Saigon, Hochi, Ho Chi Minh City…… call it whichever one you fancy. They are all correct. Saigon….. everyone knows Saigon. It was the former capital city of South Vietnam and the home city for the American forces stationed in Vietnam. It is a mixture of modern skyscraper, modern city and the maze of little alleyways Asian style. It is a city with a dynamic vibe. I handed the XR back to Style motorbikes and it went straight back up to Hanoi with another foreign rider.
I handed the XR back to Style motorbikes
Style Motorcycles Saigon
I needed a little break so chilled for a couple of days and then I then took another bike, this time a road bike…. A Honda CB 150.
My Honda CB 150
Destination the Mekong Delta. I was going to go to a town called Can Tho, 170 km from Saigon but according to google maps a travel time of 3 hours 40 minutes. It took me longer.
Saigon Market
Saigon
Saigon
Saigon street scene
“Dong Bang Song Cuu Long” means Nine Dragon River Delta or just plain Mekong Delta as it is known worldwide. It is also the rice and vegetable basket of Vietnam. It is where the Mekong River meets the sea. Here it splits up into hundreds of little tributaries. It covers most of Southwest Vietnam. It is an area of over 40,500 square kilometres, depending on the season. I parked the bike up in Can Tho and first order of the day was to get my telephone fixed. It had fallen out of the holder and the screen was broken. Yep, I tend to lose or break a lot of phones. That is the reason why my good phone is always in my pocket and the cheaper smart phone, but with a reasonably good camera is in the holder and also in my hand when I navigate in the cities. I found a shop and within the hour my phone was fixed. Then it was off to find a tour. The next morning at the ungodly hour of 4.30am I was picked up at the hotel and brought to the harbour.
My boatman …. Mekong Delta.
Sunrise Mekong Delta
We were off on a sampan boat. First stop was the floating market, called Cai Rang. This is an important event here, as a lot of the street traders buy their wares here. Big boats come in from the countryside, loaded up with fresh fruit, rice or vegetables. They moor up in the middle of the river and stay there for days until they have sold everything, they eat and sleep on the boats, then they return to their home village and load up again. They hoist up onto the mast a sample of what they are selling and the local traders come in their little boats and barter and buy. This all happens in the early morning before and just after dawn. It is an amazing sight. It portrays the cultural, originality and uniqueness of life on the Mekong delta and the only change in the last century is the equipment on the cargo boats.
Floating Market Mekong Delta
Floating Market Mekong Delta
Floating Market Mekong Delta……. they were enjoying the Sunrise
Floating Market Mekong Delta
Floating Market Mekong Delta
Floating Market Mekong Delta
They have TVs and stereos now. This is what I wanted to see, this amazing river lifestyle. I visited one of these boats and was shown around. It consists of a massive cargo hold, then a kitchen and living space. The crew, mostly a family, live on the boat when it is working.
Pineapple boat
Pineapple boat, living area
Pineapple boat, kitchen
Pineapple boat, cargo hold
Then it was breakfast time. This consisted of a traditional Pho or noodle soup and a cup of Vietnamese coffee. This was served from a boat.
Floating Market Mekong Delta. Breakfast boat with the sunrise in the background
Floating Market Mekong Delta. Breakfast boat with the sunrise in the background
Floating Market Mekong Delta. Breakfast boat
Then it was on to visit a traditional rice noodle factory. The noodles are made from rice. The colours are created using plant based products. Like red noodles are coloured using beetroot, yellow Turmeric etc etc. In this factory everything was done by hand using open fire. The fires are fuelled by the husks of the rice. Nothing goes to waste.
Rice noodle factory…preparing the rice
Chief noodle maker at work!
They will then be cut into lengths in the noodle cutter, next photo
Noodle cutter
The final product…Rice noodles
Then it was off to explore the backwaters. A lot of the poorer people live on the water, either in floating houses or houses that are built on stilts. This is because of the tax laws. You don’t pay property tax on the water. Living on the river is free. Unfortunately water pollution is a problem. The back waters around towns are full of rubbish. This is a shame. But they are also overgrown with plants.
The Backwaters of Mekong Delta
The Backwaters of Mekong Delta
The Backwaters of Mekong Delta
House Boats Mekong Delta
One that really springs out is the water hyacinth. It grows wild, but it is also widely eaten in soups and stews and used to treat medical ailments. This is one thing that amazed me about Vietnam is the amount of green, as in plants and herbs, that are eaten. I have seen loads of people cutting leaves and branches of bushes in the jungle. Also used for healing and to eat in combination with other ingredients. Another one that is widely eaten is the cinnamon leave. They have an intense taste and are used in soups, stews and infusions. It also really good for the body.
Market Can Tho
Market Can Tho
Temple Can Tho
Temple Can Tho
Temple Can Tho
Temple Can Tho
Sunset Can Tho
Fresh made crispy seed thingy….. I loved them
Unfortunately, I was heading into a temperature change. Summer was coming and temperatures of 45c were predicted. It was already getting hotter by the day the further south that I went. Time to start heading out of Vietnam.
Heading back to Saigon…bridge over Mekong Delta
Mekong
Roadside stop
Another little roadside café…. really civilized
Only in Vietnam…..
Back to Saigon aka Hochi aka Ho Chi Min City. Handed the bike back and started to plan and organize the next stage of the trip. Once again, a bus. This time to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. But first a city sightseeing.
Post Office Saigon
Inside the Post Office Saigon
Selling fresh ice cream from the back of the bike…Saigon
Saigon
Saigon
Saigon
Saigon
I went to the Vietnam War Museum. I spent the best part of a day here. The museum houses actual airplanes, helicopters, tanks, artillery and all the army equipment used in that conflict. It tells the story via photo’s, video’s and newspaper and magazine clippings from that era. It was strange to walk among the old helicopters and tanks. It was also sad. Sad because of the massive loss of life, the irreparable damage done to the nature by the use of a chemical called “Agent Orange”. But not only damage to the nature but damage to humanity. A lot of people born with deformities in the years after the war ended. The aftereffects are still present in the form of unexploded bombs and landmines. But the most beautiful thing are the people. They are smiling and welcoming to everyone, American, French, Chinese, it doesn’t matter, they welcome everyone with a smile and no bitterness.
War Museum Saigon
War Museum Saigon
War Museum Saigon
War Museum Saigon… one big gun
War Museum Saigon
I also paid a visit to a Cao Dai temple. This is a relatively new faith started in 1926. It originated in Tay Ninh just north of Ho Chi Minh. Cao Dai is a mixture of religions. Asian beliefs like Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism, add a bit of Islam and Catholicism with a hint of Taoism and you have Caodaism. The temples are really colourful. The priests/monks wear bright yellow robes, and the worshippers wear white. The temples themselves are a blaze of colour. This religion is practiced in South Vietnam and the Mekong Delta. But can also be found in Australia.
Cao Dai Temple Saigon
Cao Dai Temple Saigon
Cao Dai Temple Saigon
Cao Dai Temple Saigon
Cao Dai Temple Saigon
Another little highlight for me was a visit to the Bitexco Financial Tower. This is one of the tallest buildings in Vietnam. Construction started in 2007 and was opened in 2010. It has a unique design making it an eye-catching building. It has a helipad attached to the side on the 52nd floor and extends out 22 meters. It has the shape of a lotus flower. There is an observation deck on the 49th floor, the sky lounge and it is opened to the public. I bought a ticket and visited it. The view was out of this world.
View from the Bitexco Financial Tower Saigon
Goodnight Saigon!
Then an early morning bus to Cambodia. These are really nice buses. It stopped on the border and the host hustled us through the immigration. It was visa on arrival, so you paid your dollars and got your stamp for 30 days. Then the bus stopped for a food break….. Welcome to Cambodia.
Vietnam is an amazing country populated by a fantastic people. It has some of the best nature and scenery that I have ever seen and experienced. Also, some of the best roads that I have ever ridden. The North and the Ha Giang loop where we started this journey. The rice fields of Mai Chau. A unique little pagoda in Tam Coc Ninh Bin, and the lone guardian, priestess or nun I spent a really pleasant afternoon chatting too. The Ho Chi Minh trail, the jungle and the caves of Phong Nha, the hills of Khe Sanh, the Forbidden Palace and the Purple City, the Lantern Town of Hoi An. The Mekong Delta…. Every corner brought a new surprise. Vietnam is a huge country with a friendly welcoming people, and we barely scratched the surface. We have done 6,238 km from North to South in 2 months and 2 weeks.
Now it is tea and cake time, also time for you to fluff up the cushions in your favourite chair, grab the tea and cake and click on the like named photo album, link below. Click your way through the sights of Saigon and the Mekong Delta.
Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta 02 to 14-04-2024
Thank you for reading the posts, looking at the photos, liking and commenting. Thank you for being a part of my journey through Vietnam. We went through different weather, from freezing cold in the North to roasting hot in the South, and of course rain. But that was Vietnam and part of the trip.
My real time location is a beach in Thailand…… Yes, I know I am a son of a beach ????☀️????
The next blog will be Cambodia, so until then Tạm biệt tạm thời nhé, Vietnamese for Bye Bye for now☘️????️????