Nam - Markets and Mekong

This was my introduction to Ho Chi Minh City. I land. I stand in the customs line for 25min. I get to the front. I realize I've forgotten that I need my landing Visa first. I leave the customs line feeling less competent. An hour later I have my landing Visa and then it's back into the Customs line. I exit the airport. A gentleman standing near a lineup of taxis tells me he has a one ready for me. I am happy because I'm looking forward to crashing in my hotel room as it's almost midnight. He starts walking toward the taxis, then makes a quick about-face and starts off toward the parking lot. I am perplexed. He proceeds to take me to his Toyota Camry. There are no signs on this car. There is no meter inside. In the kindest way possible I tell him there's no way I'm getting in that car. He tries showing me his 'credentials'. They consisted of a fake ID card that'd been cheaply laminated. It may even have been a thin wax. I walk away and find a real taxi.

This was a suitable introduction. Not because I was in any real danger, because I might not have been, but because the country is poor and everyone is looking to make their money any way they can. Unless you're ordering food or purchasing something that has a hard price tag on it (even then you can usually negotiate) they will try to swindle you out of as much money as possible. Thankfully 1 Canadian Dollar = 18200 Dong, so even though you might get 'taken', you probably only lost out on the best price by 40-70 cents.

Ben Thanh Market covers a square km. If you want to picture what it's like you only have to think of a flea market.... but one that fills a square km. With shelves and walls and hangers filled with a variety of things. You can buy everything from dragonfruit to a fake watch to hand painted crafts to jewellery to coffee there. And if you don't want to buy anything? Get out. Because you will be bartered, pawed, pulled, coerced and cajoled until you do want to buy something. Sometimes you'll see something you want down a little market alley way. Then you realize that the alley is lined with people who want to sell you their stuff even though you have no intention of even looking at their stuff. If you have the intestinal fortitude to shrug off dozens of sales pitches in order to get what you want for how much you want it for, you're in luck. If you'd rather go to a store where you pick something on your own time, don't even bother coming to Vietnam....ever.

I went on two tours. The first one was a day trip out to the Mekong Delta that ran me 18US for transportation from my hotel, lunch, the tour and any entrance fees along the way. I got absolutely taken to the cleaners. The same thing was being offered at little tour shops for 8US. I don't know if I got a better tour or not, but it really didn't matter. It's tough to complain about doubling the lowest price when that only adds 10 bucks. The drive out to the delta wasn't necessarily nice, but it was interesting. The southern part of the country is intensely populated and dirty. Again, it's in direct correlation to their poverty level. You can't hold it against them because they've had a tough go at it. In the 80s Vietnam was listed in the top 10 poorest countries of the world. The entire world. That's poor. That's 'Chris Rock growing up' poor. They now find themselves as the second largest rice producer in the world and owners of a growing economy.

Enough capitulation to the documentary crowd though. On to the tour!

"Weirdest looking fruit I've ever had. A couple of bees claimed one my pieces. 

I didn't try to fight them off."

"I have video of this one too. I stuck my finger into the tray between the bees and pulled out some honey. I have to admit, it tasted really good."

"An 18 month old Reticulated Python. This little fella was 7kg but that same snake can reach 35 years old and over 100kg. I would not attempt to hold a 35 year old."

"Paddling our canoe down a tributary in the Mekong. I'd like to say I helped for a large part of it, but I really only did it long enough to get my picture taken."

"We stopped by a village factory (?) that was making coconut candy. I had a coconut drink earlier in the day and spooned out some of the actual coconut. Coconut candy = good, real coconut  = not good. Apparently the girls wrapping candies can do over a 1000 in a day. 

I can't even count that high."

"When we were in the village a few of us borrowed some bikes and rode around. It was a cool little stop. They even had a makeshift soccer field enclosed in a rope fence. Vietnam is absolutely crazy for soccer even though their country isn't a powerhouse yet. Give them a couple decades and they'll be where Korea and Japan are now."

"When we were working our way down one of the canals I could help thinking, 'Some troops probably came down this same canal 40 years ago.' It's odd to think that the country was a battleground not to long ago. I wouldn't swim in that water but it was still a nice view riding on it."

"It rained on us for a few minutes but nothing major. The storm left the sky looking fantastic when we hit the open water at the end of the day."