Cruising the Delta
Chau Doc, Vietnam (in the Mekong Delta)
The Mekong Delta is an amazing place, everything revolves around the water. The Mekong is a massive river, over 1 km wide in places that splits into a lot of smaller rivers and canals in the delta before hitting the ocean. Chau Doc is at the top of the delta region. I'm getting tired of hearing "motorbike" all day so I rent a motorbike for myself for the day. It was the same price with or without a driver but I wanted to ride for change instead of hanging on for dear life over the bumps and when going through intersections. The guy was nervous about me taking his bike for the day so I had to drive him around for awhile so he knew I could ride a scooter. Then he asked if he could be a passenger all day - NO WAY! I could have used him a few times, there are virtually no road signs and I didn't have a map. Had to stop at most intersections and ask which way to go. Nobody speaks english there but they can recognize the name of a place and point so it wasn't really a problem.
One of the places I visited was the "Bone Pagoda" in Ba Chuc. They call it that because they have thousands of human skulls and bones on display from people that the Khmer Rouge massacred in the 70's. The pictures of the Ba Chuc massacre in a nearby temple are probably the most horrific images I have seen in my life.
The people out in the country are so different than those you meet in the towns and cities where tourists usually go. I guess they don't see gringoes on motos very often out there because they were laughing and waving as I went by. Whenever I stopped for directions they were very kind, it was a great experience. The moto owner was very pleased when I dropped off the bike without a scratch.
Sitting at the hotel bar on the river in the afternoon/evening was also very interesting. There is a constant stream of activity going by and boats of all shapes and sizes. They did have one thing in common, they were all old, decrepit, and very dirty. The current is very strong, small islands of shrubs are always shooting by at the speed of an olympic swimmer. A lot of people get around on rowboats so they have to really work to get across. They row while standing. It looks like most women row and most men use motors (I'm not sure if that is an indication of strength or intelligence on either sex.).
Back to Saigon tomorrow on the bus.
Paul
The Mekong Delta is an amazing place, everything revolves around the water. The Mekong is a massive river, over 1 km wide in places that splits into a lot of smaller rivers and canals in the delta before hitting the ocean. Chau Doc is at the top of the delta region. I'm getting tired of hearing "motorbike" all day so I rent a motorbike for myself for the day. It was the same price with or without a driver but I wanted to ride for change instead of hanging on for dear life over the bumps and when going through intersections. The guy was nervous about me taking his bike for the day so I had to drive him around for awhile so he knew I could ride a scooter. Then he asked if he could be a passenger all day - NO WAY! I could have used him a few times, there are virtually no road signs and I didn't have a map. Had to stop at most intersections and ask which way to go. Nobody speaks english there but they can recognize the name of a place and point so it wasn't really a problem.
One of the places I visited was the "Bone Pagoda" in Ba Chuc. They call it that because they have thousands of human skulls and bones on display from people that the Khmer Rouge massacred in the 70's. The pictures of the Ba Chuc massacre in a nearby temple are probably the most horrific images I have seen in my life.
The people out in the country are so different than those you meet in the towns and cities where tourists usually go. I guess they don't see gringoes on motos very often out there because they were laughing and waving as I went by. Whenever I stopped for directions they were very kind, it was a great experience. The moto owner was very pleased when I dropped off the bike without a scratch.
Sitting at the hotel bar on the river in the afternoon/evening was also very interesting. There is a constant stream of activity going by and boats of all shapes and sizes. They did have one thing in common, they were all old, decrepit, and very dirty. The current is very strong, small islands of shrubs are always shooting by at the speed of an olympic swimmer. A lot of people get around on rowboats so they have to really work to get across. They row while standing. It looks like most women row and most men use motors (I'm not sure if that is an indication of strength or intelligence on either sex.).
Back to Saigon tomorrow on the bus.
Paul
posted by Paul at 6:30 AM
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