AJ in Vietnam 2016: 02/06/16

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Da Nang tomorrow

6 Feb 2016
I'm getting ready to leave for the Mekong Delta tour.

Last night I was able to get a ticket online on Vietnam Airlines to Danang leaving tomorrow. I'll get to the airport early to confirm my seat. I got a hotel at Hoi An. I'll have to figure out how to get there from the airport. It's about an hour drive from Da Nang.
I have 3 nights there, then I plan on a bus to Dong Hoi. I got a room there for 3 nights too. Dong Hoi is about an hour from the national park Phong Nha-Ke Bang. Hopefully jungles, rivers, caves and wildlife.
After that my plan is to fly to Hanoi from Dong Hoi. But I'm getting ahead of myself. These pics are from my hotel room last night.

Dinner, at an Irish pub

Really wanted a cheeseburger. Saigon (at least the area I stayed at) has every type of food and restaurant there is. Lots of French places and Western fast food as well. This pub is run by a Scott who is always there. The employees are Vietnamese though.

Return to HCMC

Collection of videos. In one you can see the boats along the far side of the river in the city. They came from the Mekong delta carrying food, flowers, plants, trinkets, etc as part of Tet (Vietnam Lunar New Year). The biggest Tet night was this night (Saturday). Lots of decorations in the city. Since the Vietnamese government is involved with everything, they have a lot of viet flags and the hammer/sickle flags. The gubment essentially provides the Tet holiday for the people, according to what I heard.

Click to see video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FEwQR3n4jY

AJ

Leaving the delta

On the way back we stopped at a Buddhist shrine. There's 3 in the picture if you look close. Anyone whose been to Thailand has seen enough Buddhas to last a lifetime. Unless you're Buddhist of course. These weren't spectacular.
Buddhism is the most prevalent religion in Vietnam followed by Christianity. But they're not too serious about any of it in Vietnam as a whole. It's one of the least religious country's in the world.

Check out my movie!

I figured out an easy way to combine short videos so there aren't as many links.

Going back downstream. We passed a dredge boat. What's most striking about the delta is how gigantic the area is. There really isn't a boundary. They're wetlands obviously. Besides the River delta, there is so much widespread waterways there's no way to keep track of them all. Plus, when outside of the river, in any of the tributaries or canals, the vegetation is so thick and talk that you can't keep your bearings very well, except via the current (you can tell when going up or downstream).
The current isn't swift, but it definitely moves. You can see the water rippling beyond tree branches and stuff sticking into the water.

Click to see video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V69BzvPd6t0

AJ

Tourist attraction but very rustic

That's Elephant Ear fish. Fried then put on that stand. They roll the meat in rice paper along with noodles and vegetables like a spring roll. Needed hot sauce tho.

There are villages all over the delta

There are some roads, but most people get around via the water. It's easy to get lost. In the villages they don't require much money. They make and eat everything right from the Mekong Delta. Of course, some have learned how to get money from tourists.

Click to see video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvnQgaRYFEE

AJ

That dude can row

Click to see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4zTeY9HXRw

AJ

Picking up our sampan for the trip up the canal

A few pics

From our first stop on shore. Honey lime tea and fruits.

Crocodile pen

They raise them to eat. I cot to mess with one.

Click to see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zyUiZ0duZU

AJ

Canal bank

Click to see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icb715eaIgM

AJ

The delta canals

Fishing

Some of these boats are for fishing. The house boat one is actually a boat the farmer lives on. He raises fish (Orange Roughy) under his 4 boats. They are different age fish--small to big. He just feeds them until they're big enough, then sells them. Each boat will have 8 tons of fish under it by the time they're grown up all the way. He sells them--you can probably find it at Costco, they go all over the world.