Life on the Delta

Maggie's comments about the Mekong Delta were timely, for today the plan was to go there. We drove out from Saigon to My Tho, from where we took a boat on a well trodden tourist route, run by a state tourist organisation - but none the worse for that. All plans went seamlessly, one "experience" followed another, and there was no hard sell.

 

Here are some photos from the day.

 

On the way to My Tho, we stopped for a close look at a rice paddy and realised we knew little of how rice grows!

 

 

One of our visits was to a sweet making workshop, where they boiled up coconut milk with sugar and made a delicious caramelly toffee. We bought.

 

Paddling - or rather, being paddled - down the small canals was fascinating!

 

Our driver, an elderly lady with few or no teeth (coconut candy chewing?) wore a Valentino shirt. We suspect it was a copy.

At one point, we rode in a horse drawn truck, past this house where a normal Saturday afternoon was being spent in front of the telly.

Coconut is such a versatile material, and makes beautiful roof patterns!

All in all, another great day which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The reason why we came

Today is why we are here in Vietnam at all. It's the opening night of the Autumn Melodies season at the Saigon Opera House and the Piano Concerto by Joachim Raff is on the programme, played by a delightful and talented Vietnamese pianist, Nguyen Tra, who lives and works in London.

Perhaps you already know of Mark's involvement with the work of Joachim Raff? If so, it'll come as no surprise to find that's why we are here.
 
Anyway, we heard the rehearsal this morning and all sounds as though it's going to be a splendid evening across the road there at the opera house. Tra is a superb musician and is sure to do the work justice - it will be quite an occasion, for it's the first time it will have been heard live in over 100 years. Hopefully it won't be so long before it's played again though - Tra is going to do a recording in England, soon.

Well, since I wrote the first part of this blog entry, the concert has been and gone and it was a total triumph for both Tra and for Raff! The Opera House was full and the audience loved it - nearly as much as we did. Sitting with Tra's family was a privilege and we enjoyed sharing their delight in watching such an accomplished musician bring this forgotten piece of music to life again.

 

 
We smiled as the "no photography" sign was ignored as the cameras clicked away. At one point we counted seven movie cameras (it was broadcast live on Vietnam TV) and eleven people with cameras in the aisle or on the front row. At one point it seemed as though every person in the audience had a camera or videophone held high to capture the moment - the organisers are losing the battle to prevent such recordings, we think.

 

Tra well deserved the rapturous applause at the end of the evening - we enjoyed seeing the pride on her mother's face as one person after another came to share their praise of her daughters performance. It was quite an evening.

 

You can read a full review here

Arrived in Saigon

Leaving DaNang this morning

Approaching Ho Chi Minh City

Even though officially it's referred to as Ho Chi Minh City or HCMC, everyone calls it Saigon, much easier, we agree. We left DaNang around lunchtime and arrived an hour later, at the same time as three other flights - all on the same baggage carousel!

 
At least it shows that there's no preferential treatment, whether you're captain or customer, you all have to wait by the same carousel! 
We went shopping today and found some DVDs of old favourite TV series, including "The Golden Girls". Picture the scene....and all of that.
 
Saigon is a totally different ball game from Hanoi, though equally charming in its own way. Reminds us of how Hong Kong and Singapore used to be.....in "the old days"! Today we've been to two different markets, one of which was the wholesale market and boy, have we seen some stuff!
It's always nice to have a housekeeper with a sense of humour - look how we found our travelling companions dressed when we returned tonight!

More from Hoi An

 

 

I took so many photographs whilst in Hoi An yesterday, I thought that I'd post a few more. Above is a bowl of lotus seeds, on sale in the market.

Here, we have tobacco, in various forms. The girls on the stall were folding dried leaves into bundles for sale.

 

This stall has a selection of the long, skin coloured gloves worn by the women when they ride their motorbikes (see picture in Hanoi)

This stall had dried squid on offer. The amazing colours are more attractive than the aroma, honestly.

 

   

Even in this tight space, there are motorcycles, toot-tooting their way through.

 

 

Nearly stepped on this pair of chickens!

So many of these delicious small bananas, labelled "Buddha Bananas"

Bottles of fish sauce, beans in sauce and other delicacies.

We think this is galangal but our guide only knew the word "haemmoraghia" for it.

Hoi An is a truly amazing place, definitely one to remember and recommend.

In Hoi An

It's been a fun day walking around another World Heritage site - the old city of Hoi An, in the words of our guidebook "shoppers paradise". Not that we wanted to buy a great deal. We were not in the market for made to order clothes and we don't go a bundle on souvenirs and things for our home - in my experience, such things don't travel well, however good they look in their original surroundings. But, we did succumb to one or two bits, of course.

 

 

 

Firstly, we bought more Me Xung, an Hue speciality we tried yesterday and enjoyed. It's a kind of sweet jelly covered with sesame seeds and quite yummy, we think. Then of course, we had to buy the Hoi An speciality, Hu'ong, little shortbready biscuits, wrapped in pairs each biscuit with a stamped chinese design on one side.

 

We enjoyed these too, so had to buy more replacements. Next was a bag of black peppercorns, Vietnam's major export we've learned, and some dried lemongrass which smells so lovely. Finally, some green lotus flavoured tea which we tried earlier in the day and enjoyed.

 

We loved the market, enjoyed watching the daily life unfold there, in particular the small argument which resulted in one stallholder splashing fishy water from her counter all over a customer who must have irritated her in some way. The customer found herself drenched in the smelly stuff as she turned around to hurl abuse! There were fruits of every kind here, many of which we've seen (and eaten) at breakfast time, but also others which were new to us. The vegetables were fresh and plentiful and everything looked good and appetising - with the possible exception of the area with the aroma of fish sauce!

 

We made the obligatory visit to a craft workshop and watched more embroidery, some weaving and silk production but declined a huge hardanger tablecloth and matching napkins, thanks.

 

Further down the street was a shoe shop where a pair could be made and delivered to the hotel later. I was sorely tempted, but Phong, our guide, warned against ordering a pair, because the glue won't dry in time and they'll fall to bits!

 

 

There were shops selling silk lanterns, a speciality of Hoi An, and of course, lots and lots of T shirts.

 

After a temple or two - one with the most wonderful hanging incense cones, we made our way to the river, where we climbed on board a small boat for a trip downstream for an hour. We sat and watched scenes unfold in front of our eyes and found ourselves fascinated by everything around us. This is such a picturesque country, the people delightfully friendly and good natured.

 

Along the river, we passed fishermen and women in small boats, ferries with it seems, more motorbikes than passengers and small children playing in the water. All so romantic - except for the choking diesel fumes and the noise from the engine!!

 

 

So, another busy day which provokes "The Thought". Edward started this one years ago and it remains one of our pet phrases - when I am sitting at home in a couple of weeks, I shall think of this place where life goes on day after day in the same way it has for years - even when I'm at home doing the ironing. It goes like this: "Just think, right now the Star Ferry is chugging away across Hong Kong Harbour, people are bustling around New York and the daily flight to (enter whatever city is in your mind) is just taking off. And here we are, doing (insert boring activity of choice).