Day 1-2. Vietnam and Cambodia. January 2006.

Day 1 Sunday 30th. December 2005. After an unremarkable flight from Melbourne I arrived at the Huong Sen Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) by taxi and soon met our group leader, Laura, and a few fellow cyclists in the foyer. Once we were settled, our leader, Laura, a lassy from Lancashire, took us on a walking tour of the bustling city. The French influence is in evidence in the Opera House, The Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office. We also saw the Reunification Palace (picture below) which was named by Ho Chi Minh to commemorate his successful reunification of the country and the vietnamese people. The city is a mish mash of colonial and eastern style buildings and of grandeur and poverty but all in all there is an air of optimism and the people are busy improving their lot. The traffic is remarkable. It resembles a river of honking and tooting,dodging and weaving and stopping and starting scooters, motorbikes, mopeds and the odd car or lorry. We had to cross this “river” several times which was quite an experience. That evening I shared a pleasant meal with Jane and Sue.

Day 2. Saturday 31st.Dec.2005 We rose at 6:30am and were on the way by coach to meet our Vietnamese leader, Thuon(pronounced Twon), and get our bikes by 7:30am . To me, the bikes were the only disappointment of the trip. They were all men’s mountain bikes with razor sharp seats and mine was so large that I had to “leg over” mount and dismount. This was fine if there was warning but no good at all for sudden stops. Soon we boarded the coach and went to see the Cu Chi tunnels, which were the command base for 10,000 Viet Cong troops during the American war. On the way we visited a Cao Dai Temple and walked along a roadside market. I bought some water apples(using non-verbal language) and Ruth swapped a couple for manderins. I think I had the better deal. At Cu Chi we went into some of the tunnels and discovered how tiny they are. We saw many lethal booby traps and learned how the resistance workers eluded the Americans so close to Saigon (HCMC) . As I understand it ,the Americans fought this war because they feared “the domino effect” of the fall of Viet Nam to the communists.That is :- If one South East Asian country fell to the communists the others would follow one by one,and ultimately that Communism would become more powerful than Capitalism.The communism in today’s Vietnam is a far cry from Lennin’s vision. A sort of private enterprise is in evidence everywhere.We cycled 20km to the restaurant for lunch. In the evening we ate “en group” in HCMC and afterwards a few of us decided to stay up and see in the New Year. The parks and gardens of the city were festooned with decorations in readiness for the Chinese New Year at the end of January but to our dismay these lights went out at 11:00pm. Undeterred, at the appointed hour we did the COUNTDOWN,raised our glasses and sang “Auld Lang Syne”. We, included Sue, Jane, Dierdrie, Ray, Noel, me and I think Katie and Martin were not too far away.

 

 

Days 3-4 Vietnam and Cambodia, January 2006

Day 3 Sunday 1st. January 2006.

This morning we cycled from Tan An on country roads and dirt tracks, through small towns and tiny isolated villages to My Tho, where we took our first cruise on the Mekong. We had actually cast off and away before a headcount discovered that Ruth was missing. Poor Ruth had cycled an extra 8 km before discovering that she was alone. Fortunately she was exotically recognisable from a Vietnamese point of view and there had been loads of sightings. Laura “found” her and we were all very relieved to see her. I wonder what she was thinking as we floated across this part of the delta to Turtle Island.

Once we reached the South/West bank we were transferred to small narrow boats and punted in small groups wearing “Nons” through equally narrow canals to see a coconut-sweet making cottage industry at work. Katie and myself each had our pictures taken with a huge python around our shoulders. In the afternoon we cycled towards the homestay, The Phu Tuc commune at Ben Tre. We enjoyed a pleasant meal ( the veggies were together at all the pre-paid meals) after which we were entertained by local musicians playing and singing local songs and instruments. Here we slept undercover but in the open air with mosquito nets. I probably snored but no-one complained.

Paddy field workers

In a Non, paddling upstream

Day 4. Monday 2nd January 2006.

After breakfast in Phu Tuc we cycled 12km. to a ferry at Ham Luong. Ferries are part of life here so crossing the delta gave me a tiny feeling of belonging in a strange way. We were just a few among the throng of local people and other tourists going about their business. Once across we cycled again through very fertile land with fruit orchards,market gardens and rice fields as far as the eye could see.

In the villages,happy, friendly children were delighted to see this motley crew of westerners speeding by their homes. They shouted “Zin Chao”.

We took an hour’s ride on the bus from Mo Cay to Vinh Long where we had another set lunch. Jane, Ruth and myself got to know each other quite well being the only vegetarians.

Vinh Long province grows fruit and grains for HCMC. Seventy percent of the population is involved with rice growing. Viet Nam grows 35million tonnes of rice each year of which they consume 30millions. Even so they are the worlds 3rd. largest exporters of rice at 5million tonnes each year.

After lunch, we cycled another 22km. to Can Tho where we stayed in the Phuong Dong Hotel. Laura took us to a vietamese riverside restaurant where we enjoyed local food and plenty of chat. Somebody always had a story to tell,especially Noel. Noel can turn anything into a good yarn. He is an excellent source of cheap entertainment.

An Internet Cafe!

 

Days 5-6 Vietnam and Cambodia

Day 5 Tuesday 3rd. January.2006After breakfast in the hotel,we were bussed to the largest floating market on the Mekong at Cai Rang. We spent time leisurely floating through the market on a sampan.It was delightful just sitting on the roof of the boat watching the busy world of these exotic people. I had a go at peeling a pineapple and preparing it to eat on its own stick. The marketeers came along side our boat to sell their wares.

After about an hour we disembarked and wandered round an equally busy land market.( See picture of Debbie in the market).

Thuon then reloaded us onto the sampan and took us for morning tea and fruit in a garden. Some of us were distressed to see captive animals apparently enslaved for the amusement of customers. The fruits included ,guava,pineapple,mango,water apple and banana.

After this snack we took a chariot (motor-bike with pull-along cart ) to the oldest house in the province. We met the present lady owner who spoke some English and French. The house had been in her family for 4 generations before her.

After lunch in Can Thon, at The Mekong Cafe opposite a huge silver statue of Ho Chi Minh with Debbie,John,Noel,David,Melissa, Moya and myself we took to our bikes again and once away from the swirling traffic we enjoyed an interesting ride through country lanes to a horticultural farm .The owner grows Jack fruit and guava saplings by the thousands to sell to market gardens and farmers. Again we had tea and fruit.We cycled about 50km. today .Below:- Me in the chariot . Debbie at the market and morning tea and fruit “en group” in the garden.

Day 6. Wednesday 4th. January 2006

Today we had a long drive from Can Tho towards Chau Doc near the Cambodian border.

On the route we bought a picnic and enjoyed it at Buddhist Pagoda called the Buuson Pagoda where I met a young vietnamese girl and her friend . I took photographs of us(the two friends, myself and Moya) sitting on the steps of the temple and have forwarded them to her address in May this year. So far I have heard nothing.

In the afternoon we cycled about 42km. towards Chau Doc. The Nui Sam Hotel was our resting place for the night and many of the group were able to climb the Sam Mountain at sunset.I couldn’t go with the climbers because I had to go with Laura and Thuon to find a passport photographer. I had forgotten to bring my own photographs and it was a question of no photos;no Cambodia; and no temple ruins. Laura was probably very cross with me but she was cool , calm and efficient. With Thuon’s help with the language I was soon suitably equipped with the photos. Thanks go to both Laura and Thuon. As this was our last day with Thuon , Deirdre thanked him for being an excellent guide. We ate together, on a moored boat restaurant on the Mekong.

Moya myself and the girls. Lady selling tofu.

 

Days 7-8, Vietnam and Cambodia, Jan 2006

Day 7 Thursday 5th. January

We didn’t cycle on this day because we spent all the early part of the day travelling. Firstly, in the coach to the river and then on a speed boat towards Cambodia. It took two hours speeding upstream to reach the Cambodian border where we had to disembark It was all very serious. The atmosphere was charged with officialdom which verged on the comical. Gilbert and Sullivan would have had a field day.

After another 2 hour journey in the speed boat we arrived at Phnom Penh just after mid-day. Immediately, we met our new local guide, Smi, and boarded the new coach to go to The Princess Hotel. A snack lunch was followed by a visit to the Cambodian National Museum of Art which contained many statues and artifacts of Hindu and Buddhist gods. Next we visited the Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The palace in Phnom Penh is still used by the king but at this time he was away in China.

We climbed the hill under which the lady called Penh found the 4 statues of Buddha washed up in the branches of a tree on the shores of the Mekong. According to legend these statues were housed in a special pagoda in the 14th. century and the city of Phnom Penh grew from these humble beginnings.

In the evening we had yet another treat. We went together to a “Friends Restaurant” which is run by street children. What an excellent end this was to a very visually stimulating day.

Sunlight on the river

Riverside village

Day 8 Friday the 6th January 2006
During the years 1975 to 1978, when my children were between 8 and 12 years old, I never dreamed that at the other side of the world 170,000 man , women and children were being murdered because of one man’s paranioa. His name, Pol Pot, sits well with that of Stalin and of Hitler.

This morning we visited The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. The memorial stupe is a huge glass structure filled with the skulls of some of Pol Pot’s victims. Most were brutally slain with the sharp leaf stalks of the sugar palm tree which grow everywhere in this region. Their screams were muffled by loud music played through loud speakers still in situ. No-one was safe. Even Pol Pot’s friends who had “done wrong” were murdered.

Following this visit we cycled thoughtfully to the Tuol Sleung Genocide Museum. This was not a fun day! Formerly this building was a school but it became Pol Pot’s torture centre. It is a very bleak and unforgiving place. We learned that the detainees preferred to throw themselves from the balconies rather than endure the torture. As if that wasn’t enough they were then sent to The Killing Fields to be murdered.

After lunch in the city we needed cheering up so we cycled to a weaving village. The villagers were churning out fashionable headscarves for the local market on homemade wooden looms. The set up was/is very rural and quite charming. The loom sheds had roofs but no walls and chickens really were free range.

On the way “home” many of our group went to a Phnom Penh market but I declined.

In the evening I went with a charming couple from New Zealand for dinner. Debbie,John and myself took a tut-tut to the waterfront.We sat in huge armchairs outside a riverside restaurant and watched the world go by. It felt very colonial. The poor beggars were kept at bay by the hotel security guards. The beggars are a sad part of life in Cambodia.

Skull Stupe

Weaving sheds