I was invited by Nam to visit his hometown, Ca Mau over the long weekend for Independence Day (2nd September).  This is to celebrate the Independence from France in 1945.  I got Oscar all saddled up again for the big journey. This is the second part of my journey around the Me Kong, I took the first one on the 19th to 23rd August. Me Kong Tour Part 1We decided to leave early to try and miss the traffic, 6am, but someone slept in so it was 7am and  the traffic was surprisingly good.  We stopped just outside My Tho for our first break and went to a typical rest stop.

This is the gang: Trang, Nam and Phương (left to right).

We made it to Can Tho and caught up with Thế Anh, Trang and Bích again and they put on a wonderful lunch.  This is where I stayed on my last Me Kong trip.

Trang, Nam, Thế Anh, Trang, Thế Anh and Bích’s Mother, Bích and Phương (left to right)

They had a few surprises for me, mouse and baby bee (aka larva).

I know you are all dying to know what the mouse tastes like.  It is a little bit like chicken but much stronger and it is quite hard to eat as everything is so small, I felt like a giant trying to eat a chicken.  The Larva has a milky taste and is quite nice too. After a few laughs we got back on the road.  Along the way we found some more larva for sale. The bag on the back is how we carried it and there were still live bees so they had a free ride.

It wouldn’t be a journey without a little bit of rain so we waited it out.  We made it to Nam’s province and we had a ferry crossing.

The raised wooden box at the bottom right corner is what you turn around on as there is only one way on and off the ferry. From there is was narrow roads and steep bridges to cross the canals and it was getting dark so it made for some fun riding.  We made it to Nam’s place safely and were welcomed with a delicious dinner.  I met Nam’s Mother, Father and Sister (Lam).  For dinner we had Cháo with chicken, kind of thick rice soup that has the consistency of porridge and fresh prawns (shrimps) cooked in water and beer.  All the meat was home grown.  Nam’s father is a maths teacher and also owns a Shrimp farm.  After our long journey we deserved a sleep.

The next day the weather was perfect and we went to the Shrimp farm/pond by boat.  I asked if there were sign posts and there aren’t, you just have to know where you are going.  Their house is beside a canal and there are always boats going past selling things, salt, fish, ice etc. We headed off.  Below they are constructing a retainer wall to stop erosion.

We bought ice on the river too.

Once we got to the shrimp pond we went out on a small boat around the pond.  The water is changed every 2 months and there is a small pond where the baby shrimp are kept and raised until they are released into the big pond.  They don’t feed the shrimp, they live off what is in the water.  To regenerate the pond they drain the water and let the sun do its work.  They have nets around the outside of the pond that they take in once a day and a wholesaler comes to their pond once a day to pick up the shrimp.  Now this is an interesting fact.  You can eat your own shrimp, however, if you grill it you can’t.

The Shrimp farm I went around on the boat is on the right and you can also see the baby shrimp pond.  They use Calcium Carbonate to control the pH, which is between 6 and 8.

Nam’s father sleeps almost every night when it is the shrimp season at the pond in a hut to stop the theft of his product.  The hut has electricity and we steamed the shrimp and crabs.

Along with the food we had beer and rice wine which was distilled by Nam’s father.  In the photo we have me, Nam’s father, Son (Nam’s father’s cousin), Nam, and Trang.  So the custom is that if I take a shot of rice wine I then nominate the next person however getting to the bottom of the bottle there was confusion of the rules:).  It was a wonderful day out at the pond and canals, my highlight of the trip.

We then went home and Nam invited some friends around for food and beer so we were back into it. It was great to meet his friends and see the family life here.  It is peaceful, reminds me a little bit of home.

The common thing for young people to do at night is go to the local coffee shop so we spent an hour or so there with his friends, looking at the night sky and night life of the river.

The next day we meet some of Nam’s friends at a different coffee shop and then left for home at about 9am.  There seemed to be more traffic on the road and then once we got passed Can Tho where we stopped for lunch, we got into a traffic jam and then it rained.  This is how heavy it was, the water is off the roof at the coffee shop.

 We waited here for about an hour for it to stop and then we were off again.  We struck rain again and we made it home safely at 9pm.

A special thanks to Nam and his lovely family for having me to stay and making me feel so welcome.  It is a special place and I have some great memories.

Map:

Distance

Ho Chi Minh to Ca Mau: 327 km, 12 hours riding

Ca Mau to Ho Chi Minh: 332 km, 12 hours riding

Total: 659 km

Petrol: 155,000 VND ($9.06 AUD).  Filled up 5 times.

One of my favourite things here in Vietnam is driving my motorbike around.  I can’t explain exactly what it is but it is addictive.  You always have to be alert, looking for the unexpected, I find it is like a game where you have to pick the path of least resistance. So Oscar (motorbike) and I decided to saddle up and explore some of the Me Kong.  A friend of mine, Nam, was going in the same direction so he offered to ride with me to my first stop, Can Tho.  We left HCMC at about 1:3o pm on Friday.  We stopped in Mỷ Tho for a refreshment and this was our halfway point.  We then crossed a number of massive bridges and one built with Australia.

We made it safely to Can Tho and had pancakes for dinner (famous in the Me Kong).  You take pieces of the pancake which has prawns in it and wrap it in the greens and then dip it in the sauce, delicious!

We then went to a friend of Nam’s, Thê Anh where we were staying to unpack and freshen up.  Then it was off to the city centre which was amazing with the lights and a new walkway and a couple of beers.   I then had a tour of Can Tho and saw the night street food markets and Can Tho University.  The next day was an early start to look at the floating markets, the biggest in the Mekong.  I had three tour guides; Bich, Thê Anh and Nam.  People come from all over the area in their boats to buy produce and take back home and then sell themselves.  It is like the Rocklea markets in Brisbane but on the water.

From there we went to Thiên Viện Truc Lâm Phương Nam Pagoda.  It was opened about 2 years ago and is the biggest in the Mekong.  On the inside of the bell, people post their wishes.

From there we went to a fruit garden and relaxed.  By that time it was time for lunch and for me to get on the road to my next destination, Ha Tien.  I had an awesome lunch of fish in rice paper rolls.

I was not entirely on my own, I had Google Maps and a holder on my motorbike so I could navigate on the run.  So of course, within the first 15 mins I took a wrong turn, however, it was the only one of the whole trip!  It was a beautiful drive and I made it to Ha Tien on dusk.  I checked into my hotel and then went for dinner and the night markets.  I had seafood for dinner and I ordered some squid, however when it arrived this is what it was, yep fish.

It was all good.  I then wondered around and listened to the entertainment that was on offer, from what I could understand (probably not much after my dinner order) it was a local night were anyone could sing, it wasn’t Karaoke as there were no words and there was live music.  At one point, I think more people were looking at me than the stage.

The next day I had a couple of sights to see in the area around Ha Tien, the beach, Mui Nai beach and a pagoda at Da Dung Mountain.  I had prawns for breakfast and enjoyed the view and breeze.

The scenery around the pagoda was magnificent and this is what I have always pictured Vietnam to be like.   

The Pagoda, was on and in a mountain and you walked halfway up the mountain and then around it. There were caves where there were statues of Buddhas and alters and in other caves there were lights and pathways.  I ended up going into one of the caves and I thought it was the path.  The access was very hard and myself and a couple ended up helping each other to get out of the cave.  We then continued together and I had a drink with them afterwards.  Mui Mui is a teacher and her friend transports seafood.

This was one of my favourite places from the trip and I would love to come back here again sometime.  From here it was off to Chau Doc and this route would take me parallel with Cambodia.  It was rice harvesting season, normally 2-3 times a year so there was lots of activity on the road, they dry their rice on the road.  All the moving of the bags are done by hand so it is hot and heavy work. They use the canals to transport the rice from the fields to a central location.

I arrived in Chau Doc and found myself at another Pagoda and again with great views.  I think I was more of an attraction than the Pagoda as I had my photo taken a lot.  I decided I would do the same.  How cool is the surfing Buddha!

To the left is where I had driven from today and to the right is Cambodia, can’t you tell?

I found my hotel and had a good dinner and early night.

The next day I was off to Tra Su, a forest in the canels.  There was a bit of off road driving which was great.  I spent an hour on the water between two boats, one  a motorboat and the second a row boat.  It was magnificent, green, birds, quiet, reflections and views.

What about this scenery, it was amazing.

From here I made my way to Cam Mountain, another pagoda with a very big Buddha.  On the way I stopped for lunch and the restaurant had a puppy.  For 30 mins the puppy played with my feet, it was entertaining for the guests as well as the puppy.  Where at home can you eat your meal and play with a puppy at the same time?   Note, I didn’t touch the puppy with my hands.

Cam Mountain was the highlight of my trip, see if you can figure out why…  I arrived at the bottom of the mountain at the sign and I was surrounded by motorbikes within seconds.

Over the next 30 mins, using a mixture of head shakes, hand signals and google translate I worked out that only locals can take the road used by cars to the top and that I will have to go up with a driver on another path as the road is too dangerous. I am thinking, how dangerous can it be?  So after bartering and parking my bike I jumped onto the back of the motorbike and off we went.  It all started off very easy and then after some weird instructions from the driver, he was sitting at the very front of the seat and I was right behind him, I mean right behind him,  I soon realised why.  It was steep and narrow!

It was a wild ride and I loved every minute of it.  Because it was so narrow in places and lots of blind corners, the horn was vital and it took about 30 mins to get up.  This is what was waiting for me.

PS, that is not a double chin, I was trying to look like the Buddha, great facial muscle control on my behalf.

A famous dish in this area is Dien Dien Flowers, the yellow ones.

We then went up to the very top and got this wicked view.

The way down was great, less daunting.  After that the open road was a little quiet and I proceeded to Hong Ngu.  

I did a little bit of exploring in the city and look what I found, mice, these are for eating.

After that discovery I had seafood for dinner and then a well deserved sleep after all the excitement.

This was my last day on the road, Hong Ngu to home via the province Dong Thap and I visited another forest, Tram Chim, by the rivers.  Because I was by myself it was too expensive to hire a boat so I rented a bicycle and looked around.

From there it was home.  These are some of the cool things I saw along the way, drying fish (I call it Fish Jerky) and tiny hay bails.

 

I stopped for lunch and I got engrossed in a soap opera along with the staff.  I got to Tan An and was following the signs to HCM and arrived at a Toll Booth and something wasn’t quite right, there were no motorbikes.  This doesn’t happen in Vietnam.  So I contacted Nam and sent him a screen shot of where I was and asked “Can motorbikes go on the motorway?” His reply was “NO, you can’t do it”.  Apparently there are some road rules that are obeyed.  I made it back to HCM to be welcomed by rain, the only time on the whole trip.

Map:

The route that I took in an clockwise direction.

Petrol:

Filled up 6 times for a total cost of 230,000 VND ($13.50 AUD). With a 3.7 L size petrol tank, I used approximately 16.8 L.  Pretty good if you ask me.

Distance:

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh to Can Tho: 178 km

Day 2: Can Tho to Ha Tien: 211 km

Day 3: Ha Tien to Chau Doc: 150 km

Day 4: Chau Doc to Hong Ngu : 111 km

Day 5: Hong Ngu to Ho Chi Minh: 181 km

Total distance travelled: 831 km

The average speed is about 50 km/hr.

Highlights:

Best company: My tour guides, Nam, Thế Anh and Bích in Can Tho

Number of foreigners spotted: 4, not including me, I can’t spot myself, or can I?

Confusion created by language barrier: 2.  Harm done: 0

Missed the most: chocolate, I hunted high and low and couldn’t find any.  Massive learning curve for me!  I should probably have said Niels here right?

Rain: only when I got back to Ho Chi Minh

Number of times I had my photo taken: 5

Weirdest thing I saw: mice being sold at the markets

Best experience: Motorbike ride up Cam Mountain

Best scenery: Tra Su

Most surprised me: The Me Kong is like one big city, I thought that there would be gaps of civilization where there would be just farm land but almost along the entire journey there were houses and people along the road.

A BIG Thank You: Nam for helping me prepare my itinerary, my guide from HCMC to Can Tho, fitting by mobile phone to my bike and advising that I can’t ride on the motorway:).  Also for introducing me to your friends.

 

 

 

 

About 50 m from my house is a shop (dairy in NZ, corner shop in Australia).  I go here for my water maybe a couple of times a week.  They can’t speak English, and my Vietnamese is bad, so we do a lot of hand signals and smiling.  I got my good friend Trang to come along with me to be my translator so I could talk with them.

The two ladies are 80 (in the blue) and 82 and are 2 of 4 sisters who are all still alive, the other two sisters are married.  Seven people live in the house, 3 older ladies, a husband and wife and two children.  They have lived in the same house all of there lives and the two of them have never married.  Their reason was because they couldn’t afford to raise children.  I think they are amazing and very unselfish to think like that.

Before they had the shop they used to sell food from their house.  The shop is all they can do now and they don’t make much money, but they only need money for food, the house is free.  Their father was a construction work and their mother had a street food stall.

I asked them what changes they had noticed in HCM and they said it was the building of the tall buildings. They were here during the Vietnam War and they mentioned that this went on for about 30 years.  This including the fighting between the North and the South without the Americans.  Time was very tough then and they said that when the Americans arrived, they were very friendly and gave them canned food and they lived all around them.

What struck me about the pair is they are always happy and they are at their shop from about 6am till about 7:30pm everyday.  They didn’t complain and they wished me a safe journey back home and that they will be sad to see me go.  These are some of the beautiful people I have met here, I will miss them.

It was a different experience being in a foreign country for the Olympics.  Back at home in either Australia or New Zealand, it would have been all you would watch on TV and talk about at work and social occasions.  Here in Vietnam it was completely different.

The only time I heard someone mention the Olympics was when Hoang Xuan Vinh won gold and then silver in shooting.  These were the only medals Vietnam won at The Rio Games and the first gold medal ever.

Hoang Xuan Vinh

I watched the Olympics via live streaming and I had 11 channels.  I love the atmosphere and the chance to watch sports you would not normally have the opportunity to do: synchronized swimming, judo, fencing, badminton, wrestling and diving.  It amazes me how skilled and determined they are.

Good old New Zealand, for a country of just over 4 million, they do very well on the sporting stage.

However, the question I ask is what does this mean, how does it help the country?  Here in Vietnam people seem to be happy with what they have and they don’t play or watch a lot of sport.  I look at the way the professional sportsmen in AFL, rugby union and rugby league behave and are treated by the community and it doesn’t set a good example for people.  I think we place too much importance on sport in our lives.  Remember, it is for participation (health, fun) and for entertaining the spectators.  That is all.

 

Well, my professional racing career has come to an end in Mountain biking in Vietnam.  Out of 4 races, I got on the podium 3 out of 4 times and won a total of 1.2M VND ($70 AUD), medals, statues, certificates, bike helmet, seat and gloves.  Not bad I say.  It is more than I have earned in almost 2 years:(.

I can’t pick a favourite race, they were all different and challenging in different ways.

1. Da Lat: This was a three stage (days) race and was the hardest.  Man the hills were killers.  It was dry and there were several river crossings and the views were amazing.   And of course, the Choco Pie Incident. Choco Pie Incident.  Joost and James feature below.
   

   
2. Stage 1 of the Mountain Bike Series, Ham Da, HCMC.  This was a very technical course and a bit of water, little mud and a great spectator course. This was my first podium, 4th.
   

   
3. Cat Lai Fat Bike race.  This was an awesome course, great flow, bit of water and mud and not technical.  I got 2nd at this one.
   

   

   
4. Stage 2 of the Mountain Bike Series, Den Hung. This was the course of mud and more mud but loved every minute of it.  There were technical parts and steep downhill sections.  I got on the podium again, 7th.
   

   

   

   

   The Bike Shop put on some sausages and beers and the Fat Bikes were out in force. James cooking and Will and James podium winners.

   

   

   We did training on each of the courses except for Da Lat and for the last one, James took some awesome pictures, these had to be included.

I have had a great time here mountain biking.  Who would have thought that in a city of 8.2M you could mountain bike in and around the city?  Well if you have the local knowledge, a little bit of courage and perseverance, it can be done.  A special thanks to The Bike Shop who put on free Sunday rides where I have met some awesome people: James, Lui, Phu, Joost, Will, Pierre, Tim, John, Angel and many others.  I will miss it:(.

We are well and truly in the wet season here.  Pretty much everyday we get rain in the afternoon and about once a week we get a massive down pour with thunder and lightening.  You can normally tell when it is going to rain as the wind picks up and it doesn’t last long but is usually heavy.  People don’t wear rain jackets here, ponchos are the go.

I went shopping one day last week and got caught in the rain.  While I waited for the rain to finish in the shop, I watched some children play in the rain.

They had a lovely time.

I managed to get a video of the rain and the children playing in it.  I think one of them will become a laundry man when he grows up:).

Kids in the rain

 

You don’t realise how accustomed to a place you get until someone from the outside points it out.  I was talking to Niels on my phone (hands free) while riding my motorbike and I was commenting on things while riding.

I just saw a baby rat, it was so cute

I then started to think what other things that I think are normal now:

• You don’t even notice when the restaurant you are at has chairs that are only about 20 cm off the ground
• I don’t think a soft opening is strange.  This is when I building, lets say a Hotel that is being built is not entirely ready, they open 1 or 2 floors before the others are ready.
• I only look forward when driving my motorbike (Oscar), I hardly use my side mirrors.
• I think nothing of going up the wrong way of a one way street or driving on the footpath.
• I drop rubbish on the street with other rubbish as that is what you do and then the rubbish collectors come and pick it up.
• Fish sauce is just like salt and pepper, it can go on anything.  Same for chilli sauce, it is like tomato sauce here.
• Anything can be transported by motorbike
• Lunch over 50,000 VND is expensive ($2.90 AUD)
• Trà Dá is my drink of choice.  It is ice tea.
• If someone cuts you off in traffic you don’t even notice
• I don’t notice when people stare at me, happens everyday
• I now slurp my noodles when eating
• I wear a mask when driving my motorbike, I feel naked without it now
• If is gets below 25 C it is cold
• I am above average height here and it feels normal.

I think I will find it hard getting back into the Aussie way.  It is so much fun here.  The only thing I really miss in Niels.

 

My very good friend Lauren Obermueller’s time in Vietnam was finished.  She was over from USA doing a 6 month internship with Habitat.  Lauren had a very early flight on Saturday morning so she decided to stay up the whole night so she could sleep on the plane.  Trang and I decided to help her with this by going on Operation Midnight Ghost Ride, we started at about 10:30pm.  I had read of a route in the Vietnam Coracle so we used this as a rough guide.  First stop was the Thu Thiem Bridge.

This bridge gives a great view of the city.  From there we were to go into the tunnel however the tunnel is closed to motorbikes after 10 pm, not sure why, so we had to do a diversion and we ended up at the billboards that overlook the city.  This is a lover’s hang-out.

From there we went towards Cat Lai and then over the massive bridge, Phu May to District 7.  Along the way we found this club, we really wanted to go in there.

Not sure if it is similar to a ‘Man Cave’.  By this time we were getting very thirsty so we drove back to District 1 and went to a coffee shop and sat and watched the night life.  Across the road there was a McDonald’s so we then decided to go have a bite.  Now this place was busy, but not the people you would normally find here.  Yes, of course there were the people having a midnight snack after partying, however there were also families here at 1:30 am.  There was a baby and kids about 2 years old that had drank way to much red cordial and were bouncing of the walls, not literally and as you guessed, scouting and screaming.  We gave the parents a few disapproving looks and they moved, didn’t go home, just moved tables.

By this time we were getting tired, so we decided to go home.  The city was pretty quiet by now.  Photo courtesy of Lauren.

We dropped Lauren off at her apartment and said our goodbyes.

It was a great last night to share with Lauren and I will miss her company here in Vietnam.  Good luck with the job hunting.

There are many Pagodas and churches in Ho Chi Minh, however Su Jeong and I were lucky enough to be guided about a Pagoda by a former monk.  Danh Cuong who we work with was a monk from the age of 18 to 22, 5 years in total.  There are two types of Buddhism. Northern Buddhism which is what the Dalai Lama practices and Southern Buddhism.  Southern Buddhism is practiced in Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myramar.  Some of the more noticeable differences are in the food that they eat and the time it is eaten and the chanting .  In Southern Buddhism there are no female monks.

When we visited we met two of Cuong’s monks and we got to talk to them.  One had two dogs that had wandered off the street and sought refuge.

This area is where the monks spend a lot of their time, praying twice a day, starting at 5 am.

As you can see from the architecture, there are similarities with Angkor Wat (Cambodia) and also Thailand, of course except for me in the picture.

On special occasions they go to a dining room where there are raised platforms where the higher monks sit and as you can imagine there are no table or chairs.

We spoke to one of the monks and he was smoking so I later asked about this and monks can’t drink or have relations with women, but they can smoke.  Both Su Jeong and I both noted that there was a feeling of calm and peace compared to the hustle and bustle not more that metres outside the gates.

After our visit we had a lovely dinner in a great location.  Lauren would have been proud as there were lots of lights and she is a sucker for them:).  I think it has rubbed off on me.

You may not of heard, but I attended the Wedding of the Year.  One of my Colleagues got married and I was lucky enough to attend, it was my first Vietnamese Wedding.  So of course a new outfit was required and nails done.  I found a nail salon close to work down one of the alleys so we got them done there, Grace, Trang and I.  Mine cost 65,000 VND which is $3.85.  Need I say more and the flowers were hand painted.

After we had our nails done, we got ready at my place and then took an Uber.

The Wedding started earlier in the day, around 8:30 am and there are ceremonies at the Bride’s and Groom’s houses.  Because the Groom was American, ceremonies/speeches were only held at the Bride’s house.  This is only for family members and close friends so I didn’t attend.

The official part of our weddings is not done in Vietnam and they go to a department of the government and fill in the appropriate paperwork.  I was invited to the reception where the Bride (Loan) and Groom (Shane) are presented to the guests.  At this wedding venue there were three other weddings taking place at the same time.

There would have been about 500 people invited and we were entertained with a traditional Vietnamese dance:

Vietnamese Dance

Gifts are not given for the wedding, money instead in the envelope that the invitation was in.  Therefore, the invitation has your name on it so they know exactly how much you have given.  This is common and the information is used when you are invited to their wedding, you know how much to give.  This took some getting use to.

The Bride and Groom then entered the room and proceeded to light two candles, cut the cake which I understand is fake, and then pour champagne into a champagne tower with dry ice.

The couple then went around the tables and had photos, then we were showered with wonderful food, however, we had to eat very quickly.  During the dinner we had a band who played for people who wanted to sing, basically Karaoke without the screen.  There are a couple of very talented singers within Habitat and one of them is Phuong. Phuoug (right) and her sister:

Singing

After the dessert was served, everyone started leaving.  We got there at about 6:30 am and we left at 9 pm.  There was no dancing, Vietnamese like to sing not dance.

Some photos of the wedding

Now an interesting fact: if a younger man goes out with an older woman, the man is called the pilot and the woman is called the old plane.  Ingenious, better than Cougar.

I wish Loan and Shane all the happiness in the world and thank you so much for letting me share this special night with you both.