Half a World Away: Vietnam, Saigon and the Mekong Delta

Vietnam

This word, this name evokes so many different emotions and feelings for most people in the United States. Perhaps some feelings of sadness, maybe some feelings of curiosity depending on your family’s history.

As we stepped off the plane in Saigon after 20 hours in the air, I found myself overwhelmed by curiosity and a sense of adventure. This was only my second trip across any ocean, and my first in East/Southeast Asia. Perhaps that’s the best way to experience something new; with absolutely no expectations.

My husband, Court, had been invited for a little bit of a work-cation. We had the incredible honor of attending a grand opening for a company that he has worked closely with for several years, as well as some extra time before and after the celebratory events for a little sightseeing and relaxation.

Day 1: Saigon

After getting settled into our hotel, we immediately hit the ground for some sightseeing and food. In India, if we left the hotel, we always took a car; there were a lot of people and vehicles out on the roads and sidewalks, so a ride just seemed safer than trying to walk. In Vietnam, though, we stepped out into the hot afternoon sun on the sidewalks just recently swept and mopped clean by shopowners. We found shade underneath countless trees stretching up towards the tops of buildings; I’ve never seen so much green in such a large city. Red flags and leftover decorations from Tet colored every block as we passed for a surprisingly scenic walk in the midst of a large city. I knew immediately that Vietnam was going to be a special experience.

We started at the War Remnants Museum, a museum dedicated to the entirety of the Vietnam war from the very beginning, following World War II, all the way past America pulling out of the country and the North triumphing over the South. Even knowing that we were the “losing side”, I wasn’t totally prepared to be portrayed as the “bad guys” in a museum… I was both intrigued and maybe a little offended. I guess you have to have some expectations when you walk into a Communist country’s war museum, right?

Despite the propoganda, I was intrigued to see their side of the story and gain the opportunity to better understand a very complicated and tragic conflict.

As we settled in for a late lunch/early dinner, we ended up with some local friends at a Chinese restaurant of all things. I didn’t mind some amazing noodles, bao, and a little dragonfruit cocktail to finish off a busy afternoon! Court and I managed to stay up until about 8:00PM, and then it was lights out. Literally.

Day 2: Cu Chi Tunnels

Refreshed from literally 10 hours of sleep after a long travel day, we got up early for some breakfast at the hotel restaurant. The one thing I didn’t expect to see on the hotel buffet line was pho for breakfast, and it was absolutely the first thing I ate. Followed quickly by one of the best little French croissants I’ve ever eaten! Between the influx of Chinese cultural/culinary influence and amazing French pastries, Vietnam was absolutely blowing my mind in less than 24 hours.

The park across from our hotel was full of people exercising before work and enjoying some green space. This was one of many parks that we would see throughout our time in Saigon and one of the things I immediately loved about the city in general; all the green spaces.

Once we finished breakfast, we hit the streets again for some sightseeing before we met up for a full day of tours!

On our way out, we stopped by a special facility called the Handicapped Handicrafts. This organization hires people physically affected by Agent Orange; they get hired to create beautiful traditional Vietnamese art and learn one very specific step in the process of creating these pieces. These lacquer paintings are a mix of paint, eggshell, and shell inlay to create traditional designs. At this facility, we had the chance to watch some people as they worked on designs and it was truly incredible! The precision and care that goes into each piece of art was amazing. (They get a lot of copycat companies, so we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but I’ll share some pictures of the finished art that we bought!)

Onward to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels were used by the Viet Cong during the war to wage guerilla warfare on the Americans and South Vietnamese. The VC created tons of traps and a network of tunnels that allowed them to ambush their enemies and then quickly disappear. We walked past enormous B-52 Bomber craters and rock formations that were actually vents so that air could reach the tunnels while following our guid through the area. After watching some enthusiastic demonstrations of how the traps worked, our guide took us through a small tunnel for about 40 meters.

Okay, not “us”; me and one of our friends decided to wait on the other side for the rest of our group, and I don’t regret it! I took one look at the tunnel as someone around my height got on their hands and knees to crawl in and immediately said “nope”! Out loud. In front of everybody.

Even for people who are smaller in stature, I cannot imagine spending any significant amount of time down there! It was wild, y’all.

Oh yeah, and we got to shoot 10 rounds from a full auto M-60. That was even more fun than it looks!

Day 2: Mekong Delta

After the Cu Chi Tunnels, we headed towards the coast to explore the Mekong Delta. This was another area of contentious fighting near Saigon, but this particular tour was purely about the natural beauty of the area. We crossed the Mekong River in a simple wooden boat passing barges laden with goods and floating fish farms. The chocolatey brown water was surprisingly calm, despite being a hundred feet deep and constantly churned by the boat traffic.

When we made it to the opposite shore, we found ourselves in a coconut candy shop! We watched them turn green coconuts into taffy-like candy in a variety of flavors that make for a pretty common treat in Vietnam. Oh, and they sold snake wine. Or if you prefer your liquors with tiny alligators or scorpions, they had those too. We brought home an absurd amount of candy but decided to pass on the wine…

We took another ride in a smaller boat along a smaller tributary to our lunch spot.

Lunch was a mix of elephant fish, Mekong prawns, chicken, sticky rice, and steamed vegetables. Before leaving, Court’s grandfather had told us about the Mekong prawns that he remembered eating while he was stationed in Vietnam; let me tell you, those are probably some of BEST shrimp-like critters I’ve ever eaten. I can’t even completely explain what made them so amazing; they were so fresh, with a more subtle flavor that was almost sweet compared to the shrimp that we’re used to in the States. They were even more delicious than they looked!

After our lunch, we helped feed some little caymans their lunch. Don’t worry; these were all too big to be the ones in the gator wine!

From lunch, we hopped onto yet a smaller boat and a smaller tributary, complete with the traditional straw hats to keep the sun off our necks and ears. Our boats were small enough that they required a captain to simply paddle us down the tributary and back.

Depending on your feelings about Vietnam and our presence there 50 years ago, this particular boat ride invoked some very different emotions. When we got back on the bus awhile later, Court confided that it was an eerie ride through the jungle, imagining what it would have been like as a soldier to quietly paddle through the thick foliage with only the silent trees to witness. What was concealed behind the thick leaves and water coconuts? Were there other soldiers there? Why was a place so full of life suddenly so quiet?

I had a very different feeling as we floating through dappled sunlight warming my skin and the gentle nudge of the river. The silence felt like a warm blanket draped around my shoulders, the heavy sigh of peace gently tugging at branches over our heads. For the first time in a few months, my mind felt quiet. It wasn’t so different from the same sense of peace that I find under the South Texas sun on our home waters in the Laguna Madre. Half a world away, I felt something that reminded me of home.

It amazed me that in a place with a people and culture so wildly different from my own, I found something startlingly familiar.

We finished the day with one more stop for some native fruits and local performers singing traditional Vietnamese songs. The tension in my shoulders was finally leaving with every bite of heavenly dragonfruit, and I couldn’t help but smile with each song.

As we left the river, I found my first real sense of peace since the start of our trip to Vietnam. I had left home in the middle of excitingly hectic projects and worked a little too hard trying not to think of them as we flew across the world. All it took was a little quality time with nature to shut out the noise.

Someting I noticed immediately about the Vietnamese was their connection to nature. On the Mekong Delta, their lives were still intwined with the gentle river and they took so much pride in sharing the fruits of the land with visitors. Even in bustling Saigon, our tour guide commented that the green spaces and trees were especially important to residents, that the government meticulously maintained the greenery to keep it pristine within the city.

As we walked below the stretching branches of mangroves that evening with city lights filtering through the leaves, I had a feeling that the people and land of Vietnam would build a special place in my heart after this trip.

Next week, I’ll share our jeep tour and food adventures on days 3 & 4! Every day got just a little bit better