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Aug. 11th, 2002 06:29 pmNow we're really off on an adventure...
We're currently in Rach Gia, a port city that is only noted in our Lonely Planet because it's where you have to stop to catch the ferry to Phu Quoc island, which is where we're headed tomorrow.
We purchased a package deal from a tour agency, which included a 2-day Mekong Delta tour, a bus to Rach Gia, a hotel in Rach Gia, the boat to and from Phu Quoc and the bus back to Saigon. Whether or not we'll get all that remains to be seen!
Our Mekong Delta tour started off yesterday morning; on the tour were two other Canadians (more on them later), a couple of Germans, a couple of Spaniards, and a bunch of Frenchies. We stopped off in a couple of places to observe the PEACEFUL LIFE of the LOCAL PEOPLE (that's what the brochure said!). We stopped at a former communist camp located in real jungle wetland, which was pretty cool; a small boat took us around the place, and there were vines and tropical plants everywhere, large spiders and pretty butterflies, and plenty of bird (and monkey?) calls though I didn't actually see any animals.
A little later we took another boat, this time down the Mekong (or one of its branches, rather, there are 9 main ones plus countless little waterways). We stopped at a tofu factory where we got to see tofu simmering in huge vats; they even gave us some to taste.
When we got to the hotel, they immediately tried to screw us over. At least, that's what Marie-Josee and Lisa, the two other Canadians, said. They had been told we were going to be sleeping in 2-person bungalows on the beach, but they wanted us four to share a room because I guess the agency just told the hotel they had X number of people; there were enough beds for everyone, not just the appropriate number of rooms. Anyway, the couples got their own rooms, and finally we ended up four in a room with no curtains (we got curtains) and no actual beds, just matresses on the floor. There was air conditioning and because of that, lots of comatose little flies on the sheets. The sink leaked and M-P saw a flying cockroach (her first!) in the bathroom. Lisa saw red ants in the hallway, so we sprayed Off underneath the door and bunches blankets in the cracks to keep them out. M-J and Lisa had their mosquitoe net (we left our big backpacks at the agency) and the ceiling was so high that they had to set it up over the coat-stand.
I managed to sleep okay, but I woke up in the middle of the night, sweaty and sticky. The air con wasn't working! I thought M-P had turned it off at first, because she was right next to it, but it was probably a power outage or they just switched it off. I woke up a bit later, to the sound of several dogs barking away at something or other. M-P didn't get a good night's sleep.
This morning, we left by boat to go visit the floating markets. The people here are very friendly, especially the children. They wave at you as you float by, and yell "Hello! Hello!" when you're within earshot. We spent about 2 hours in the boat, and didn't have our sunscreen with us. Oops! Surprisingly enough, I'm hardly burned at all, but M-P's face is pretty red.
After we met up with the bus again, we were driven back to Can Tho for lunch, where we partook of yummy fresh spring rolls with spicy fish sauce. Those weren't included, so we had to pay extra, but I think they were worth it.
By this time, we were wondering what the hell we had gotten into. Nothing seemed really clear, especially the part about us having to trust in the Vietnamese bus system to get to Rach Gia. Fortunately, the two Germans are also heading to Phu Quoc, so we stuck close to them. When we got to the bus station, our guide got us tickets and told us our bus was leaving at 1, which was in ten minutes. We sat down and waited until someone tapped us on the shoulder and pointed to a bus. We picked up our bags, and followed the other people to the bus, waited until they got on, then handed our tickets to the driver, then...
"No no, you take bus at 2!"
"But our tickets say 13 o'clock!"
"No no, bus at 2!"
GAH!
So now we were pretty discouraged. M-P wanted to head straight back to Saigon, but that would have meant taking the bus anyway, so we waited until the 2 o'clock bus, trusting (at least I was) that everything would eventually work out somehow...
We got on the 2 o'clock bus, and a little old lady sat down next to M-P (I was beside the window). She was a nun, and spoke excellent French, and had a brother in Canada. She small and kindly-looking and very cute, but I couldn't really talk to her because of the noise. She didn't speak very loud either, so M-P got to talk to her.
For those of you who might be wondering how traffic is outside Ho Chi Minh City, I came to an important conclusion on that 2 1/2 hour mini-bus ride. Driving on the right side of the road may perhaps be the law, but in practice it's only a suggestion. The real law on the road is that if you're bigger, you can beep louder, thus get other people to let you through. You can pass on the right or the left, honk as much as you like and drive as fast as your vehicle will go and the roads will let you. Speed bumps exist, but in the form of narrow little bridges (and there are lots of those). Looking in front is sort of scary, but fascinating. I've never seen a huge truck coming straight toward me and swerving just at the last minute like that. You just sit back and sort of forget that you're the one being driven around like that.
M-P is currently looking at the weather forecast for the next few days on Phu Quoc, and it doesn't look good... but wait! We're so lost we're not sure what day it is! It's Sunday the 11th. Right. But this webpage seems to have a weather forecast for last week, so...
Ah, also of note: today we saw our first bit of Vietnam rain. First at the bus station, it rained for a few minutes, but we were under a shelter. And when we were in our hotel room earlier, it rained as well.
Oh yes, we finally reached Rach Gia. We got the bus driver to take us to our hotel, and M-P and I were very relieved when the girl at the desk accepted our story about having reservations (she called our agency and everything seems to be in order... but who knows if they'll try to charge us tomorrow morning!)
Back to the weather... ugh.
In other news, I have a strange red splotch on my chest. What could it be? My cold sores are receding, we both have itchy throats and slightly upset stomachs, which may or may not be a result of too much AC and our malaria pills.
We're both tired, so it's off to eat then to bed for us.
We're currently in Rach Gia, a port city that is only noted in our Lonely Planet because it's where you have to stop to catch the ferry to Phu Quoc island, which is where we're headed tomorrow.
We purchased a package deal from a tour agency, which included a 2-day Mekong Delta tour, a bus to Rach Gia, a hotel in Rach Gia, the boat to and from Phu Quoc and the bus back to Saigon. Whether or not we'll get all that remains to be seen!
Our Mekong Delta tour started off yesterday morning; on the tour were two other Canadians (more on them later), a couple of Germans, a couple of Spaniards, and a bunch of Frenchies. We stopped off in a couple of places to observe the PEACEFUL LIFE of the LOCAL PEOPLE (that's what the brochure said!). We stopped at a former communist camp located in real jungle wetland, which was pretty cool; a small boat took us around the place, and there were vines and tropical plants everywhere, large spiders and pretty butterflies, and plenty of bird (and monkey?) calls though I didn't actually see any animals.
A little later we took another boat, this time down the Mekong (or one of its branches, rather, there are 9 main ones plus countless little waterways). We stopped at a tofu factory where we got to see tofu simmering in huge vats; they even gave us some to taste.
When we got to the hotel, they immediately tried to screw us over. At least, that's what Marie-Josee and Lisa, the two other Canadians, said. They had been told we were going to be sleeping in 2-person bungalows on the beach, but they wanted us four to share a room because I guess the agency just told the hotel they had X number of people; there were enough beds for everyone, not just the appropriate number of rooms. Anyway, the couples got their own rooms, and finally we ended up four in a room with no curtains (we got curtains) and no actual beds, just matresses on the floor. There was air conditioning and because of that, lots of comatose little flies on the sheets. The sink leaked and M-P saw a flying cockroach (her first!) in the bathroom. Lisa saw red ants in the hallway, so we sprayed Off underneath the door and bunches blankets in the cracks to keep them out. M-J and Lisa had their mosquitoe net (we left our big backpacks at the agency) and the ceiling was so high that they had to set it up over the coat-stand.
I managed to sleep okay, but I woke up in the middle of the night, sweaty and sticky. The air con wasn't working! I thought M-P had turned it off at first, because she was right next to it, but it was probably a power outage or they just switched it off. I woke up a bit later, to the sound of several dogs barking away at something or other. M-P didn't get a good night's sleep.
This morning, we left by boat to go visit the floating markets. The people here are very friendly, especially the children. They wave at you as you float by, and yell "Hello! Hello!" when you're within earshot. We spent about 2 hours in the boat, and didn't have our sunscreen with us. Oops! Surprisingly enough, I'm hardly burned at all, but M-P's face is pretty red.
After we met up with the bus again, we were driven back to Can Tho for lunch, where we partook of yummy fresh spring rolls with spicy fish sauce. Those weren't included, so we had to pay extra, but I think they were worth it.
By this time, we were wondering what the hell we had gotten into. Nothing seemed really clear, especially the part about us having to trust in the Vietnamese bus system to get to Rach Gia. Fortunately, the two Germans are also heading to Phu Quoc, so we stuck close to them. When we got to the bus station, our guide got us tickets and told us our bus was leaving at 1, which was in ten minutes. We sat down and waited until someone tapped us on the shoulder and pointed to a bus. We picked up our bags, and followed the other people to the bus, waited until they got on, then handed our tickets to the driver, then...
"No no, you take bus at 2!"
"But our tickets say 13 o'clock!"
"No no, bus at 2!"
GAH!
So now we were pretty discouraged. M-P wanted to head straight back to Saigon, but that would have meant taking the bus anyway, so we waited until the 2 o'clock bus, trusting (at least I was) that everything would eventually work out somehow...
We got on the 2 o'clock bus, and a little old lady sat down next to M-P (I was beside the window). She was a nun, and spoke excellent French, and had a brother in Canada. She small and kindly-looking and very cute, but I couldn't really talk to her because of the noise. She didn't speak very loud either, so M-P got to talk to her.
For those of you who might be wondering how traffic is outside Ho Chi Minh City, I came to an important conclusion on that 2 1/2 hour mini-bus ride. Driving on the right side of the road may perhaps be the law, but in practice it's only a suggestion. The real law on the road is that if you're bigger, you can beep louder, thus get other people to let you through. You can pass on the right or the left, honk as much as you like and drive as fast as your vehicle will go and the roads will let you. Speed bumps exist, but in the form of narrow little bridges (and there are lots of those). Looking in front is sort of scary, but fascinating. I've never seen a huge truck coming straight toward me and swerving just at the last minute like that. You just sit back and sort of forget that you're the one being driven around like that.
M-P is currently looking at the weather forecast for the next few days on Phu Quoc, and it doesn't look good... but wait! We're so lost we're not sure what day it is! It's Sunday the 11th. Right. But this webpage seems to have a weather forecast for last week, so...
Ah, also of note: today we saw our first bit of Vietnam rain. First at the bus station, it rained for a few minutes, but we were under a shelter. And when we were in our hotel room earlier, it rained as well.
Oh yes, we finally reached Rach Gia. We got the bus driver to take us to our hotel, and M-P and I were very relieved when the girl at the desk accepted our story about having reservations (she called our agency and everything seems to be in order... but who knows if they'll try to charge us tomorrow morning!)
Back to the weather... ugh.
In other news, I have a strange red splotch on my chest. What could it be? My cold sores are receding, we both have itchy throats and slightly upset stomachs, which may or may not be a result of too much AC and our malaria pills.
We're both tired, so it's off to eat then to bed for us.
