Mekong Delta - doing things the easy way.
June 20/09
Our three day tour to the Mekong Delta with a boat ride into Phnom Penh has begun. Twenty minutes in our bus broke down but after about 30 min we're on the road again.
Ricky is fighting back with a vengeance. All of the areas that were mildly affected have broken out into painful, itchy blisters. Why??
--------------------------------------
Today has been somewhat amazing. Although travelling in a tour group means we don't get to meet and interact with locals in the same way it does mean we get to do WAY more in a day and probably do and see things we wouldn't have been able to manage or afford otherwise.
Actually, I found myself, a few times through the day wishing my parents could have experienced it. There were two families on the trip and a number of elderly folk. Moma nd Dad would have loved the experiences.
Just before we arrived at our first stop an incredible downpour occured. So after we bought raincoats (mine smelled like death so I needed a new one - Serene said as I walked by people were visually aghast at the scent) we were off in a small motorboat on the Mekong River. Our driver was a friendly man and the rain wasn't enough to detract from the charm of the boating community. It passed quickly and as we neared a lush canal that seemd to be a by-way for a village we saw boys taking naps in hammocks on boats along the shore, men working on fishing boats and people coming to bathe and swim in the river. Some teen boys startled us with their bridge jumping. All of this while trying to dodge the palm branches that whipped by our heads during some tight passageways - I got knocked once or twice.
Next we were off to have lunch -a simple meal at a local restaurant but the highlight was getting a chance to talk to some of the people we're travelling with. One woman in particular I had sorely misjudged - sumething my previous travels had taught me not to do but it seems I'd had a lapse. A platinum blonde with loads of makeup, expensive looking watch and jewelry, short matching PUMA sweat suit. You can imagine my unfair assumptions. It turns out, howevr, that she's in Saigon for 3 months paying $3000 to stay in a shoddy hostel with the same food everyday in order to volunteer at two orphanages.
On the way back to the boat we copped some dragon ey fruit from the trees over the path and enjoyed one sweet treat on the way to meeting the row boats. The highlight of my day. It was beautiful to watch the grace of the young woman row at the front of our boat and to calmly float through that tranquil place. . . Another moment where I wanted to be able to experience not as a tourist but as a local. I also got the perfect shot to capture the moment.
We exited our boats to sample some fruit - Papaya, Pineapple, JackFruit, something that looked like Lychee with scales, and sapodilla and to listen to folk singers/players. One of the guys was so smiley. I wanted a good pic but - sadness was too far away. THe other people in our group left loads of their fruit on the tables - crazies - so Serene and I, clearly wiser, scavenged.
I think that was the last major stop of the day - we've already done so much today it's hard to take in. And the evening was overtaken with stress over Ricky and trying to find info online about what may be asing this malady - there's not much else to say.
Our three day tour to the Mekong Delta with a boat ride into Phnom Penh has begun. Twenty minutes in our bus broke down but after about 30 min we're on the road again.
Ricky is fighting back with a vengeance. All of the areas that were mildly affected have broken out into painful, itchy blisters. Why??
--------------------------------------
Today has been somewhat amazing. Although travelling in a tour group means we don't get to meet and interact with locals in the same way it does mean we get to do WAY more in a day and probably do and see things we wouldn't have been able to manage or afford otherwise.
Actually, I found myself, a few times through the day wishing my parents could have experienced it. There were two families on the trip and a number of elderly folk. Moma nd Dad would have loved the experiences.
Just before we arrived at our first stop an incredible downpour occured. So after we bought raincoats (mine smelled like death so I needed a new one - Serene said as I walked by people were visually aghast at the scent) we were off in a small motorboat on the Mekong River. Our driver was a friendly man and the rain wasn't enough to detract from the charm of the boating community. It passed quickly and as we neared a lush canal that seemd to be a by-way for a village we saw boys taking naps in hammocks on boats along the shore, men working on fishing boats and people coming to bathe and swim in the river. Some teen boys startled us with their bridge jumping. All of this while trying to dodge the palm branches that whipped by our heads during some tight passageways - I got knocked once or twice.
Next we were off to have lunch -a simple meal at a local restaurant but the highlight was getting a chance to talk to some of the people we're travelling with. One woman in particular I had sorely misjudged - sumething my previous travels had taught me not to do but it seems I'd had a lapse. A platinum blonde with loads of makeup, expensive looking watch and jewelry, short matching PUMA sweat suit. You can imagine my unfair assumptions. It turns out, howevr, that she's in Saigon for 3 months paying $3000 to stay in a shoddy hostel with the same food everyday in order to volunteer at two orphanages.
On the way back to the boat we copped some dragon ey fruit from the trees over the path and enjoyed one sweet treat on the way to meeting the row boats. The highlight of my day. It was beautiful to watch the grace of the young woman row at the front of our boat and to calmly float through that tranquil place. . . Another moment where I wanted to be able to experience not as a tourist but as a local. I also got the perfect shot to capture the moment.
We exited our boats to sample some fruit - Papaya, Pineapple, JackFruit, something that looked like Lychee with scales, and sapodilla and to listen to folk singers/players. One of the guys was so smiley. I wanted a good pic but - sadness was too far away. THe other people in our group left loads of their fruit on the tables - crazies - so Serene and I, clearly wiser, scavenged.
I think that was the last major stop of the day - we've already done so much today it's hard to take in. And the evening was overtaken with stress over Ricky and trying to find info online about what may be asing this malady - there's not much else to say.
posted by Charles at 2:22 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home