The Mighty Mekong

Today....it rained. And by rain, I really mean monsoon. We took a two hour bus ride to the Mekong Delta, just south of HCMC for a tour of the river, lunch, and local visits. The sun was shining for the start and it seemed like it would be a beautiful day, but shortly after embarking on our boat journey, visiting a s

weltering hot brick factory, and a rather smelly coconut business, th

e rain came. It only took a few minutes for it to grow to a heavy downpour so we were kindly given plastic yellow and red ponchos for slight protection.

Wearing our ponchos, we exited the tour boat and were ready to take a motorbike to taste some tropical fruit and enjoy some lunch when the rain seemed to get even worse. Quan took off his flip flops

for fear of slipping so I followed suit and walked with the group to the fruit tasting. The walks we had today are better described as jungle trekking- single file in the mud through bright green bushes and tall fern-full trees.

The fruit was quite delicious: pineapple, fresh coconut milk, and an orange type fruit with a white meat and milder taste called pomelo. The family who served it to us also had a mat making business. One mat about 7 feet by 4 feet would earn them 65,000 dong, or a little under $4.00 U.S. A little girl about 4 years old ran around playing in the rain and then posed for pictures with her grandmother.

From the fruit we used three motorbikes that had hatches attached to them for 4 to take us to lunch. Water came down in heavy drops like you’d imagine a jungle pour would be; we were all thoroughly drenched but really enjoyed the journey. Half way through the trip we had to stop because of a broken motorbike. We waited in the rain for about 10 minutes for the guides to see if the problem was fixable and I thought to myself, “wow, I’m in Vietnam, just sitting in a monsoon! This is awesome!!”

Those who would have been stranded climbed aboard the other two motorbikes and we all squished together wet as can be. We weaved along very narrow cement paths over bridges (which were a little nerve-wracking at times for fear we’d catch a wheel and fall), came upon another road block (this time one for us all), got out, and walked the rest of the way to our lunch spot.

First thing was first, dry off! We were given bright blue towels which felt divine and we all sat down to benefit from some hot soup, self-made spring rolls with whole elephant fish, noodles, rice, and fresh lychee. Of course the rain stopped as we were eating (which I predicted and noted to someone earlier) and I bet when we left it would start raining again. Monsoons are nuts, they come and go in any minute increment. Of course I was right and as we were walking to take a canoe back to the bus, we were greeted with another downpour. It was a wonderful experience. Floating down the narrow part of the Mekong with a conical hat on and hearing the rain fall into the river was nothing but wondrous. Looking back, I’m happy it rained... it made for an action-packed, albeit wet, adventure.

Dinner was at Quan An Ngon, a popular and tasty street style restaurant. This was the same restaurant Mark and I went to in Hanoi earlier in the trip after my camera was fixed. It was a nice place, I had my last bowl of pho for dinner and celebrated Kelly’s pending 40th birthday.