Summer of Discovery - Vietnam (27 August - 15 September)

The main reason for our trip to Vietnam this year was to visit the Mekong Delta in the south of the country, the part that we didn’t do in 2023, as well as acting as a pit stop between Europe and Asia.  Basing ourselves in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), we stayed there for a couple of nights, had one night in between part one and part two and then again for a couple of nights before departing.

Saigon was great, given that we had done the sight seeing last year, we literally just spent time soaking up the atmosphere, having time to run, and visit our favourite places – namely the Ben Nghe Street Food court, and for breakfast smoothies at Bến Thành market.  It also gave us time to work out the itinerary for the south, the Mekong Delta, which roughly follows part of the path Gary completed in 1990. 

Part One

Mostly catching buses to get from A to B, our first stop was Chau Doc.  Getting there we drove mostly through countryside that was very green with lots of agriculture.  Not so much English here however and our priority (apart from finding an ATM) was to book a tour for the following day and find dinner.  We found Ms San, a local tour guide, and messaged her hoping she would reply (it was Friday evening by this time).  She did, and our trip with her was wonderful, although we didn’t find anywhere for dinner and opted for noodles in.

Our first stop was at Sam Mountain, the highest 'mountain' in the Mekong Delta at 230m.  Close by we saw an impressive half built meditating Buddha being carved into the rock, which will be amazing when finished, but this visit was centred around Hang Pagoda.  It was originally a small temple (built 1840-50), here we did a lot of climbing to the different levels, some through existing cave tunnels.  At the top we saw the reclining Nirvana Buddha 'signifying balance', and we got great views of the countryside and the border with Cambodia, which is very close.  There is something about Buddhism which focuses on self control of your own decisions, peace and harmony, that many could learn from.

Next stop was Tra Su Cajuput Nature Park.  We walked through beautiful orchid and flower gardens and then boarded a long tail motorboat that took us further into the forest.  Initially there were birds everywhere, but as we go deeper it went quiet.  We were dropped off and walked for a while to see the local beehives and watched as they staff worked with them.  After a pit stop for fruit and coconut juice, we climbed the viewing tower for more impressive views, including back to Sam Mountain.

 

Before we knew it, we were heading back to the starting point and into the cacophony of birds.  After boarding a smaller paddle boat, we ventured into the inner circle amongst the Lotus lilies and river weeds and so many birds.

Of note - Blue Heron, Flower Heron, Great Egret, Water hen and Cormorants.

The trip was finished off with another short walk at the quiet end of the reserve, a space I don’t think we would have been allowed into without Ms San, who was fantastic.  Lots of information, no rushing and she took so many lovely photos of the two of us which was special and appreciated.

That evening we managed to find a restaurant with an English menu so were set for the remainder of our time in Chau Doc.  On the way we walked the waterfront, and back through the square close to home to watch the world go by.

Yep, they were all about to get on 1 motorbike!

 

The other spot we visited whilst in Chau Doc was the wet market (that was here 30 years ago when Gary visited the first time).  The rain made taking photos a little difficult, but it was great to walk amongst the mayhem that is a local’s market in Vietnam.

Next stop was Ha Tien and Ms San came to see us off with offerings of water and cashews.  The trip was quick at under two hours (private driver), and we followed the river almost all the way.  The scenery included plenty of river houses and rice fields, the latter interestingly at this time of year are flooded with river water and fished.

Gary was also here 34 years ago, and his initial views were that Ha Tien has changed considerably, given back in 1990, the children hadn’t seen white skin before.   Our exploratory walk had us happening across another vibrant local’s market, before making our way to the new bridge (the old pontoon bridge from 1990 now gone).

Our restaurant here ended up being Hai San Bo Ke by default given the evening downpour and it was so cheap.  Being there longer than we intended (due to the rain) we had two meals and a side, plus eight beers, which only came to VND308,154 or NZ $19.90).  They have really cute brightly coloured people carriers in this town too, especially busy when it rains.

Our excursion here was to first visit Thach Dong Mountain, a cave pagoda.

The mountain is beside the south-west border of Vietnam and Cambodia and the pagoda inside is called Tien Son Pagoda (built in 1790).  We climbed the various levels getting views of the sun playing through cave holes as well as views out.  The site is on Ha Tien’s must see list and is nice, but not sensational.

Second site was another limestone mountain, Da Dung Mountain.  This one is full of cave systems, 14 in total, each with its own name and myth that goes with it.  We walked and climbed and walked and climbed and just over an hour later made it back to the car.  Only in Vietnam are caves hot!

 

The final stop was Mui Nai beach.  Rated as one of the best beaches in the region but certainly not looking that way today.  Although hot and tired we were not enticed to swim, although we walked the length of the beach taking a few photos and enjoying the shade and breeze.

 

We did a couple of photos stops on the way home, being the Mac Mi Co Temple and then close by the Mac Family Temple.  Cuu Mac (1655-1735) was basically the founder of Ha Tien laying the groundwork after settling in 1680.  Then we ventured across river to the Cuu monument and Ha Tien welcome sign.

 

Home again, but before going inside we walked down to the site of the old bridge location and where Gary stayed in 1990 (a hotel that is now a home stay), taking some comparison photos.  Things certainly have changed.

1990 Ha Tien Bridge

Same site 2024

One of the first things you notice in Ha Tien is the bird song.  It’s mostly coming from speakers not birds themselves, and we confirmed they are harvesting the nests of the wild Swift birds in buildings turned into aviaries.  The nests are considered a delicacy and have been consumed for thousands of years (top quality nests going for $3-4,000 US dollars per kg).

Our final stop in the south was Can Tho.  Travelling in the south is significantly different to travelling north from Ho Chi Minh. The road quality is worse, everything happens beside a river or waterway, the impoverished and simple living standards of the general population (even more so once you get a little rural) are very obvious and finally the rubbish; it's everywhere - in the street, in the water ways and on the coastal shoreline.  It's actually really sad and feels a little forgotten.

The main attraction here is the Cai Rang Floating Market, so we were up at 4.20am for a 5am collection to head out on a personal boat trip, firstly to the floating market and then to cruise the small canals off the main river.

Our guide, Lam, was great with good English and a constant source of information, however unfortunately the market is dying out given the convenience of shops, scooters and roads.  It was still great to see with lots of large produce boats parked up with their eyes painted on, and a few floating restaurants.

 

We had a noodle breakfast served boiling hot from boat to boat, before heading further upriver to the quieter life visiting an authentic noodle house that has been in operation for five generations.  We watched and participated in the noodle making process, which we both found surprising and incredibly interesting.  As always it is very manual but the process is productively simplified.  We also left with another meal, this time fried noodles (offcuts during the process), which was really good.  Great visit and the highlight of our excursion.

 

On the way back through the small canals Gary got to row for a while, getting a pass and thumbs up from the guide and our boat lady.  We are told mostly the old people live along these quieter rivers now, whilst their children move to towns for work.  We stopped at one of the pineapple boats on the way back and we were home by 9.30am.

We walked a bit around Can Tho during our visit passing the impressive Ho Chi Minh Monument and the late 19th century Ong Temple.  We also found the location of the morning fish market (which was finished for the day), and an incredibly authentic, local fresh street market that surrounded it.  Not our first market but still worthy of a few photos.

Before leaving we walked to see two other Pagoda here.  Both built in the mid 20th century, first the Munireangsey Pagoda, and then not much further on the Pitu Kohsa Rangsay Pagoda.  Both pagodas are beautiful and active, with monks in both, and were worth the walk.

We have enjoyed our time in the south (the Mekong Delta), the diversity, the people, the waterways, the Marble mountains, the impoverished/simple living standards and the rubbish all making a lasting impression, and for Gary the huge changes.

 

Part Two

A flight to Danang and transfer, and we were back in the Golden Holiday Hotel (the same place we stayed last year).  Our time here is mainly to relax and having been here before we didn't need to rush off and do anything.  This will be the end of our Vietnam trip (other than a couple more nights in Saigon for washing and organising ourselves), so we made a few calls home for catch up and caught up on some much needed photo naming.

We managed 3 gym sessions, 3 swims and Gary ran twice (and the bodies felt it after too long between ‘drinks’).  Lots of chilling, walking into the old town as well as multiple dips in the pool as the temperature maxed out at 38°.

The old town was just as special as last time.  We had dinner and drinks on the river multiple times and were super happy to see that the historic 16th century Japanese bridge, which was under scaffolding last year, has been unveiled and looks sensational, especially under lights.  Also, it wouldn't be Vietnam if you didn't get caught in a torrential downpour at some point.

We used the hotels free bikes to cycle the 3.25km to An Bang beach (on the China Beach coast).  On the way seeing the post rice harvest process of drying and burning being carried out and on crossing the river saw a fish farm and again the simple river life.  The sand and beach is still lovely and this time of year much quieter, as summer is effectively done and all the schools and workers are back at it.

Vietnam is always an interesting and very cheap place to visit.  The people are generally very friending and happy to help or want to sell you something, but without being aggressive.   It’s been a great stop for us to regroup as we head to our next destination, and another new one, Bhutan.

1990

2024

Things we will remember about Vietnam 2024:

Locals’ markets – fresh and wet
Scooters and motorbikes
The Mekong Delta
Simplicity
Rice paddies
Hoi An lanterns and lights
Red, orange and green all mean GO