Mekong Delta Part II: Phoenix Island

               The canoe brought us to a place, which we later found out, was called Phoenix Island. Because we had no idea what was happening the entirety of the boat tour, we were unable to research anything beforehand…and on the tour no one spoke English to explain what was happening—so we kind of just made up stories in our minds and then researched a little bit once it was over. So after we found out “that random strange island full of crocodiles and abandoned structures” was called Phoenix Island, we discovered that it was the sanctuary of the Coconut Monk. He had been imprisoned for antigovernment activities and fled here.

            There are some crazy dragon columns, a house that slightly reminded me of the pictures I’d seen of the Crazy House in Dalat, and a weird globe that was most definitely structurally unsound. Interestingly enough, there is a hotel on this island called Con Phung Hotel. So if you have time and you’re up for a night of eerie solitude, this is your place. 

            Amongst Buddhist statues are other things…like pools full of crocodiles? When we first got off the canoe, the lady had mentioned the word “crocodile;” but I really wasn’t sure what to expect from that and kind of brushed it off at first and headed to grippingly bizarre structures instead.

            After we explored the structures, I remembered the mention of crocodiles and figured we should try to find out what she was talking about. It turns out, there were loads of crocodiles encaged in an area where there was a small pool and a section of land, where they all laid motionless for the most part. I decided to name the one crocodile that moved, so he was called Alfred (cool story bro? I know).

            On a sentimental note, it was a gorgeous night. The moon was absolutely breathtaking and we finished the boat tour at the perfect time. The sun was setting while we were at Phoenix Island and the temperature was just right—breezy but not too cold. I felt completely relaxed and content with life. I love living in Ho Chi Minh City but to get out and see the true, earthy and cultural Vietnam was something I had been itching for since the moment I decided to move here. We got on the boat out of Phoenix Island, cheers-ed with some Ba Ba Ba (333 beer) and made one last stop on another island. There we tried some delicious peanut and chocolate coconut candy. We decided to buy some for our friends who couldn’t be there—but Ben has yet to bring it out for them so my guess is that he ate all of it and is a completely insensitive jerk (but my intentions were pure, guys)!

***

            Before I delve into day 2, I want to address a little side note on Bến Tre: don’t expect to eat. Ben and I spent hours wandering and pretending to whine (slash actually whining) about the lack of places to eat. We were joking about seeing a fair amount of fat people and yet no food other than fruit was in sight. There surprisingly was a lack of street food. The first night we found Bánh bao, which is a really popular doughy ball of chicken or pork and vegetables. Thank goodness they had chicken because I spent my first two weeks trying to like pork, but it didn’t work out. Bánh bao is pretty good, however it doesn’t quite suffice as a proper entrée (or maybe that’s my inner fat-American speaking). The second night, I’m almost certain we did the same thing (although I’m struggling to remember because I’m writing about this over a month later!

And on yet another side note, the reason these pictures are from my iPhone is because I stupidly took my camera without my memory card. Fortunately, I was able to buy on in a store...which did involve Ben breaking the door to a glass camera case (to be fair this was before we had eaten so we were slightly delusional...and it was absolutely hilarious). He did the shrug and the "xin loi," and we were on our merry way. The next day I was able to take  pictures that actually do the Mekong Delta justice!

Mekong Delta: Part I

On Monday, December 16^th, 2013 I set out on my first road trip out of Saigon with my friend, Ben. Usually I’m the only one that has two consecutive days off, so this was a rare treat that someone was around to explore with me. Ben is the perfect adventure buddy because we’re both not big on planning. Our plan for this trip was, “Let’s go to the Mekong Delta and explore.” We did that just, with a map in hand and a vague idea of where we were going.

^Ben post-petrol fill, reading for our journey!  (He made us wear our Saigon 'vests,' as British people call them)

We headed out to the My Tho/Ben Tre part of the Delta because of its close proximity to Saigon. On the drive we passed loads of cafes called “Café Vong,” which looked just like giant rest areas with hammocks. We kept shouting “Café Vong!” every time we passed one, which was pretty much every five minutes. There are also weird leaving/entering city signs throughout the highway, which we narrated in-between the children songs that we sang during the journey. We ended up stopping at a café that was not a Café Vong, but still had hammocks nonetheless (and we even got some free mystery fruit!) It looked sort of like a pear, but with a gooey pit…and it was overall more gooey experience (but luckily Ben had hand wipes). Despite the mess, it was sweet and pleasant.

               ^Mystery fruit

The time it took to get to My Tho was much less than what we had anticipated. It also looked more commercial than what I had envisioned the Mekong Delta surrounding towns to be. Thus, we pulled over and looked at my phone for Google maps for directions to Ben Tre. In the process we met some clingy xe ohm drivers. One of them asked Ben for his permission to kiss me. He was probably about 60 years old. So naturally, I politely declined.

It took us about 15 minutes to get to Ben Tre from My Tho. We found a place on the main road along the river called Hung Vuong hotel, which I got a kick out of because I work at Hung Vuong plaza in Ho Chi Minh City. I couldn’t stop shouting the name in a thick Vietnamese accent. I was only able to do so from repeatedly hearing this from various xe ohm drivers when I first arrived.

We got ourselves sorted at the hotel and then set out to adventure. We wandered around trying to find a boat. We had high hopes to find our own, but that became increasingly out of the question. As two wandering nomads, we couldn’t for the life of us understand why anyone would be locked into the mentality that every visitor should book a tour and do the same commercial thing. While tours can be insightful and enjoyable, they can also overlook the cultural charm and intimacy of a place. On the end of the spectrum, the locals thought it was bizarre that we would want to do anything other than the pre-planned mainstream activities. The thought of letting two Westerners out on their own in a boat was terrifying to them.

With limited options at hand, we decided to hit up the random guy who offered us a boat tour on the street. We popped into a shop and bought some beers and some jackfruit for the journey. The guy put us on two xe ohms which brought us about twenty minutes away (back towards My Tho..ironically). We then took a boat out on the Mekong from there.

The boat was really nice. It was just the two of us and a local Vietnamese woman who took us throughout various parts of the Mekong Delta. It was nice to avoid the major tourist crowd (although I really don't think there was one at the time...we rarely saw white people. We were basically the only hooligans skipping around...which we literally did because both Ben and myself are large children who love to play). She brought us to a smaller island, where we drank some delicious tea with honey and had some peanut snacks. We found it hilarious that we both had absolutely no idea what was going on or where we were going next the entire time. It was all part of the fun.

After we had our honey tea and snacks, we were brought to a canoe, where two people rowed us through the backwaters of the Mekong Delta. Here, I arrived at my original picture of the Delta. I was craving the little nooks and crannies that spewed adventure and here they were. It was beautiful and charming. I love nothing more than not knowing what to expect once your turn the corner, and these little pathways offered just that.