This may have been the highlight of the trip. The cruise down the Mekong River, spending the night on a cruise boat that was originally a traditional rice barge. And the side trips.... fabulous!!!We were picked up at our hotel in Saigon for a 3 hour drive to Can Be where we boarded the Mekong Eyes. This cruise was different from our Halong Bay cruise which was much more catered to tourists. There was no cooking classes, Tai Chi or massages on this boat. This cruise was about seeing how life was on the Mekong Delta River.
As we left Can Be, you could feel that you were being transported into a world that is completely alien to Americans. The lives of these people who live on this river, and in many cases, live on their boats and rarely set foot on dry land, was fascinating. As we crawled down the river about 100 yards from the shore, children would step out of their houses and yell "hello, hello". Sitting on the deck, you couldn't help but be fascinated with a slight feeling of voyeurism as you watched them go about their daily lives. The fisherman worked the water, the children played on the shore, the women washed dishes in plastic pails tossing the water back into the river.
Passing giant structures of brick that were fed rice to burn and kiln more bricks. There were coconut stations waiting for barges to come and pick up their cargo to take to market.
After cruising for several hours, we hopped onto very small canoe size boats to travel to shore where we were able to spend some time in a tiny village. At first, I assumed that it would be like some of the tours we took in China where we were hounded by vendors selling their trinkets, but this was the real deal.
I'll post the photos of this part of the journey in the next installment of the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment