Mekong River Delta (Saigon 04/19/2019)

The Mekong River is a 2,700-mile body of water that flows from the Tibetan Plateau through six different countries:  China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.  It is a major trade route between China and Southeast Asia.  The Mekong Delta is the area in southwestern Vietnam where the river approaches and empties into the sea.  It was also the site of a massive and successful attack launched by the North Vietnamese against U.S. and South Korean troops.

We expected to hear a retelling of the battle that occurred here and some reference to the war, but there was no mention of it at all.  Instead, we were bussed to My Tho, where we were loaded onto boats and carried across the river.  Once there we walked through a very rudimentary and manual candy making operation to a canal area where we were loaded into sampan boats (flat-bottomed Chinese boats used as river taxis) and taken on a 20-minute ride up the Mekong.  There was an individual “paddling” at the front of the boat and one at the back.  They weren’t paddling in the traditional sense of moving the paddles to displace the water and move us forward; instead as often as not the paddles would make contact with silt and our handlers would have to push us along the canal.  Along the way we passed make-shift staircases that appeared to lead nowhere and stilt open-air houses.

When we arrived at our destination, we made our way back up one of those make-shift staircases, and down a covered walk way.  There was housing on one side of the walkway, with a ditch between the walkway and the houses.  A man was up to his waist in water, removing silt with his hands and stacking it on the bank.  Our guide said they have to do this to create a barrier for the rainy to season to keep their homes from flooding – much like we use sandbags during a flood in the U.S.  We were served tea and fruit and treated to a musical performance, then moved on to another covered area where we tasted honey tea and a variety of local candies.  Then it was back to the original boats.

We stopped for a traditional lunch that started with fried spring rolls, which were delicious, then moved on to the main course:  deep friend elephant ear fish served in a fresh spring roll with cold rice noodles, cilantro and pineapple.  It was actually really good, but the presentation was not so appetizing.  The entire fish is speared onto a board and deep fried – head, eyes, fins, everything.  One of the women peeled meet off the fish’s bones and placed it in the spring roll with the other ingredients before serving it to us.

On the way back to the ship we had a photo op at an iconic 19^th century temple with beautiful gardens, and giant buddha statues all around.  Our guide didn’t provide us any context for this stop either, but during the remainder of the ride back to the ship we did learn some interesting things about Vietnam.  There are 54 different languages spoken across Vietnam. Saigon is home to 7 MILLION motor bikes.  It is the most popular city in Vietnam; everyone wants to live here unless they can get to the U.S.  The locals refer to the city as Ho Chi Minh City only when speaking of official buildings or events.  When speaking of their home or more sentimental aspects they refer to it as Saigon.  The best jobs are given to members of the Communist party, but there’s more to becoming a member than simply signing up.  You must be interviewed, and three generations of your family are vetted – if anyone in those three generations lived in South Vietnam before it was unified or served in the South Vietnamese Army you cannot join the party.  Another educational day.

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