I Dream of Pythons and Bananas

"Dear Diary,
Today I held a huge python and got hit in the face by a bunch of bananas." While these euphemisms could be used to describe some past vacations - this, however, was not one of those adventures. More details to follow.

We got in relatively early last night, but I did not sleep very well. I was up and down all night and when the alarm went off at 6:30, I did not feel very rested. We met Jeff for a quick breakfast on the hotel club level. He headed off for work and we headed down to meet our bus. Today, we were off to tour the Mekong delta region, south of Ho Chi Minh City.

When we arrived in the lobby at 8:00, the tour bus was waiting. Our tour guide, Tang was very friendly and lively. As the bus traveled around the city collecting our fellow travelers, he chatted with us about the local districts. He also made sure to introduce each new group of tourists as they boarded the bus. Accompanying us were a single traveler from Vancouver, a father and daughter from New Jersey, a foursome from Australia, and two girls from Bali. It was a diverse group, but Tang made everyone feel comfortable and welcome.

Tang - our tour guide for the day

Teeny, Tiny Vietnamese in their child-size chairs.  NOT American size for sure!

We had a 90 minute commute from the last hotel stop to the starting point of our tour. During this time, Tang provided us with many fun facts about Vietnam, the outer districts of Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the countryside. Dad was delighted to be out of the city, and he enjoyed looking at the way farms were set up, what was being grown, and how the people were working the land. You can take the boy off of the farm, but...

Bye-bye City

Hello Countryside

The farms were mostly devoted to growing rice and the countryside was very green and picturesque with farmers wading through the fields planting and weeding the crops. After a quick rest stop, we were soon dockside for the river cruise potion of our tour.

They don't just wear those silly hats in the movies....

We piled onto a boat similar to this one to commence our tour.

It was really quite comfortable - but I just noticed that the life jackets were above our heads.
No safety demo on this trip.

The Mekong river is the 10th longest river in the world. It empties into the delta of the same name.  By the time it arrives at the delta, it is muddy and silty. It was particularly muddy during our visit since we were in Vietnam during the rainy season. With that said, we were very lucky that we had glorious weather without a cloud in the sky for the entire day.

On the river there were many other tourist style boats, barges, fishing boats, fish traps, fish farms, canoes, houseboats, swimmers - you name it. It was a quite busy waterway. I kept having flashbacks to an episode of the Amazing Race in which the contestants had to select a boat (like the one we were in), visit a fish farm (like the ones in the distance), and then navigate between the 5 holy islands of the delta to locate flags. The one thing they did not do, however, was visit a coconut candy making factory - really just a tourist trap to spend some money, but the adventure continues.

After seeing how the coconut is harvested, husked, drained, boiled, cooled, cut, and wrapped as individual candies, we were given some samples and some time to spend our money on a bag or perhaps purchase some rice wine with a pickled cobra and scorpion included in the bottle.  Yum - when the wine is consumed, it is supposed to aid male performance in the bedroom. We didn't have any takers in our group. I think that I would have to be really desperate for some loving before I popped the cork and chugged down a glass of that concoction - Blech!

Anyway, we strolled through the makeshift village, and I spied a huge python sunning itself in a tree. Of course this was another photo opportunity - so I stepped forward as everyone else stepped back. The handler placed the snake across my shoulders, I settled it in and made sure the snake's mouth was pointed away from any important body parts, pasted on a brave smile, and waited for dad to click the picture. Once done, I could feel the snake moving in closer, tightening around my shoulders and neck, and I had a moment of terror (once again, thanks Discovery Channel). Particularly when I looked around and the handler was nowhere to be found - and neither was our friendly tour guide. Our little group became very animated as I squirmed and tried to put up a brave front.

Huge (well medium, really) Python on Glenn - note the handler's departure on the right....

Eventually, I gathered my wits and sidled up to the tree on which the python had been originally sunning himself and allowed him to climb / slither / crawl across my shoulders and back onto his perch.  Ugggh!  But, I got the picture! Then we were herded back onto our comfortable motor boat to head to the next leg of our journey, which was a canoe trip up one of the tributary canals to our lunch destination. We carefully boarded the canoes, so as not to have an unexpected swim and we were off, propelled by a sure-footed paddler standing on the back of the boat.

Waiting for the tourists - our next means of transportation

Who's that behind those Foster Grants?

Actually, those silly hats are pretty shady

My Apocalypse Now Moment - Yeah I said it.

After about 20 minutes or so of delicately balancing in the canoe, we arrived at our lunch destination, which was just off the river, under a palm leaf covered shed. The waitress brought out a whole roasted Elephant Ear Fish and began to break it down with chopsticks into very delicious fish spring rolls with cucumber and pineapple. There was a very tasty fish sauce for dipping the spring rolls. Once again, dad asked what it was, I suggested he give it a try without telling him its compostion. Otherwise, he would not have given it shot - I mean fish sauce is sweet and delicious, but you would not think so from the name.

Roasted Elephant Ear Fish

Following the fish, we had a rather bland vegetable soup, followed by some fried noodles and money rolls. We ended our meal with a cup of tea with fresh kumquat and local honey. After a brief rest and lively conversation we strapped on some helmets, loaded into tuk-tuks and headed down a very narrow trail through the jungle to our next destination. The trail was a bit like a sidewalk that wandered through the jungle, with homes on either side along the way. I guess when everyone drives a scooter, this type of road is sufficient for two way traffic. 

Tuk-Tuk Gear

Literally packed into the back with our new best friends

Onto the highway

Future Coconut Candies?

Our next stop was a fruit farm where we were served freshly harvested pineapple with a chile / salt rub, palmello (a bit like a huge grapefruit, but milder tasting), and a few other unrecognizable, but delicious fruits.
 

Possibly the most healthy things we have eaten in 9 days

It was a nice respite from the go go go of the day, but everyone was beginning to feel a little ragged and a bit tired. It was time to head back to the motor boat.

On the sidewalk highway

During our trip back to the motor boat, I was looking around and enjoying the afternoon as well as the breeze from riding along the trail in the woods. There was a dog barking in one of the yards we were passing and I was waiting for it to come around the corner to give us chase in the tuk-tuk, when I heard dad call my name.  I looked forward, and bam - I was slammed right in the face by a bunch of bananas hanging out over the trail as we sped along at about 20 MPH.  I felt as if I had been punched in the face. My eyes watered, I cowboyed up, had a laugh, and wiped the blood off the bridge of my nose. So now you know the rest of the story.....

After that incident, the remainder of our journey was without incident. We had a leisurely trip back to the dock in our motorboat, sipping coconut milk from fresh coconuts. Once we were back on the bus, everyone settled back for the long drive back to the city. This was one of my favorite days on this trip - wonderful weather, great company, fun facts, and a bit of sight-seeing.

Boats at the tourist dock