We got back this morning. But more about that at the end. Originally I was going to post daily updates from our Vietnam trip. But the computers in the hotels we stayed at had problems, as well as the memory card for my camera. So here is the rest of the the first stage of our journey, in more-or-less chronological order.
2/13 Mekong river trip
Its not actually called the Mekong river by the Vietnamese. They see it as one of several main rivers. Actually, I would characterize all of Southern Vietnam as one big city (Hochiminh AKA Saigon) which extends out along rivers and highways. Along all the many rivers and highways, there are shops the entire length. Larger towns have buildings behind the shops. As you travel on the road, you would pass bridges over rivers, which show where the town forks out in other directions. Most of this big, forking city was – economically speaking – poor. But anyway…
We did a one-day tour, with our guide, “Stiffler”. We went up to see the floating market, but it was mostly closed because of Vietnamese New Years.
Stiffler showed us a few things which people do along the river, including…
Snakes
Bee farms
Walking around in the hot sun
Make rice paper-wrapper
Ride around in row boats…
Along another muddy river
When the trip was over, we returned to our hotel, where the kids befriended the cute front-desk girl
Speaking of which… we stayed at NHATTHAO guest house (35/4 Bui Vien st.,Dist.1, HCM City – VN Tel : (84-8) 8368117 – 8368214 Email : nhatthaohotel@yahoo.com ) We paid $25 (I think that was a high Vietnam New Years rate) per night for an air-conditioned room. It was bare-basic, but it was also clean, quite, and in the middle of the tourist area but away from the street. HBO / Cartoon Network included. Staff was very friendly. I recommend.
So that’s it for Part 1. I will try to get Part 2 up tonight or tomorrow night.
Here is a preview, from 5:00 AM on 2/20/10:
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