After Evie left I stayed in Ho Chi Minh City for a few days taking some much needed time to complete a long list of things I had been procrastinating on. While I pondered my next move I bought a second hand iPhone to replace my lost one, got addicted to fresh 45p dragon fruit and mango smoothies from a street stall, ate my fill of Pho Bo (Vietnamese beef noodle soup), visited a local market with a German girl, Friedi, from my hostel and drank fresh coconuts from a little mobile vendor all whilst staying at Ecohostel for £4 a night where, despite not appearing 'eco' in any way, I had my own little semi-private 'pod' to stay in instead of a bunk bed in an open dorm.
After staying for a week in such a hectic city I decided that I wanted to get away from it all and visit a homestay on an island village called An Binh in the Mekong Delta further South of Vietnam. I booked a bus journey from a man in a travel agency who gave me a piece of paper with something scrawled on it in Vietnamese and instructed me to hand it to someone after getting off the second bus. I was the only tourist for the whole journey and had no idea when my stops were coming up, after handing the piece of paper to the first person I found at the second bus depo he laughed and pointed to a driver who dropped me off in his car on the side of an indeterminable street and shrugged benevolently when I asked him where I should go! It was all a mystery. I chose a direction and walked aimlessly until I found a ferry port where I was approached by a man who simply pointed at a boat. Trusting my instincts I obliged and on reaching the other side of the water, after being repeatedly stroked on the arms and smiled at by a crowd of local women all dressed in pale blue, a woman (without saying a word) indicated that I should get on the back of her bike and then promptly drove me to the home stay. I can only assume that, being the only white, blonde person with a backpack for miles, I stuck out like a sore thumb making it obvious to people that I was destined for the local guesthouse and that's presumably how they were all able to know where I needed to go!
That evening myself and the other guests, two French couples, sat down to a veritable feast of Vietnamese food comprising of fried elephant fish, DIY rice pancake rolls, vegetables, chicken and rice. I was offered a boat tour of the village and surrounding islands for the next morning so I set an alarm for the crack of dawn although I needn't of because the sound of cockerels crowing, children playing and families blasting music whilst eating their breakfast could have woken the dead (the Vietnamese are very early risers). The six hour boat journey took us round a very small floating market, a honey farm, a coconut sweet making shop and we were given the opportunity to try some sort of alcohol from a glass jar that had a whole giant snake inside!
Delicious elephant fish.
That afternoon I borrowed one of my host's rickety old bicycles and, despite the seat feeling like it was made of barbed wire, I biked round the island passing waving toddlers shouting "hello hello!" and kids flying kites. I made it on to the 'highly extortionate' 3p ferry to the main land and then rode to the local market where I ate from the street stalls, only choosing things that I'd never seen or tried before. Another evening brought another impressive spread of food and after dinner I swapped travelling stories with the other guests for hours before settling in to my own room at the home stay realising that I hadn't slept in a private room alone since the beginning of my time in India - over seven months ago!
After staying for a week in such a hectic city I decided that I wanted to get away from it all and visit a homestay on an island village called An Binh in the Mekong Delta further South of Vietnam. I booked a bus journey from a man in a travel agency who gave me a piece of paper with something scrawled on it in Vietnamese and instructed me to hand it to someone after getting off the second bus. I was the only tourist for the whole journey and had no idea when my stops were coming up, after handing the piece of paper to the first person I found at the second bus depo he laughed and pointed to a driver who dropped me off in his car on the side of an indeterminable street and shrugged benevolently when I asked him where I should go! It was all a mystery. I chose a direction and walked aimlessly until I found a ferry port where I was approached by a man who simply pointed at a boat. Trusting my instincts I obliged and on reaching the other side of the water, after being repeatedly stroked on the arms and smiled at by a crowd of local women all dressed in pale blue, a woman (without saying a word) indicated that I should get on the back of her bike and then promptly drove me to the home stay. I can only assume that, being the only white, blonde person with a backpack for miles, I stuck out like a sore thumb making it obvious to people that I was destined for the local guesthouse and that's presumably how they were all able to know where I needed to go!
The ferry crossing to the island village.
The porch of the home stay in the tiny, sleepy village was lined with hammocks for travellers to lounge in after a hard day of doing nothing.
That evening myself and the other guests, two French couples, sat down to a veritable feast of Vietnamese food comprising of fried elephant fish, DIY rice pancake rolls, vegetables, chicken and rice. I was offered a boat tour of the village and surrounding islands for the next morning so I set an alarm for the crack of dawn although I needn't of because the sound of cockerels crowing, children playing and families blasting music whilst eating their breakfast could have woken the dead (the Vietnamese are very early risers). The six hour boat journey took us round a very small floating market, a honey farm, a coconut sweet making shop and we were given the opportunity to try some sort of alcohol from a glass jar that had a whole giant snake inside!
Delicious elephant fish.
Snake wine at 8am? Erm, yes please!
Myself and the other seven on board were transferred onto smaller boats at one point which were operated by women with large paddles.
The market had a 'fruit boat' (aka floating heaven!) where I bought oranges and jack fruit.
That afternoon I borrowed one of my host's rickety old bicycles and, despite the seat feeling like it was made of barbed wire, I biked round the island passing waving toddlers shouting "hello hello!" and kids flying kites. I made it on to the 'highly extortionate' 3p ferry to the main land and then rode to the local market where I ate from the street stalls, only choosing things that I'd never seen or tried before. Another evening brought another impressive spread of food and after dinner I swapped travelling stories with the other guests for hours before settling in to my own room at the home stay realising that I hadn't slept in a private room alone since the beginning of my time in India - over seven months ago!
I thought these bowls of beans would be a savoury snack but instead they put a selection in a cup and added milk and ice. I later found out the drink is called 'che'.
The Co Chien river.
Sounds like you're still having fun Jennifer!..I'm so pleased as it looks great and you write your blog soooo well...you are a travel journalist in the making!...x
ReplyDeleteYes absolutely loving it still. Thank you!!! X
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