3 October in Saigon

We arrived bleary eyed and after checking in at the Hong Thien Loc Hotel we immediately went on a tour of the Mekong Delta. The earliest buffalo gets the clean water - there was a storm due later in the day so we got started early. On the way, flood waters were everywhere and every man and his dog was fishing in the paddy fields. We first went on a bus, and then a boat and in the middle of nowhere, we transferred to row boats and were rowed by boat women up a canal through a village with high levies on either side of the canal.

The first port of call was a house where a 78 year old woman as small as my thumb was making rice paper for spring rolls. Many of us had a go at making them and most of us failed. Russell's and mine were close to being able to be used but I suspect they went into making roast chips sprinkled with sesame seeds when our backs were turned. The woman who showed us how to make them was a scream. While we were trying, she was constantly muttering to herself - I suspect telling herself how useless we all were. Next we saw a man popping rice. He put sand in a huge pot and then the rice. Once heated, the rice popped and then the sand was sieved off.


The third place we visited was where coconut milk making was demonstrated and then coconut lollies which I couldn't resist. During the boat ride we passed a floating market where mostly fruit and vegies were for sale. Each boat had a pole with a sample of what they were selling hanging off the top. Lots of rambutans were being ferried to the wholesalers in smaller row boats some with motors out the back.

Apparently Saigon was built for 500,000 people so that part of the city is well planned. Now it has a population of 10 million so it is a bustling city with roads jammed with mostly motorbikes (3 million it seems), buses and taxis. Saigon produces 35% of the income of Vietnam with Hanoi being the second city. The past presence of the French is obvious from the French colonial architecture and there is a beautiful park in the centre built by the French in 1864. On the outskirts of the city we drove past nurseries for huge bonsais as well as other plants, businesses selling garden decorations and huge Buddha statues as well as businesses selling bird cages, etc.

During the row boat ride, the storm broke and we had an interesting time getting back in the motor boat at the end of the slow-boat ride. We had lunch in a traditional home built of wood with amazing carvings and spacious relaxing areas. There was quite a lot of inlaid mother of pearl in the wood also.


Cuong told us that when we were at the house for lunch, they killed a rat and we almost had it served up to us. If so, I guarantee my sense of adventure would have instantly deserted me.

We stopped at a Caodai church where a mix of religions worship. There is even a picture of Victor Hugo - not sure how he fits in.

Cuong suggested we could go to a coffee shop to purchase Vietnamese coffee and recommended the coffee made from seeds that go through the gut of a weasel. I knew it was produced in Indonesia but not in Vietnam. It sells at an unbelievably expensive price so I gave it a miss. Would have liked to have tried it however.

There are some new housing estates going up on the outskirts of Saigon.