Our first Pho, HCMC

Anyone interested can do a search "the Mekong Delta 3 day/2 night tour" for our itinerary (they are all pretty much the same tour), so the following are a few photos capturing some moments we experienced.

Craving for warmer, drier weather we decided to book a flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to tour The Mekong Delta.
Joined by a friend of Mark & Julie's, we became the "Family of 5".
Catching an early p/u private car to Danang with a flight leaving in the morning, we were booking into our homestay in Ho Chi Minh City before noon. On their recommendation, we found this great spot to eat our first bowl of Pho. The menu was extensive but we all managed to pick our favourite!

The Cozy Hotel found in the backpackers area of HCMC. Fortunately, the taxi driver showed us how to get to the hotel. We walked through very tiny alleyways to get there. They were a wonderful family.

Thanks to Carter for organizing and looking up what we would like to tour, first on the agenda was Saigon's War Remnants Museum, located in the former US Information Service Building.
Originally the museum was called The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government. Later, this was shortened to the Museum of American War Crimes and then War Crimes Museum. From the name you will understand why it was a tough place to tour. It heavily focuses on the crimes and atrocities of war and the emphasis is on the horrors perpetrated by the Americans.

Bias aside, the displays (from our very own journalists) are graphic and again demonstrated the brutality and horrors of war. It was an uncomfortable tour.

Our next stop was to tour the Independence Palace (Reunification Palace). Fortunately it was closing (we were all a little overwhelmed from the first 4 hours spent at the last museum). We looked through the gates trying to locate Tank 843, which was immortalized in footage taken by Australian Neil Davis of it crashing through the gates of the palace, which came to symbolize the end of the Vietnam War.

Woman working hard! Carrying her whole shop for the night's sales on her shoulders.

The next day we grabbed breakfast and went to the tourist office and waited. Eventually a guide came by and walked us to another spot, where we waited. Eventually a bus came to pick us up and we were hurdled onto the bus for the start of our first leg of our trip. .heading to My Tho - Ben Tre.

Vinh Trang Pagoda is the oldest & greatest pagoda (in the south) of Tien Giang Province. It was built in 1849 in My Phong village, My Tho City, in the shape of "Nation" letter of Chinese characters. The pagoda is surrounded by gardens of ornamental trees, ancient trees, and bonsai, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

The biggest Buddha we've ever seen!



The next stop was to take a small boat to visit a bee farm. Very interesting and then a coconut candy factory.

Then a Good lunch of Elephant Ear fish, dragon egg and cold rolls.




Then we had a quick Sampan ride back to our boat.
The Sampan ride was very crowded, down a muddy creek and not worthwhile except that it allowed us to return to the dock where our boat was waiting to take us back to our motorboat. I'm sure if you weren't on a tour, you could have had a more peaceful experience. In all our travels, there's still nothing like canoeing in the Massassauga Provincial Park back in Ontario. Back at the dock we were bussed to our hotel in Can Thou. We were pleasantly surprised to find it to be a beautiful hotel with soft western-style mattresses and fantastic showers!

That evening we were asked to find our way to a restaurant. We shared our hot pot with a Vietnamese women and another man from China who graciously showed us how to go about eating the whole affair.... no pun intended. After dinner we quickly walked through the night market. Same, same!


The very next day after a 6am breakfast we rush to wait and eventually board a small motorboat as our guide describes the way of life in the Mekong Delta.

Cần Thơ is famous for its floating markets, where people sell and buy things on the river.







I'll try to get a video up on FB. to show the ciaos.

Lunch stop for a sampling of bbq rat!

Rat

Frog

Fish Skewers (as if anyone wants to eat anything from the river)

Low tide

A very large spider!


Marg walking across one of the log bridges.


The gardens were beautiful
Rice noodle factory

To make the noodles, the first step is to soak the grains of rice in water. Water is added to make a loose batter, which is steamed into thin sheets.

Steve at the wheel.
In the past, stone hand grinders were used (and still are in some places).


Nothing is wasted, as rice husks provide the fuel for the fire.
A thick cloth is pulled tightly over a pot of boiling water, much like an embroidery hoop, and a paint roller serves as a handy way to oil the cloth.


The batter is then spread evenly over the surface of the cloth and then covered to steam.


The villagers have an ingenious way to remove the delicate "pancakes". Woven bamboo "bats" provide just the right texture to grip the sticky sheets.


They're then laid out on bamboo racks to dry in the sun.


Marg catching the noodles before they are packaged.
Once the sheets are almost dry, they're machine-cut into noodles.


Off by bus to the next stop, which we all enjoyed the most, and I don't even know where we were. A short hike into a park full of large eucalyptus imported from Australia. Through the bogs by motorboat and then onto a boat paddled by another guide to listen to the birds. The place was magical.

Photo of a large kingfisher.

Another hotel and another noodle "pho" for dinner.
Next day we boarded another wooden motor boat to gaze at another floating market and then down Hau River the river to visit a settlement of Cham people on Chau Doc (An Giang) referred to as the Cham Village. The major manufacturing activities of the Cham are fishing, weaving and trading fabrics, cultivating wet rice and some kinds of fruits, and making pottery. They live in stilt houses to avoid wild animals and being flooded in flood season. Muslim is the only religion of Cham people. Muslims rituals and teachings have put widespread effect on the Cham's lives and management of Cham villages. Each of the Cham must obey regulations and rituals written in Koran.



Next stop the floating Fish farm
Basa are native to the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins in Indochina. These fish are important food fish with an international market. You decide whether you want to serve them to your family.
https://www.davidwolfe.com/never-eat-tilapia/
Basa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6N2SX51d7w


Back on the bus to Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City

The guide on the bus made stops to visit the "Happy Room"


Saigon Opera House (Municipal Theatre)
Modeled on the Petit Palais in Paris, this striking example of French Colonial architecture is easy to reach and regularly hosts some of the city's best concerts.


Sometimes you just need a burger and fries.. a great balcony to get out of the rain and a great Hamburger from Chuck's Burgers


Another balcony to watch the traffic in the rain.


In the airport waiting for our flight back to Danang and Hoi An.