Hope Boat Floats

We met Mr. Triet in the lobby at 10:00 AM. He introduced us to Thom, our English speaking guide, who supposedly translated for General Westmoreland during the war. We were led down a narrow alley to the river and across a very narrow, concrete path to a small platform where the boat was tied.

As we walked down the path, packs on our backs and day packs on our fronts, a man passed us carrying a huge bushel of something that may have been bok-choy.

G- You ok?

P- Ya think that dude could have waited for us to get onto the platform instead of passing us on that 2 foot wide walkway?

G- I knew that would freak you out.

P- I'm having enough trouble carrying this heavy stuff and walking on this tiny path without having to maneuver around people.

G- I know. Give me your big pack before you try to get into the boat. Just go slowly.

We met our boat captain who took our bags aboard, helped us on to the front of the longboat and smiled a large 4 toothed grin.

P- I hope he didn't lose his teeth in a boating accident.

G- LMAO!!! I'm guessing rot.

P- I sure hope this boat makes it to My Tho.

G- I told you yesterday to prepare yourself. These boats are going up and down the river all day long. I'm sure we'll be fine and if it sinks, we know how to swim. Also, I backed up all of our pictures and put the external memory drive into a baggie. We're good to go!

P- I don't exactly find that comforting.

As we motored away, we enjoyed the view of the riverfront, from a new vantage point, the river. The sides of the boat were maybe 2 feet above the water, the seats were indeed cushioned and comfy, and the breeze was cool. We watched Can Tho slip away as we cruised past much larger vessels. We passed a pretty suspension bridge and a group of fishermen standing, in the water, near the river bank, guiding a large net. We were amazed at the shallow depth of the water at least 25 feet out from the bank.

The delapidated shacks and small wooden boats in juxtaposition with a large industrial area and huge, ocean going, cargo ships was another reminder of Asias right foot in the present and left leg still in the past. Almost immediately we began to wave at people on other boats and on shore. The Vietnamese were not as outgoing as the Cambodians, but most would smile and wave back to us if we initiated it.

G- Sometimes I look at a person, his face set in a frown, and I think there is no way he's going to wave back to me, but once I smile and wave, he also smiles and waves. I love this!

P- Me too. I love being on the water! I'm so glad we did this.

G- The children are far less friendly than the Cambodian children.  Some of them even look like they're afraid of us.

P- I am surprised that so many will not wave back to us.

After about an hour we turned into a smaller tributary and entered the river communities of the Mekong Delta. We stopped at a riverside cafe for Thom to buy water, and the people stared at us as though they had never before seen a white face. Or maybe they've never seen 2 white women with shaved heads.




Off to our right was a woman doing laundry in a large bucket. The water was some 6 feet below her porch and she used a bucket on a string to retrieve water from the river. Back on the tributary we watched the houses go by.

P- It is amazing to me how much French influence you can see in these houses.

G- I was thinking the same thing. The little porches and the shutters on the windows.

P- Thom. The houses look very French.

Thom – Yes, French here before war.

P- Yes, I know, and the houses show the French influence.

Thom – (nodding) French.

G- I don't think he has a clue what you're saying.

P- He definitely doesn't.

G- Glad we paid to have an interpreter/English speaking guide. I wish he actually spoke English!

The remainder of the morning passed in this small river. Around 12:00 pm we turned into a larger river and began passing the town of Da Sec. The river stood at least 30 feet below the top of the seawall and the street. The captain stopped the boat at a small concrete platform and we climbed the flight of stairs to the top.



P- Thom. Are our bags going to be ok in the boat?

Thom – Yes, yes. Ok. Captain stay with the boat.

G- Ok.

P- (to me) If the captain is going to stay with the boat, when is he going to eat?

G- I don't know, maybe we're going to bring him something.

P- I'm sure he wants rice. He surely couldn't eat a po-boy with his 4 teeth.

G- You stop that.

We followed Thom as he led us to a place to eat. He appeared not to know where he was going and kept stopping and asking for directions.

P- He said he makes this trip 2 times a week; why doesn't he know where he's going?

G- I'm not sure he makes this exact trip. Maybe he seldom stops in Sa Dec.

P- I am amazed that these little people can walk so fast! His legs are not any longer than mine and he's like Speedy Gonzales. I can't keep up with him.

He stopped long enough for us to catch up, talking to a man who had stepped out of his shop and was eating a bowl of noodles.

G- Phyl, are my eyes decieving me or is that guy standing on the sidewalk wearing only his red pinstripped boxer drawers?

P- No, he's wearing his flip flops too. He's fully dressed.

G- They're not very thick. Avert your eyes before you see something you don't want to see.

P- Done, Agnes.

The conversation ended abruptly and Phyl & I had to snap out of our trances and run after Thom who had rounded a corner on the left. He stopped at a corner 'cafe'. Any image that my use of word 'cafe' may have conjured should be perished immediately!!!!!!! It was technically someone's home and we walked into the living room with a floor so dirty it could not have been cleaned since the French invaded Vietnam. We sat on equally blackened, plastic, Romper Room furniture. Thom went over to the 'kitchen' to see the day's menu and waived me over to make my selection.

G- (under my breath to Phyl) Well this place is disgusting.

P- (to Thom) I'll take the chicken.

G- (to Thom) I'll take the pork.

P- I wish that they would cut the meat in a way that makes sense. Randomly hacking it into pieces makes it difficult to eat.

G- I agree. No parts are identifiable.  You certainly don't get to choose white or dark meat.

In addition the the meat, we were brought, a communal plate of white rice, and pickled cabbage. We were each served a bowl of clear soup containing merliton, and green tea over ice.

The food was pretty good, as long as we didn't look at the surroundings, and cost the 3 of us a total of 50,000 Dong, or $2.50 USD. We paid for Thom's lunch, which was fine except that he seemed to expect it, then returned to the longboat and learned that our captain had gone off to eat lunch.

G- I wonder who was watching our stuff while he went to lunch.

P- No one, that's why I was worried about leaving it.

G- Well, we couldn't carry it with us. That's why I always carry my pack with all of the electronics and valuables in it.

P- I'm glad you do.

As we cruised down the Mekong we passed lines of brick making businesses. The ovens, shaped like beehives, belched smoke as workers carried (or in some ubermodern cases used conveyor belts) red bricks to wooden boats on the river. Thom explained that the rice husks were burned to bake the bricks. This area is the largest manufacturer of bricks in Vietnam. At least we think that's what Thom said, but who the hell knows.

We left the large river and returned to the smaller tributaries. The ride was smoother and we saw less industry and more of the lives of everyday people. It was the end of one of the harvest seasons and rice and rice husks were being transported in wooden boats approximately 30' long by 10' wide. The boats were clearly family owned and operated, and we know the families lived in a very small area on the boats because we saw women cooking, people bathing, people sleeping in hammocks, babies on their parents' knees, and clothes hanging to dry.

G- You see that square silver box that woman's in? I wonder what it is.

P- Maybe she's got a burner in there and she uses it to block the wind.

G- Seems to small to fit her and a burner and pot. That's about the 3rd one I've seen.

Just then the woman stood up, from a squatting position, pulling her pants up as she rose.

G- And there's the answer. It's her bathroom.

P- She needs a Pinky so she can pee off the back of the boat like the men do.

G- I'm about over seeing men peeing off of boats. They don't even try to do it in a discrete way.

P- Hello! They stand on the side of roads in large cities and pee! Why worry on the river?

The woman took the “bed pan” and tossed the pee overboard.

G- I know when we're swimming in the Gulf of Mexico or any lakes or bayous we pee in the water, but it's not the same water we wash our dishes in or bathe in or use to cook with.

P- Then there's the trash and the fuel and other crap from the passing boats.



G- Yes, I get it, and I know that back in the day, in America, Europe, everywhere before indoor plumbing, this is how it was done, but it grosses me out.

P- It grosses me out too.  Don't think about it.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in the tributaries and we enjoyed it immensely!!  We are definitely water girls and just being in a boat, on the water, and watching real life in Vietnam, not so far off from real life in south Louisiana, was educational and relaxing. Around 4:00 we turned back into the Mekong and stopped, among the water hyacinth, at a small concrete dock, where we were greeted by the owner of our An Binh Island homestay. We walked down a concrete path, past fish sauce factories (smells like ass!!!) and homes to the Nam Thanh Homestay. We were shown to our room, dorm style and partitioned into 2 rooms by large blue curtains. Our beds were large cots, set in a row of approximately 8 cots, each with a bright blue mosquito net. The bathroom was communal with a line of 4 sinks and toilet/shower areas. Everything was spotless clean and we were unpreturbed about being in this large dorm style room because we were the only 2 there for the night.

We met the remainder of the family and relaxed in hammocks until dinner time when we were invited into the kitchen to help make the fried spring rolls and Vietnamese pancakes. The mother was impressed with Phyl's ability to roll the spring rolls, a technique she had learned in our Thai cooking class, and we were thrilled to learn how to make the Vietnamese pancakes. We sat at a white tablecloth covered table, drank an acceptable bottle of red wine grown and made in Da Lat, Vietnam ($9.00) and gorged ourselves on a 7 course meal:


fried spring rolls

Vietnamese pancakes (filled with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts, shredded carrots)
green mango & shredded pork salad
grilled elephant fish
white rice, of course
chicken & bok choy
garlic eggplant
dragon fruit & watermelon

At the end of dinner the owner arrived at our table with a small bottle of homemade jack fruit “moonshine”. We joined him in a shot. Then we joined him in another shot. He attempted to talk us into a 3rd shot but we declined due to the numerous hairs already sprouting on our chests and the fact that we had already drank a bottle of wine.

I elected not to shower due to the cool night breeze coming off the Mekong and the cold water only shower situation. The cot was amazingly comfortable and much softer than any matress we had slept on since we left Bali. The matresses in Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia are made of a very thick, unforgiving foam. We enjoyed our night on our cots.