The first step was to hop on a bus and get to the boat. We were staying at a hotel on the river, so we thought it would take maybe 15 minutes to get to the pier. It took us almost 2 hours. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The drive first took us through morning traffic in the nation's capitol. I've said it before and I'll say it again: traffic in Southeast Asia is crazy, an organized chaos...chaos being the key word. We spent at least 10 minutes trying to get over a bridge. The width of the bridge was about 3 cars and 8 motorbikes deep. Each vehicle within millimeters of one another. The pollution seeped through any open crack in our van and I wanted to borrow one of the face masks that a big number of motorbike drivers wear.
After getting out of the city we had a long ride through the country. There was cattle grazing by the side of the road, uniformed children biking to school, tractors filled with people on them and many other sights that we have now become familiar with. We passed a few towns, temples, markets and schools along the way.
At minute 105 we barrelled down an alley and stopped outside of a shed where our boat company was housed. No time to stop for a bathroom, there was one on the boat--that's what I was afraid of. We passed by a man dressed only in a scarf and walked down a hill to the river. There she was, our boat, The Green Monster, on the Mighty Mekong. (Little did we know that this was one of about 8 boats we would be on in the next 3 days.) We walked on two thin slats of wood to the boat: green-painted wood framed with industrial strengh, green, water proof curtains. The room in the back marked W.C. had a toilet bowl that I'm sure just emptied straight below. No swimming and no fish for me! I sat down on a folding chair, filled out my Vietnam entry papers and looked around.
Besides Brit, Leah and I we were joined by 4 other tourists: a mid/late 20s Australian couple, a solo French girl with dreadlocks, and a 30-some British man. It was a pretty standard group and made me wonder who would play what role if we were stranded a la Gilligan's Island.
The Mekong is wide, brownish-green-grey and lined with jungle trees. Just as I was collecting my thoughts about the trip, we were being flagged down by another boat. This was a large boat carrying some sort of rice. We soon found out (not verbally of course, just observationally) that they had bottomed out and were stuck. Our trusty crew circled around a few times, used some rope, and freed them.
The boat we 'freed'
We kept along the river for about an hour or so until we got to immigration. We stamped out of Cambodia and kept on going. Next, we got to Vietnam immigration. We were all herded into a room and then waited for about 15 minutes while Mr. Bean played on a TV overhead. A man with a briefcase showed up and asked for our passports and a 2,000 Vietnamese Dong "health fee." This is roughly 12 cents. We all awkwardly fumbled with our new money and had no denomenation less than 50,000 (about $3). He said he'd take our 50,000s and pay us back later. First bad sign. Luckily our travel-savvy UK friend came to the rescue. He told the man we all had our health checked before we came and we did not need them to varify it. The Vietnamese man got very angry and started yelling at us. Yelling, completely uneccessarily, like a man who had been caught mid-scam. He told us, angrily, that he'd just have to pay it himself and then demanded our passports. Seeing as how no one else was in the building, we had no choice but to hand them over. He shooed us outside to wait and then waddled back inside.
We sat in the heat for what felt like an eternity and he waved us inside. We walked to a different boat, our Vietnam boat. We asked for our passports, he said he would give them to us later. This time our Aussie travel-savvy duo said we wouldn't get on the boat until we had our passports in hand. He reluctently gave them to us and we got back on the Mekong.
The next 3 hours on the boat definitely seemed like more than 3 hours. We were all a little tired, hungry and annoyed at first but those feelings eventually wore off with the breeze. There were many sights along the Mekong. The river narrowed and the water became more of an opaque brown color with garbage floating around intermittantly. We saw lots and lots of people swimming and bathing. Many fishing boats, cargo boats and wrecked boats. Houses on stilts, bridges on stilts, docks on stilts. The heat was oppressive and the smells sometimes fishy at best. There was no doubt in our minds that we were in the jungle. At the end of the 3 hours we started seeing houses literally floating, on rafts, and a larger city in the distance.
We sat in the heat for what felt like an eternity and he waved us inside. We walked to a different boat, our Vietnam boat. We asked for our passports, he said he would give them to us later. This time our Aussie travel-savvy duo said we wouldn't get on the boat until we had our passports in hand. He reluctently gave them to us and we got back on the Mekong.
The next 3 hours on the boat definitely seemed like more than 3 hours. We were all a little tired, hungry and annoyed at first but those feelings eventually wore off with the breeze. There were many sights along the Mekong. The river narrowed and the water became more of an opaque brown color with garbage floating around intermittantly. We saw lots and lots of people swimming and bathing. Many fishing boats, cargo boats and wrecked boats. Houses on stilts, bridges on stilts, docks on stilts. The heat was oppressive and the smells sometimes fishy at best. There was no doubt in our minds that we were in the jungle. At the end of the 3 hours we started seeing houses literally floating, on rafts, and a larger city in the distance.
We floated up to the city, walked up a wooden plank, and took a breath of fresh-ish air. Our guide told us to put our bags on a bike taxi and we would walk to the hotel. We opted to carry them ourselves and walked the 5 minutes to our hotel.
At the hotel we were asked to forfeit our passports for the night so a policeman could look at them--hotel protocol. We said that we would like to keep them and would be happy to go to the police station with them later. I don't think they liked us too much.
The man gave us our key, we walked upstairs, and entered The Sauna, also known as our room. It was pretty much the hottest room ever. Not to mention pretty gross too--Brit had various spots of hair on her bed. It was not an ending to the already hard and long day that we wanted.
We went out and had our first experience of real Vietnamese food...very good! Then we walked around. The city, Chu Doc, is definitely not a tourist city. Nothing was in English and there was nothing really for us to do except walk around. One of the best parts is how all of the children get excited to see Westerners so they wave frantically and shout "hello!" repeatedly. It makes you feel like a rock star. After walking around the city we stopped at a park and watched groups of men playing the Vietnamese version of hackey sack. They play with a plastic toy that slightly resembles a badmitton birdy. These men are amazing. They can even kick it right to one another while falling into a handstand or a pushup.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel/sauna. After a little while in our room we got a rousing knock on the door. It was time to go to the police station with our passports. We made the 5 minute walk with someone who works at the hotel and the police quickly checked our passports to make sure we were legit. We have since learned that this is protocol at every hotel here, so we have given up on the fight to go to every police station.
The night ended with a round of Saigon Beer followed by a round of Speed Scrabble. Welcome to Vietnam!
**Side note: We have also since realized after Cambodia and Vietnam that border crossings are not accurate depictions of the rest of the country. It is too bad that we have to go through scams and annoyances, but the rest of the country has much greater things to offer!
At the hotel we were asked to forfeit our passports for the night so a policeman could look at them--hotel protocol. We said that we would like to keep them and would be happy to go to the police station with them later. I don't think they liked us too much.
The man gave us our key, we walked upstairs, and entered The Sauna, also known as our room. It was pretty much the hottest room ever. Not to mention pretty gross too--Brit had various spots of hair on her bed. It was not an ending to the already hard and long day that we wanted.
We went out and had our first experience of real Vietnamese food...very good! Then we walked around. The city, Chu Doc, is definitely not a tourist city. Nothing was in English and there was nothing really for us to do except walk around. One of the best parts is how all of the children get excited to see Westerners so they wave frantically and shout "hello!" repeatedly. It makes you feel like a rock star. After walking around the city we stopped at a park and watched groups of men playing the Vietnamese version of hackey sack. They play with a plastic toy that slightly resembles a badmitton birdy. These men are amazing. They can even kick it right to one another while falling into a handstand or a pushup.
Eventually we made our way back to the hotel/sauna. After a little while in our room we got a rousing knock on the door. It was time to go to the police station with our passports. We made the 5 minute walk with someone who works at the hotel and the police quickly checked our passports to make sure we were legit. We have since learned that this is protocol at every hotel here, so we have given up on the fight to go to every police station.
The night ended with a round of Saigon Beer followed by a round of Speed Scrabble. Welcome to Vietnam!
**Side note: We have also since realized after Cambodia and Vietnam that border crossings are not accurate depictions of the rest of the country. It is too bad that we have to go through scams and annoyances, but the rest of the country has much greater things to offer!
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