Day 11 – HCMC to Mekong Delta

Hotel breakfast as covered previously, pho the only saving grace but even then probably the winner of the worst meal of the trip – Hoi An hotel takeaway at least had the excuse of it having to be packable.

Then it’s on the bus to the Mekong delta, minus a quick delay while the police shook down the bus driver for going outside the white lines on the freeway. The freeway is the only place in the country they enforce road rules apparently, and then it’s about a 6 million VND fine and 30 days suspended license, or something like that. Tour group all pitched in to help cover the fine, and the punishment certainly doesn’t seem to fit the crime. As for the freeway, it’s fairly fast and clear, but not very well maintained, lots of potholes and bumps.

At the delta we were greeted by our regional guide, a fresh faced 28 year old who is still unmarried, a bit of a disappointment to his family. Then it was on the boat, cruising up the Mekong River. The delta is hot, humid, not as bad as Hue but still sticky. I’m drinking about 3 litres of water a day, maybe more. Out on the river was a little cooler, with the occasional breeze providing some relief. The river water is quite warm on the surface.

First stop was lunch at a homestay place on stilts on the banks of the river. Got there via a 20 odd minute walk, through very dry ground (even though it rains every day) where the trees were full of fruit: pomello, jackfruit, coconuts, papaya, and my favourite, durian. It’s amazing to see so much fruit just growing by the side of the path, It seems to be a fairly uncomplicated life on the delta, lots of farming and trading and quite free from a lot of the crap of the first world. I could start a long diatribe here about first world problems and all that, but first world problems are just as valid for folks who live in the first world. I’m not saying it’s an easy life on the delta, I imagine there’s a lot of hard work involved, but the people seem happy and to a first world traveller with a day job, there’s a certain appeal.

Lunch was soup, local fried spring rolls, pork, rice and jackfruit to finish. Jackfruit tastes a lot like hubba bubba bubblegum, original flavour with a hint of grape flavour. Doesn’t compliment beer at all, but after a few pieces doesn’t seem as sweet. The dining room was open, and cooled by pumping water up to the roof where there was a pipe with holes like a sprinkler. I think I haven’t mentioned that the delta tour involves 24 hours without aircon. And to be fair to the sweaty westerners, our guide was saying that it was a little over the average temperature.

After lunch we were back on the boat, heading through some delta canals to an old house for some more fruit, fresh mango, papaya and a white fruit that went with salt and pepper. Washed down with a couple of shots of Mekong whiskey. Mekong whiskey has a couple of things in common with some scotches: it is aged longer than a day, and it has a strong sherry flavour. Unlike The Macallan or Aberlour, the sherry comes not from aging in first fill sherry barrels, but from the ginseng and other herbs and spices added. Mekong whiskey is aged for a random amount of time, probably not 3 years, and not in wood at all I don’t think, the vessel of choice seems to be glass, or plastic (though it’s doing my head in to think that they age any alcohol in plastic for any length of time, so I’m hoping for glass).

And then there’s the snake. The first stage of Mekong whiskey making involves getting a snake, gutting and cutting its head off, then sticking it in a container of rice wine, where it sits for a year or two. I was a little concerned that the stuff we drank had the snake in contact with air – the level of the whiskey was below some of the serpent, but I’m not puking all over the bus so I’m guessing after 2 years the pickling means bugs ain’t going near that stuff.

After the shots we had a meet and greet with the local pet python, a beautiful beast maybe 35kg and 3 metres long. Heavy brute on the shoulders, but quite placid. No one got bit or constricted, even though a few of us must have smelt of the snake whiskey.
Then it was stop, hammock time. A 20 or so minute siesta in some gently rocking hammocks trying to capture any breeze. One of the group, S from Bristol, a gent who had no qualms about hanging on the back of a motorbike while taking snaps with a large camera, viewed the hammocks with some trepidation, but with a joint effort we peer group pressured him and he seemed to relax a little by the end (later in the day he even got into a hammock without any coercion.

After the siesta we were rowed down the canal by a wonderful and fit old lady, where we all wore the traditional cone hat (the locals still wear these a lot, and L tells me they are great for allowing airflow and keeping cool). We rejoined our motor boat a way down stream and then it was off to the homestay for the night. This homestay was the big house of Mr and Mrs Ten (children in these parts get a number as part of their name).

Mrs Ten’s house (we didn’t meet Mr Ten) was fabulous. A good sized, two storey, a couple of hammocks and it really felt like a home. If it would work at home I’d be tempted to set up a hammock, but there’s no where cool and shady out the back where it would really work. I’ve heard and read many times that the Vietnamese are a really friendly people and here was the best example, smiling, welcoming, and serving great food. We were invited to help prepare the spring rolls for dinner, apparently an unusual pleasure as previous groups have just wanted to sit and drink, but we are a food tour afterall. It was great to get among it, grating papaya, rolling the filling around the delicate rice paper.

Then it was a short relaxing time before dinner, time for beer and hammock. Dinner started with the obligatory spring rolls, then came the amazing elephant ear fish. Served deep fried and whole, the game is to pick it apart and then make a roll with rice paper, herbs and vegetables. Tried my best to pick the fish clean, as I’m assuming it’s a bit of a delicacy and didn’t want to be a wasteful westerner leaving the best bits. Then came some pork and duck egg cooked in a wonderful broth, and some more vegetables and rice. Apparently the delta way is to try to feed the visitors until they burst, so some leftover food is okay, which is good because we couldn’t get through it all. There was also a very large prawn in the mix, and a wonderfully clear and light vegetable soup with little pork balls. To aid digestion, and as part of the general hospitality, we had a couple of plastic bottles of local rice wine, a fairly powerfully distilled spirit infused with star anise to make something like ouzo or pernod. While not too potent (maybe 35%) the aniseed lingered. Still, no hangover.

Our sleeping arrangements were two adjoining rooms of single beds, each with a mosquito net, and multiple fans around the room. Though we’d had some wonderful cooling rain in the afternoon on the river, by bedtime it was just hot and humid. Who would have thought that the tropics would have such tropical weather? I packed a thin silk sleeping bag liner but kicked it off as soon as I could. Lay awake for a while thinking I’d never be able to sleep in this heat, then woke up in the morning.