Day 9: Hue to Saigon
As we listened to Richard Marx on the way to the airport, memories of Phillip flashed before our eyes: ahh, remember when he almost hit that one guy on a scooter? No, that was ALL the time. But remember when he said stuff to us? Not for me, never understood a word. But how about the time I noticed his gigantic fingernails? Yeah, what a guy, I'll miss Phillip. Phildog dropped us off at the airport on our way back south. I'm not used to actually flying with friends, so was good to have someone I actually wanted to talk with on a plane. On the way back into Saigon, we- look out! scooters! Close call. We decided to really treat ourselves with a fancy local restaurant and extravigant hotel. In Saigon, this meant Pizza Hut and a $50 room. Give us a break, we were hungry for American food and tired. Another journey around the city took us to the War Rememberance Museum, which was the first noticeable recognition of that whole mess of a war thing. Interesting chronicle of the Vietnam War (which I'm told is fittingly called the American War there), but don't need to see the effects of Agent Orange. I get it, we shouldn't have "bombed them back to the stone age" as our pacifist president once said. After digesting that cuddly little recollection of history, we headed over to Trinh's relatives again. It was here that we experienced more of the Vietnamese hospitality. Sit down, eat something without a drink and we'll leave you in the kitchen to finish. I didn't as much as communicate with Auntie as I nodded, said "mmmm" and gave the thumbs up, which probably means "more meat, more rice," because I was stuffed. Great homemade cooking....no quite like mom makes, but just a few dashes away from chicken parmigana.
Day 10: Saigon, Mekong Delta
The final day of the journey took us on a tour of the Mekong Delta, the well-known area southwest of Saigon. Little did we know, this was three hours southwest, but luckily we got to spread our wings a bit in the tour van. Alas, we came across a Vietnamese person that spoke English, our tour guide. We noticed how "different" the educated, English speaking people of this country looked in comparison to, well, the others. In all, we were just happy for less stares because they have actually seen Westerners before. The drive to the Mekong was pretty familiar by now: rice paddies, little towns with lots of Rua Xe (did I mention I learned some of the language here? Yeah, "car wash" and could count to five, or say 30. Therefore, I could order up to five, or 30, carwashes if I wanted). We hopped on a boat after three hours and enjoyed another slice of Vietnamese culture. Making things on a boat, selling on a boat, sleeping on a boat, staring from a boat. Our fellow tourists on this trip were a couple, which consisted of a 50-something Englishman and a young woman from China. Somewhere, Felix and Oscar are smiling. It was good to actually communicate with someone, outside of counting to five carwashes and thumbs up, of course. We were treated to presentations on how to make rice paper, candy and some popcorn-tasting food, all of which I later learned are a staple of the Mekong tour, no matter what company you used. Seems like they just made up what to put on the Mekong tour sometime around 1998. They're in a meeting at Saigon Tourist and debating: ok, so the Americans and British don't want to bomb us anymore, they actually want to come here for FUN! What do we show them, other than people in boats? How about how to make some of the stuff that we constantly try to sell them?? Yeah! Better yet, we can try to get them to buy it right then and there! But I suppose that continued to be what was great about the country, and travelling in general, one could argue. You could watch someone play an instrument local to the area, walk through people's backyards (where the grandparents are buried) and it's still amazing to us. A great lunch of local fish, meats and fruits followed, then back on the boat. The Mekong also reminded me of the rivers and jungles depicted in Vietnam-era movies. I could just imagine John Kerry on his T-boat, going, "man, I don't really care about getting shot, but something tells me my performance here is going to hurt my chances to be president. Hope these guys don't sell me out." After more Mekonging and bumpy ride back to Saigon, it was time for one more homecooked meal at the relatives. This time, we had a bonus, which was eating our chicken, beef, rice and fruit on the floor. I'm not being sarcastic, I love this stuff. When you're a kid, I'm sure mom would discourage eating with your hands on the floor. But here in Saigon, anything goes! Plus, it seemed like the Asian thing to do. After I waved (note, waved...didn't "say" goodbye) to the fam, we headed off to the airport before saying g'day to my travel companion and the country known as the jewel of Southeast Asia.
Temples, incense, chicken rice, stares, coconuts, scooters, heat, bugs, cheap everything, including happy moments, will be lasting memories. So lasting, that a trip to North Vietnam may have to be in the works one of these years. Thanks to Vietnam and of course Uncle Ho, ya'all got a nice little country on your hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment