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)!

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            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!