After spending 40 days in Vietnam and seeing more of the country than most Vietnamese people ever will I lay in bed the other night and wondered was I glad or sad to be leaving. I can't wax lyrically about it like i did about China, it was different. The longer I was there the less I liked it. But please don't get me wrong, it's a lovely place and for everything that happens to make it annoying something just a little better happens to make it worth it. It's just that maybe too many of the little annoying things happen and then it starts making you feel crazy.Took my three day journey from Saigon to Phnom Penh, through the Mekong Delta and then on the slllooooooooooow boat to Phnom Penh, and with almost everything else i did in Vietnam I was not given the full story by the travel agents. But focus on the positive.
The Mekong Delta is one of the most fascinating places i have ever been to. It really is the lifeblood for entire communities. They reside on, live on and die on those waters, they rely on the murky waters for everything, somewhere to catch fish, tourists, somewhere to bathe, and to 
wash your clothes, somewhere to play and to poop. We border a small boa
t and did a tour through the canals that make up so much of this area, one lady sat at the top of the boat and rowed as 4 tourist sat in the back taking photos. We were told by our guide to give her a tip when we were finished.
wash your clothes, somewhere to play and to poop. We border a small boa
t and did a tour through the canals that make up so much of this area, one lady sat at the top of the boat and rowed as 4 tourist sat in the back taking photos. We were told by our guide to give her a tip when we were finished. That's fine, but in true Vietnamese style as we were going through the canals and as each boat passed us coming in the other direct we were met me a chorus of "tip money, tip money." not that's just not cool. But then when we landed we were met by the most adorable children and this somehow mitigates the annoyance of being harassed by the paddlers.
T
he
Children in Vietnam are the m
ost adorable children I have ever come across, naughty, playful and so cute. Everywhere you go you are met with a refrain of little voices shouting haloo haloo, it is adorable, always smiling and always playing. At the border with Cambodia and little boy came up to me a gave me a flower. It was just incredible.
he
Children in Vietnam are the m
ost adorable children I have ever come across, naughty, playful and so cute. Everywhere you go you are met with a refrain of little voices shouting haloo haloo, it is adorable, always smiling and always playing. At the border with Cambodia and little boy came up to me a gave me a flower. It was just incredible.After visiting a couple of rice making plants and other not so interesting places, (as you can see from the photos i spent most of my time outside playing with the kids), I got to combat another of my fears. The message on my t-shirt more accurately conveys my feeling than the forced smile on my face.
We visited loads of places, being herded on and off the boat like children. Almost collectively, except for our guide to the Cambodian boarder, the guides were rude, and flustered. I think that the problem is that they get themselves worked up and then just let go by shouting at everyone. On the first night when I had checked into the hotel. I was lying on the bed just relaxing when someone came banging on my door. "open door. open door," I opened it, and there was my guide with hotel security, who just stood in the corner giggling and making faces at the guide behind his back. Apparently i hadn't paid the full price for my room and I had to move out. But move out to where, well i could share with a French guy who also hadn't paid for his room. I didn't want to share with a stranger and as far as I was aware I had paid. A mobile was pushed in my face and an angry a voice was yelling at me for telling lies and not paying, All the time my guide just yelled at me. I asked them how much money it would cost to pay the extra, and they said 3$, okay I'll pay now piss off. Of course when all got resolved and the guide calmed down I got my three dollars back. But it's a sort of a shoot first as questions later mentality.
We visited loads of places, being herded on and off the boat like children. Almost collectively, except for our guide to the Cambodian boarder, the guides were rude, and flustered. I think that the problem is that they get themselves worked up and then just let go by shouting at everyone. On the first night when I had checked into the hotel. I was lying on the bed just relaxing when someone came banging on my door. "open door. open door," I opened it, and there was my guide with hotel security, who just stood in the corner giggling and making faces at the guide behind his back. Apparently i hadn't paid the full price for my room and I had to move out. But move out to where, well i could share with a French guy who also hadn't paid for his room. I didn't want to share with a stranger and as far as I was aware I had paid. A mobile was pushed in my face and an angry a voice was yelling at me for telling lies and not paying, All the time my guide just yelled at me. I asked them how much money it would cost to pay the extra, and they said 3$, okay I'll pay now piss off. Of course when all got resolved and the guide calmed down I got my three dollars back. But it's a sort of a shoot first as questions later mentality. The next day we again were herded onto a bus and driven for a while to a another boat and we went to see
a crocodile farm, a floating market and a village built entirely on stilts.
a crocodile farm, a floating market and a village built entirely on stilts. The group went on to visit a ethnic village but I stayed behind and watched life in the village. The people here are so strong and so hard working. From the little children to the elderly. There's no sitting around here waiting for the man to come to fix stuff, you get out there and do it yourself. I watched this elderly lady and the young boy at work, they were trying, I think, to move this raft and it had become stuck in the mud. 
It was with brute force that they were working and that's how all the work is done here. although the Vietnamese are incredibly industrious, and would connect an engine to anything, most of the work done along the Mekong delta is done by manual labour. Long, hard and slow work, back breaking work, always done with a smile. You see, dammit, they piss me off but then they make me admire them so much in the same minute. No wonder this country makes forgieners go nuts after a while.
It was with brute force that they were working and that's how all the work is done here. although the Vietnamese are incredibly industrious, and would connect an engine to anything, most of the work done along the Mekong delta is done by manual labour. Long, hard and slow work, back breaking work, always done with a smile. You see, dammit, they piss me off but then they make me admire them so much in the same minute. No wonder this country makes forgieners go nuts after a while.Sad or glad .... sad.
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