on familiar ground and not least to come home - everyday life is still the best.

Thanks to travel companions for good company on a fantastic trip - and thanks to those of you who read along.