read part 1: Travel Writing - Bangkok
read: Travel Writing, part 2 - Cambodia

Travel Writing, part 3 - Vietnam
Crossing into Vietnam was another exercise in heartache. Again, the poverty along the bus route was unbelievable. Here we were being carted through the countryside in a "limousine" bus (meaning it had a bathroom and a/c), while outside our windows people and children were doing whatever they could to survive.

Before making it into Vietnam, the bus had to cross a river on a ferry boat. We had to wait for our turn to drive onto the ferry. As we sat on the bus, children selling anything you could imagine, from food to sunglasses, pounded the windows of the bus, trying to get our attention. My first reaction was to be annoyed. At this point in the trip, I was getting tired of these kids and people wanting me to buy their stuff every time I stopped. But then you have to stop and think about what is really happening. I'm on a nice, air-conditioned bus. They are trying to make enough money to make it through another day. Loose change for me. A day of food for them.

The bus made it onto the ferry, and several kids followed. They started climbing all over the ferry to get to eye-level height with the bus windows. They continued pounding on the windows, pointing to our food and bottles of water. One guy sitting across from us opened the window and handed his water and cookies to a kid. Then all the kids went nuts. Once you give one of them something, then they know the bus is full of people with stuff to give. It's hard to ignore. They even wanted our empty water bottles. One girl, as we left the Vietnam border building, was collecting the empty bottles with a huge smile across her face. A man sitting behind us had opened his window and was throwing out all of our bottles to her. I guess she can sell them.

The kids were hard to watch. I saw several very small kids running alongside the bus, they were missing arms, had damaged legs. One kid was missing both arms. It's likely a result of landmines, which are very much still a problem. We heard warnings and saw signs throughout Cambodia especially, warning not to wander off of the paths due to the threat of undetonated landmines still very much a reality.

We finished our bus trip to Ho Chi Minh, and this time we were greeted with a much nicer city than our arrival into Phnom Penh. And, our bus deposited us just a few steps from our hotel. A fairly nice hotel, which turned out to be in the middle of a great area full of shopping, restaurants, and more bus tours. It was great. And very welcome after our last several days and nights in less-than-stellar conditions throughout Cambodia.

We checked into our hotel, this time landing a room with THREE beds. This was all very exciting for us. Finally, the first time since all three of us were together on the trip, we would each get our own bed. AND, the bathroom had a separate shower, with shower curtain. No more all-in-one bathroom extravaganza. Plus, we found free toothbrushes in the bathroom. It's like they knew at this point in our journey that our toothbrushes were of a serious funk. I was in love with this hotel.

We ate lunch downstairs and then headed out to wander the streets and shop. I was feeling super sick, congested, and not able to breathe, but with only another two days left to my trip, I didn't want to waste time laying in bed.

There was some confusion about the Vietnam money situation. Everything is payable in U.S. dollars, but the cash I was able to get out of the hotel ATM (finally an ATM - there are no ATMs in Cambodia. Be sure to arrive there with plenty of cash.) was in dong, the currency of Vietnam. Not as worthless as Cambodian riel, but the U.S. dollar is still generally preferred in Vietnam. However, the conversion of dong to dollar was something like 15,000 dong to a dollar, and before long all the zeroes in the prices became ridiculously confusing. We eventually worked it out. But I was reminded that math really isn't my thing. Vietnam should lose some of the zeroes and make life easier for everyone.

We wandered the streets. Friends A and C got their hair washed and dried at a hair salon. I opted out, due to my head being full of snot, and the beginnings of feeling some stomach issues. I just didn't want to be touched.

Dinner was had at a place where we thought we could watch some CNN, but they kept the T.V.s tuned to skateboarding or some other ridiculous sport. So much for catching up on world news. But I did enjoy my Vietnamese bowl of pho, which I ate entirely with chopsticks. A skill I was developing the hard way, but making do, nonetheless.

We fell asleep in our cozy room while watching HBO, the place where movies go to die. The next morning we were up early to catch our bus for a Mekong River Delta tour, one day trip. During the bus ride to where we would then catch a boat for the tour, my face decided to swell up. I don't know why. I'm not sure if it's something I ate, or if I was bitten by something. I never found a bite mark. But it was slightly alarming. The bus made a pit stop, and I bought a cold bottle of water to "ice" my face. I never felt weird or sick (sicker than I already felt), but by lunchtime the swelling had mostly gone away. I'm still trying to figure out what mysterious Vietnamese face-swelling disease I caught.

The bus deposited us at a speedboat that we would take to catch a larger boat. Later we would switch to a smaller boat again. The Mekong River was impressive in that it looks just like everything you see in movies about Vietnam. Boats of all sizes that look like they are several decades old. It's a wonder any of them still float. It's a busy river in some places, and in other places further away from the city, it's serene.

Our first stop on the tour was Unicorn Island. Our guide insisted that we would see thousands of unicorns on the island. We did not. This is where the tour got a bit "touristy", but I enjoyed it. Our group of about 15 or so was ushered over to some tables where we then sampled a variety of Asian fruits. Some of the fruits I'd already sampled in Bangkok with Friend C. But all of it was very tasty, especially the pineapple. We watched a group of kids and women sing and dance traditional song and dance. It was all quite lovely.

Our guide told us that whenever we needed to use the toilet we had to say that we "wanted to sing a song". At first I think we all thought that we would actually have to sing a song for the privilege of using the toilet. But eventually we understood that wanting to "sing a song" was just a "fun" way of saying you needed to use the toilet. I sang several songs throughout the day.

From the fruit sampling we moved deeper into the island for a short trip on row boats. These were your typical "vietnamese"-looking boats. They seated four of us at a time, and we were paddled through dense jungle down a narrow strip of winding waterway. We were told to wear the traditional Vietnamese hats as we road in the boats. The hats were provided on the boat. It was all very staged, but I loved it. Our guide loaded us into each boat and sent us on our way into the jungle with the sentiment, "See you next week!" Friend A did not find this funny.


Rowboat through the jungle of Vietnam.















Friend A and I, sporting our official Vietnamese boating hats. Lips still slightly swollen from freak face-swelling incident, but Friend C assured me that I was still beautiful with my "Angelina Jolie"-like lips.

The boats took us back to the larger boat, where we climbed from small boat to large boating, praying that we did not fall from small boat into muddy river. Large boat then took us to another small boat, which took us to our next island destination.


Touristy photo op at the front of the small boat. Worth every penny....

The next island stop involved more testing of things. Here we tasted coconut candy as we watched how it was made. Then our guide served a sample of banana whisky. This was a questionable move on my part to drink it. I watched as she scooped the whiskey out of a cloudy brown "vat" of liquid with some interesting, um, "goo" of sorts swimming around in the bottom of the vat. Friend A opted out. But Friend C and I chugged the whiskey shot. It wasn't bad. Burned a bit on the way down, and I probably wouldn't recommend it. But, it was okay.

Next, you could pose with a gigantic snake for a picture. This, I did not do. But two crazy Canadian girls in the group did.

We then had tea with special bee honey, which we were told would make us young forever. I will demand my money back from the tour if this, in fact, does not turn out to be true. Then our guide opened the other bottle on the table, which was bee wine. I did not catch if the wine was made from the honey, or from actual bees. But I tasted it, chugging the shot as I did the banana whiskey. It was good. Sweet, mixed with a bit of honey. The guide promised the wine would make us forget everything. Since I forget most things anyway, I will not be able to tell if the wine works or not.

Next we could pose for a picture while holding a honeycomb full of bees. I opted out of this one, as well, since I'm allergic to bee stings. And one face-swelling a day is enough for me, thank you very much.

The men were then encouraged to sample the snake whiskey, which does, in fact, come out of a bottle containing a very scary snake that has been crammed into the bottle. Snake whiskey, we were told, is only for men. I was quite fine with that.

We left this island and headed to yet another island for lunch. We had lunch of pork, rice, and soup, all included in the price of our day tour. But of course, we had to pay extra for our drinks, a Coca-Cola for me. We sat at a table with a man and woman from Sweden, and a young couple from Australia. They were great, and lunch was good. I love conversations with people who are not from my world. America, as it turns out, is not the center of the universe. It's great to talk to people who have never been there. Hard to believe that there are people who have not been to the U.S., but there are.

After lunch, the options were to enjoy a nap in a hammock. Or, to take a mountain bike ride through the coconut groves.


Friend A opted for the hammock.














Friend C, the female Swede, the two Aussies, and I opted for the bike ride through the coconut grove. How could we not?

We grabbed some bikes, sort of listened to directions on where to go to follow the path, and we were on our way. It was a beautiful ride through scenic coconut trees. We saw huts and creeks and locals going about their daily business. We were passed by motorikes and crossed narrow bridges, winding deeper into the jungle.

Many of the houses had cemetaries on the same property. We were told that the people bury their loved ones on the propery, rather than in a collective cemetary, because it is believed that the ancestors continue to watch over the property, even after death. It was interesting, and beautiful. But a little creepy.

We were told not to turn right or left, but to stay straight on the path. Eventually we had to turn right or left, and soon we decided we might be getting lost. So we turned around and headed back. But it was fun. It was a fun group. We made it back to gthe roup and our guide just as it was time to leave.

At this point, our little group of one-day tour people were split from the rest of the group that was heading on for a two or three day trip. The Swedes, the Aussies, and the three of us were back into a speed boat for a two hour trip back to Ho Chi Minh City. I watched the river scene and took pictures along the way. It was a really nice day for a boat ride.
















We landed at the city harbor, attempted to walk back to our hotel with help from the Swedes, and eventually gave up and took a taxi. Dinner was had at another local restaurant. Even while sitting in a restaurant, street vendors still approach you to buy books, and even food.

We watched more bad movies on HBO to fall asleep.

Then, it was Sunday. My last day in Vietnam. Better make it a good one.

continued in Travel Writing, part 4 - more Vietnam

C.T.