After lunch yesterday, we returned to the hotel to wash up before setting out to explore My Tho. Our hotel was very nice and we forced ourselves to get over the fact that we were on the 3rd floor, which meant climbing 4 flights of stairs because the Asian floor numering system is just like the European one in that the actual 2nd floor is called the 1st. Apparently the 1st floor has no designation. We were only paying $10.00 for the night for air con, a minifridge & wifi.
P- The bathroom is huge!!!
G- I think it's bigger than that room at the Tune hotel at the airport in KL.
P- It has a large tub and a separate shower area. That's a first.
G- A bidet'! You can tell the French have been here. But look at the tub closely. Do you notice anything?
P- No.
G- It's just sitting on the floor and not connected to a drain. It just drains out onto the floor and goes down that drain on the side of the toilet.
P- Ha! That makes changing the tub easy and since the shower water is going all over the bathroom, what difference does it make.
G- I guess that's the thinking, but be careful you don't flip that sucka over when you get out tonight.
We set out to explore the town, smiling at and giving a slight head bow to the lady at reception who was holding a tiny, brown chuahuaha. There wasn't much to My Tho. After walking around a “lagoon”, aka stagnate body of water, we walked along a short section of riverfront, then settled into an empty, execpt for us, riverfront restaurant to have a few beers.
G- We've been here 2 hours and not another soul has come into this reastaurant. I can't imagine how they stay open or why they need the 8 employees dozing in their chairs.
P- Maybe tour groups will pour in for dinner. What is that sound?
G- If the tour groups aren't going to pour in until dinner, why are there so many employees here now?
P- Good question. OMG! Look! It's a boat full of Asian tourists singing.
G- How can you tell they're a tour group? Could it be the matching bright yellow T-shirts?
P- I never knew that Asians could be so silly, but so many of them are very silly.
Although our lunch of grilled pork and merliton soup was quite tasty, we hadn't eaten much of the boring and tasteless white rice, so we were getting hungry. We shared fried pumpkin flowers and marveled at how delicious they tasted. We contemplated ordering a dish of succulent MOUSE meat, but decided we didn't want to fall in love with a dish that couldn't be obtained in the States. Then we each ordered a bowl of crab and corn soup.
G- This is good, but I don't see any corn. What's this white stuff?
P- I was just wondering the same thing. This can't be the soup we ordered.
G- The white stuff has a very strange texture, but tastes ok, and there is definitely real crab meat, not that immitation crap, in this soup.
P- (to the waitress via a hand gesture made to look like opening a book) Can I see a menu?
G- So, what do you think we're eating?
P- Do you really want to know?
G- Sure. I'm not going to suddenly decide it tastes bad just because it's made with something weird.
Glass houses!! People who eat raw oysters & suck crawfish heads shouldn't throw stones.
P- In that case, I think we're eating crab and fish bladder soup.
G- It does look a little like tripe, but what kind of huge fish must this have come from?
P- I can't tell you.
G- You finished yours?
G- I didn't want to tell you this earlier, but when I was standing up on the boat as we came down the Mekong, I saw a black wild boar piglet floating in the water, and …........................ a dog head.
P- WHAT!?!?!?
G- I've been questioning if that's what I really saw, but I'm pretty positive it was.
P- When you say head, do you mean skull?
G- No. Head. Skin/Fur on it. It was black & white, kind've like Miche's dog, Mac.
P- Ewwwwwwwwwe! That's disgusting. How do you know it didn't have a body?
G- The way it was floating. I'm positive there was no body. Hell, we were in the sticks in that stretch of river. I'm thinking some country person ate it and tossed the head into the river.
P- They do throw everything into the river. Thanks for not pointing that out to me as we passed.
G- I do have to say, however, that we have seen a lot of dogs in Vietnam, so the belief that there are no dogs here because people eat them seems like a crock of bull.
P- I agree with that. Who told us that they eat dogs?
G- It is a common joke or myth I heard at home, but Samuel told us that.
P- Samuel?
G- The guy from the Apa Kaba Homestay in Malaka.
P- Oh, yeah.
A few hours later we headed back to our hotel, purchasing grilled chicken from a street vendor and some yogurt from a small store. We got a good night's sleep and relaxed drinking coffee & eating our yogurt. We didn't have to rush because a bus leaves every 30 minutes for Saigon. Knowing that the owners did not speak any English, I had used Google translate to ask for hot water for our coffee mix, and Phyl took the netbook downstairs and showed it to the lady. Voila! Hot water and 2 mugs in a jiffy! Being able to use the local language is certainly helpful.
After breakfast and packing, we Google translated a request that 2 motorcycles be called to take us to the bus station to go to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). We are always confused about which name we should use, but it seems most of the Vietnamese in this area still call it Saigon. We've encountered something new in Vietnam, that we've not encountered before, and it's something we don't like. When we check into a hotel, they keep your passports until you check out. Every hotel has done it and we've asked other tourists who confirm that they're experiencing the same thing.
We really are enjoying taking motorcycles as taxis, and thank Gawd we did this time because the bus station was much farther away than the 500 meters Thom had told us. Then again, maybe he was talking about the mega tour buses parked along the river. No one at the bus station spoke English as this was clearly a locals only station, so I pointed to what I wanted in the Lonely Planet guide book and she gave me 2 tickets that said Ho Chi Minh City.
We boarded the bus and sat in the very last seats so that we'd actually have room for our butts. The Vietnamese are like pencils and their whole asses take up the same amount of space as one of my butt cheeks, certainly Phyllis'. We sat waiting for the bus to fill up because it does not leave until full, and watched women/vendors as they walked up and down the aisle selling water, pineapples & steamed dumplings.
The ride to Saigon was uneventful and not scenic as we primarily passed businesses along the road and large industry along the rivers. We stopped several times to pick up or drop off passengers and each time women would hop on the bus and walk the aisle selling the same food items. The bus matron jumped on and off, collecting people and money. About half way through our 4 hour trip the matron came to the back, pointed at us, and spoke to the young woman next to us.
P- I wonder what this is about.
G- I don't know, but it's clearly about us. I think she's asking the young girl to tell us something, but the young girl shook her head, no, so maybe she doesn't speak English.
P- She looks like she would.
G- I think so too. Look, the man next to her is writing something down.
Man – You get off bus. Take bus B2.
G- (pulling out the guide book) B2 takes us to this (pointing) station?
Man – Yes. B2
Bus matron – (Smiles and nods, pointing at the paper.) Saigon.
G- Ok. Thank you very much. (I pointed to my day pack, then down to indicate that we had bags in the luggage compartment.)
Bus matron – (nodding) Blah, blah, blah, womp,womp womp
P- We have to transfer? I thought you said this was the direct bus to Saigon.
G- Ahhhh! Now I get what the ticket lady in My Tho was trying to tell me when I was asking for the direct bus. She wrote on a piece of paper My Tho – Some name I didn't know – Saigon. She pointed at each and I got the impression we were stopping at the middle name, but I assumed that we didn't have to get off.
P- How are we gonna find our new bus?
G- We'll figure it out. We know we need B2.
On the outskirts of Saigon we pulled into a large yard full of people with busses coming and going, looking like a disturbed ant pile, and I doubted this transfer would be easy, but the man pointed …..
Man – B2 there.
P- Go over there and just get on the B2 bus or do we have to go somewhere else to get a ticket?
Man – Yes. B2.
P- Just get on the bus?
Man (pointing to the paper) B2
G- He has no idea what you're asking him. Stop asking him questions.
P- Well I want to know what we have to do before we carry our bags all the way over there only to be told that we need to buy a ticket in that building.
G- No one is going to tell you that because no one around here is going to speak Engrish. Chill, Gladys, we'll figure it out.
P- This stresses me out.
G- I know. Just follow me. Stop worrying.
We got off the bus with all the other people and I indicated to the bus driver that we had bags under the bus. He nodded and pointed to the side. I assumed that this meant we were to open the door and get them ourselves. We pulled out the bags and put them on the ground. I slammed the door to the luggage bin and the driver pulled away.
P- Holy shit! Why doesn't he just run over us? Ya think he could wait until we get our packs on our backs?
G- No. He's got to go. This is why these people scramble, like their hair is on fire to get on and off buses. Take longer than a nano second and you're either getting left or rolled over. We need to move faster and that is not at all your forte'.
P- I'm moving as fast as I can.
G- I know, muffin. Come on before you get rolled over. You can bitch after we get on bus B2.
We walked across the lot, to the spot where the man had pointed, and scanned the buses parked in that area.
G- Look, numbers on the front windshield and back window.
P- I see it. It's parked right there. You think this is the right one? It's empty.
G- I don't know, but it says B2, so let's get on.
We walked down the side of the bus and were looking at the driver when he cranked up the engine and started backing out.
G- Shit! He's moving. Get on!
P- The bus is moving.
G- Then you'd better hurry. Jump on! The door is open.
He stopped, put it in drive and started moving forward. I threw our large extra bag into the open rear door, grabbed the handle and hauled myself and my heavy backpack into the bus. The bus was moving slowly as Phyl grabbed the handle and pull herself, and her heavy backpack, aboard. This shit is better than any stairmaster!!! The bus matron approached, I asked her if the bus was going to Saigon and pointed to the bus station name we had written on the guide book. She shook her head yes.
P- OMG! I can't believe we just jumped on the moving bus.
G- No time for hesitation. If we had not jumped on, we would have had to walk way over there and get in line behind that waiting crowd; we may not have gotten on.
Just then we stopped next to the crowd which filled the bus in seconds. We were very thankful that we had gotten on first and been able to select single seats along the window that allowed us to stack our packs next to us. We paid the bus matron who indicated that we had to pay separately for our backpacks. We assumed it was because they were so large, they were taking up a spot where 2 people would have stood. No matter, the entire bus ride from My Tho to Saigon had cost under $4.00 for both of us.
After another hour on the bus we entered a large traffic circle, and the bus stopped on the far side of the circle. We were immediately approached by motorcycle drivers offering rides. There was no bus station in sight. Presumably, we were near the bus station or they call this corner the station. Who knows, but this is very common in Asia. We negotiated a fare with 2 motorcycle drivers (20,000 Dong/$1.00 each) and had them take us to a guesthouse in District 1. We had no reservations, but we knew this area was full of reasonably priced guesthouses. After a short ride we turned into a very narrow alley, actually a street, and selected the 2nd guesthouse we toured. The cost was higher than usual, $18.00/night, but we were in a big city. We ate dinner, in the same alley, at a place named Asian Kitchen.
