Saigon and Siam

For my last morning in Hanoi my mother and I wandered along the river and across to the centre of the small red bridge over  the lake where there is a Buddhist Temple  (of course there is...what else would there be).  Anyway, along the way I was accosted by a television crew and a guy who was a game show contestant who wanted me to sing him a song and then sign my name.  I sang him ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion.  I chose that one because they are always playing it at the breakfast at our hotel and I assume that every Vietnamese person must be familiar with it.  He was familiar with it and he even sang along a little bit.  I wished him luck and we then he scurried off at a trot with the entire film crew chasing him.  I hope he wins and I guess I will never know.

 

We had a delicious but expensive ice cream and cappuccino in a cafe overlooking the impressive traffic by the lake’s roundabout.  I took several pictures but they really don’t do justice to the dance that is traffic in this country.

I left my mother at 11:30 am and I was sad to see our time together end.  Three weeks together from Pearson International Airport to the Old Quarter of Hanoi.  A saying here is “Same Same but Different” and that is how I would describe travelling with her and then travelling without her.  I have many memories and am really glad that we did this together.

I arrived at Ho Chi Minh City and took a taxi to my hotel and the difference between Hanoi and Saigon is immediate and amazing.  Right away Saigon struck me as a grand old dame of a place.  It is truly a world-class city with broad avenues with lights, flowers, lovely grand architecture, and shining high-end stores.  I did not have a lot of time to explore the place though and that is my only regret. 

I met up with the tour leader Kevin and the other members of my tour through Cambodia.  It has been strange to go from a small group of older women to a large (15) group of people of all ages.  After our orientation meeting where I once again got an information overload, we set off for a 30 minute walk along the broad streets to a restaurant in what must be one of many fun market areas.  We were a huge group and there was another G-Adventures YOLO tour also eating there so it took forever to order our drinks and food and in fact...the Pho I ordered was not nearly as good as the one I had in Hanoi.  I think that was the first disappointing meal I have had since I arrived in SE Asia.  Win some lose some and I think I have won most.

The next day we travelled by private bus to the Mekong Delta, met up with our local guide Diep, got on our little ferry, and then started what has been my most touristy day so far.  We were taken to one of the fertile islands in the Delta where our guide showed us varieties of fruit trees and houses, and we were then treated to a lot more fresh tropical fruit than we could eat while some people played traditional music for us.  I started to feel like Kathryn Hepburn and it was a little strange. 

We then got back on our boat to travel to another island where we saw how coconuts have been used to make all kinds of creative things including chips (made from boiled-down milk), and most amazingly, toffee.  The reduce the coconut milk until it is thick and then beat it into a toffee, and then they might mix it with other things like coffee or chocolate....I will watch for that in stores because it is something I have never had before and must be tried by everyone in the whole world.  We were then shuttled onto a boat with a man working a long paddle and were slowly rowed back to the boat.  We passed by people’s houses along the way and saw kids being ferried (literally) home from school on the mainland by one of these rowers making the return trip back to the candy factory.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to live here and this be your daily grind and it was so strange that I had to stop.

After returning to the hotel, many of us walked to the nearly infamous Rex Hotel, passed the Oh-so-posh reception, and went up the bar on the fifth floor.  We then paid western prices for a cocktail and a chance to kick back in one of the best bars in the world.  The western journalist used to make this their unofficial headquarters as did the CIA.  I think my mother would have loved this because is was the perfect compliment to the Hanoi Hilton experience of only a few days earlier.

Anyway, I finished my evening  eating dinner surrounded by a cast of thousands in the market area where dozens of tables are set up outside and the food is kept alive in nearby tanks until they are barbequed on nearby grills.  It was fun and freeing and I think I spent more money on food and drink that day than I did during my entire time in Laos.  You only live one.

This morning we boarded our public bus to make the long road trip to Phnom Penh.  Immigration at the Cambodian border was very typically Asian and we sort of stood around in a big clump while they processed our fees as our passports.  I had both hands and thumbs digitally fingerprinted, and then I was in Cambodia. 

Cambodia is poor.  Laos was also poor and may in fact be technically more poor but because of the nightmare of the 70s, is has not been able to keep it’s farming intact the same way that Laos has.  We had to cross a river at one point and the whole bus was loaded onto a public ferry.  The locals were packed onto trucks with chickens and dust, and we were sitting in a comfortable air-conditioned bus.  They were just as interested in staring at us as we were in staring at them and I kind of regret not buying some of the creepy food that the women were carrying around on their heads.  Our tour leader Kevin bought some roasted crickets and I admit that I could not bring myself to eat one (although some people did)

 

That's all for now. Thanks for reading! Leslie