Mekong Delta

14 Dec 2007: Mekong Delta, HCM, Vietnam

In my last couple of trips to Ho Chi Minh (HCM), I did not have an opportunity to see the Mekong Delta. I was thrilled when this optional tour was offered to me during my company’s offsite trip to Vietnam.  Our guided tour started with an-hour bum-boat ride down the Mekong river, bringing us to base of the delta.  

 

In geographical term, a delta is a landform that is created at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea or another river.  The Mekong Delta is formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the Mekong River as it leaves the mouth of the river. Over long periods of time, this deposition builds the characteristic geographic pattern. The Mekong River is Asia’s 7th longest river with estimated length of 4,350 km. Starting from the Tibetan Plateau, it runs through seven countries, namely, China’s Yunnan province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.   

Mekong River

Still life along Mekong River

  

  At our first embarkment, we were introduced on how the local coconut sweet was made. Tried one and somehow it is not my cup of tea; simply a sugar concentrate but a great energy booster.  

First the coconut was de-shelled and cooked

  

Then, mixed with sugar & other ingredients and stirred under high temperature

  

The paste is spreaded on a table, ready for packaging

  

Individually packed for sale

  

 We passed by several souvenir shops, on the way to the delta boat ride:   

  

 

Finally, we arrived at the boat jetty. Everyone was in high spirit and patiently queued up. Most of the boats were driven by petite Vietnamese women. You can’t help but to admire their strength and skill as they maneuver the blue wooden carrier in the congested and narrow waterways. On several occasions, it looked like the on-coming boats were going to crash; but somehow, it will just brush against each other precariously.  

  

   

After the Mekong tour, we were brought to a Vietnamese Lacquer Art shop.  With no intention to purchase any lacquer painting, I spent most my time there to understand the painting process. The history of Vietnamese lacquer art dates back to more than two thousand years. The lacquer painting process requires careful attention and patience; and can take more than 75 days to complete. The traditional lacquer paintings are done on wood and over the years, the Vietnam artists have experimented with other materials as crushed eggshells, gold and silver to beautify their works. Here’s a work of vietnamese women in traditional ao dai.

 

  

 Our final stop is at the Thien Hau Temple, which is dedicated to the Heavenly Empress or commonly known as “Mazu”.  The temple is located right on busy Nguyen Trai Street and can be accessed by entering through an iron gate and crossing a small courtyard. The roof is decorated with small delicately fashioned porcelain figurines with lanterns and wooden models of Chinese theaters hang over the entrance. I would almost believe that this temple is a dew drop from celestial gods above.

 

 

  

  

 

 

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The Seven Year Itch for Ho Chi Minh City

12 Dec 2007: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

This is my fourth trip to Ho Chi Minh (HCM), the last trip was in year 2001.  Time flies; it had been 7 solid years. This year, I am back for an offsite trip organised by my company.

My immediate reaction was: Vietnam has flourished and prospered. The roads are much wider and cleaner, though still intensively populated with zipping motorists.  We were told that it is now compulsory for all motorists to wear helmets.

Street vendors

Street hawker

We started the morning at the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica,a cathedral located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City. Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880. It has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet).

Notre Dame Cathedral

In Oct 2005, the Virgin Mary statue in front of the cathedral was reported to have shed tears down the right cheek; attracting thousands of people and forcing authorities to stop traffic around the Cathedral. However, the top clergy of the Catholic Church in Vietnam later confirmed that the Virgin Mary statue did not shed tears.

Virgin Mary statue

Next to the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica is the Central Post Office. The post office was constructed when Vietnam was part of the French Indochina in the early 20th century, hence accounting for its Gothic architectural style.

Central Post Office

 

Any trip to HCM will not be complete if you miss out the famous Ben Thanh Market. Located in District 1, it is a big marketplace very popular with tourists seeking local handicrafts, textiles, ao dai, souvenirs and local cuisine. There is little ventilation, let alone air-conditioning inside the market. Be prepared to sweat it out!

Ben Thanh Market

Niike, anyone?

Dry food at very reasonable price

Multi-colored fruits stall

Game stall

Jewellery

Ben Thanh is the Vietnamese version of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Markets. A good advice is to leave your US$ in the hotel and load it with Vietnamese dong instead. This is a good chance to interact with the local vendors, where verbal communication and price negotiation are reduced to punching numbers on a Casio calculator.

 

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A Sandy Weekend at Mui Ne

20 Aug 2000: Mui Ne, Vietnam 

 

This weekend, my dear Vietnamese friend, Hue (so named as she was born in the beautiful town of Hue in Central Vietnam), brought us to Mui Ne, a beach area about 200 km away from Ho Chi Minh. Situated in the Binh Thuan Province, Mui Ne is a naturally gifted sea cape where the fisherman get in here to hide away during the storms. In fact, in local languange, “Mui means Cape while “Ne” refers to Hiding.  

 

On the way, we passed by roadside stalls selling local dragon fruits, freshly plucked from the plantations.  

 

Picture of Hue with her daughter, Mimi. 

 

Knowing that we had never seen a dragon fruit plantation, Hue made request to th farmers for a visit.  

  

 

Mui Ne is a precious gift of Nature, endowned with the most beautiful sand banks in Vietnam. The sand gathers together like in conspiracy, making up the endless sand hills. The Mui Ne Sand Dune (also known as the Flying Sand Dune) is one of the longest sand banks that stretches many kilometers and countless acres. The dune is in rich golden color with colour variations of red, white and reddish grey. And it is said that at different time of the day, it can portray different shapes due to the wind – animal, lying lady, etc. 

 

 

 

  

After hours of traveling, we finally reached the Mui Ne beach. I wondered what makes Mui Ne such a different fascinating seaside in the Vietnamese’s eyes? There were no fine, snowy white sand nor crystal clear blue sea.  Within our views were scores of villagers peddling BBQ seafood and local drinks. With much disappointment, we did not stay too long at the beach and soon made our way back to Ho Chi Minh by mid afternoon. 

  

 

 

 

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Vung Tau

12 Sep 1999: Vung Tau, Vietnam

Vung Tau was known as Cap Saint Jacques under the French Indon-China . This beach resort on the South China Sea is about 128 km south-east of Ho Chi Minh. Most people come to Vung Tau for the beautiful beach and the warm sunshine.  

  

  

  

  

  

We had a different agenda. Our objective was to see the notable monument of the Christ of Vung Tau, a large statue of Christ standing on a hilltop with two outstretched arms. It was built by Vietnam’s Catholic minority in early 1970s.  

 

 

We raced each other in conquering the height of this monument. Besides standing at the height of 32 m, there were a couple of hundreds steps leading to the Christ of Vung Tau. Panting and catching our breaths, we were in front of the statue in less than 30 min.  

 

 

 

At the top, we were greeted by the warm sunshine and cool seabreeze. The view is amazing. 

 

   

 

An abandoned cannon at the top of the hill. 

 

After the conquer, we  adjourned to the activity-filled beach front. 

 

We did not bring our beach wears but not wanting to miss the fun, we went for a go-kart race. 

  

While others relaxed with a slow horse carriage ride… 

 

11 Sep 1999: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

The War Remnants Museum

Though theVietnam War happened more than 20 years ago, the war-torn Ho Chi Minh was badly scarred by the destructive forces. This museum that we are visting today was formerly known as the Museum of the American War Crimes. But it was later renamed as War Remnants Museum to avoid offending the US visitors. Still, the museum focuses on the instruments of torture and hundreds of photographs of atrocities committed by the US military in 20th century and in the  Vietnam War. Visitors will be moved (and perhaps angered) by the grisly photos of blown-up villagers and bottled deformed foetuses showing the hideous effects of Agent Orange, US herbicidal warfare program.  There was a wide array display of impressive tanks, planes and helicopters. Here’s a picture of Hue and mein front of a US air fighter.

Water Puppet Show

Many vietnamese friends recommend that I see the water puppet show. While I respect the rich vietnamese culture, the show is basically a show of puppets on a stage filled with water. The puppet was manoeuvered with a long stick by somebody behind the stage and the water covers the stick, so it seems that the puppet is moving by itself. All shows are unfortunately in Vietnamese, showcasing the daily lives of the Vietnameses, working either as fisherman, farmer, or dancer.

    

I was surprise that the Vietnamese also celebrates the Mooncake Festival. This mid-autumn festival is called Tet Trung Thu in Vietnamese. Unlike the Chinese version, the Vietnamese legend recounts the Cuoi, whose wife accidentally urinated on a sacred banyan tree, taking him with it to the Moon. Every year on this day, the children light lanterns and participate in a procession to show Cuoi the way back to Earth. We were each given a box of the mooncake to bring home. The Vietnamese mooncakes are typically square rather than round. What’s uncommon was the mooncakes were filled with bacon and meat, instead of the usual sweet bean paste and yellow duck yolk.

Picture with Lan.

  

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Cuchi Tunnel

Day 1 | 23 Dec 1998: Cuchi Tunnel @ HCM, Vietnam

It’s school holidays season again. KW and I are planning for another vacation. We had enjoyed the Silk Road trip tremendously last year; this year, we are looking for a another breakthrough. After doing some researches, the destination Ho Chi Minh came to our attention. Why not? It sounds like an exotic place to visit.

The morning flight on Vietnam Air took us to Ho Chi Minh in less than 2 hours. After lunch, we headed straight to the famous Cu Chi Tunnels.

Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi Tunnels are the most famous battlegrounds of the Vietnam War. They are an immense network of connecting underground maze that stretches nearly to 120 km long.  During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong guerrillas used these tunnels as a hiding place to combat against the Americans. By 1965, the Viet Cong were so well entrenched in the war zone that the unique, superior position helped them to survive and prolong the war and incease the American cost and casualties. So, it is not an understatement to claim that the Cu Chi tunnels were instrumental in resisting American’s attacks and leading to the victory against the Americans in 1975.

 

Here is a swimming pool-sized holes in the ground neatly labeled as a “Bomb B-52 crater.” It was said that the American army dropping 30-ton loads of high explosive onto the region of Cu Chi with B-52 bombers in January 1966. After the bombing, eight thousand troops were enlisted to combed the region looking for the Viet Cong.

So, how did the Viet Cong survived from the heavy bombings? The secret is revealed under these trap doors.

 This is an opened trap door on the jungle floor leads down into the Củ Chi tunnels. It is almost undetectable when it is closed and camouflaged.

The tunnels are definitely not designed for the big-size guys or those with claustrophobia fears. For the records, most of the “tour” tunnels have been made wider and taller to accommodate tourists. (Took a deep breath) Here I come!

The tunnels are undeniably impressive – the Viet Cong had expanded them into a three-level network, which included mess halls, meeting rooms, an operating theater and even a tiny cinema.

A booby trap with bamboo spikes, awaiting for the intruders…

Today, visitors can sample foods eaten by the underground Viet Cong fighters…

For the war fan and die-hards, here are more insights into the Cu Chi Tunnels.

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