Hot in the Mekong

We need one of these rivercraft at home!

Arriving at My Tho we stepped aboard our waiting putt-putt for a motoring cruise down the Song My Tho, a branch of the muddy Mekong, dodging large barges and all manner of industrial river craft.

We stopped at nearby islands to sample the delights of coconut candy, take in a handicrafts factory, seriously challenge the fitness of several carriage ponies and finally sampled local fruits and honey at an orchard.  Special displays included traditional folk songs and dancing, and a very large python. 

Giving up a chance to pat the python, I quickly headed for the loo only to discover another huge, huge python nearby, fortunately caged. Quickest bathroom break ever!!

I don't care if it's friendly....it looks hungry!

We moved on to a wharf to board, less than gracefully, small row boats, which glided silently up narrow creeks lined with palms and other thick vegetation. Quite eerie, but it also gave us an appreciation of the isolation felt by small river communities. On to lunch, the highlight of which was an elephant ear fish, fried whole, scales and all.

Punting up a narrow creek

The trip to the Dong Tam snake farm did not eventuate sadly (not!). It seems that snakes are used in the manufacture of traditional medicines used to remedy disorders as disparate as mental health issues, rheumatism, coughs, migraine and paralysis.  

An assortment of nasty beasties, when steeped in alcohol, produce a tonic believed to fix all ills & ails plus (as an added bonus) enhance virility. We had come across this tonic on a previous day, when travelling north to Cu Chi tunnels. Jars of snake wine decorated shelves in an edible rice paper making factory at a stop we made.  Well, it's nice to put those beasties to some good use.  As they say, if the snake doesn't kill you, the wine will....

Medicinal Wines...sure

Saigon - Life on a River

Thien Hau Insense

Ho Chi Minh City, located on the banks of the Sai Gon River, was until the 17th century a small Khmer fishing village. Later, issues with Chinese refugees during the Nguyen Dynasty, saw a new rule, growth and a change of character.  In 1859, Saigon was seized by the French giving the city a feel of a French provincial town. Saigon was later to become the capital of the Republic of Vietnam. In 1975, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the founder of the modern communist state.  Now the network of waterways is bustling and the city booming.

We flew into Saigon over a panorama of fields and wide, muddy rivers. It looked and certainly was, warmer and much more humid than KL. 

After settling into our hotel, The Grand Hotel on Dong Khoi Street - what a position! - we took an orientation tour, walking with our guide, Hip. 

Group numbers appeared to swell as we moved through the streets. Was this performance art?  We seemed to have acquired a troop of tourist police (to ensure our safety) such as crossing those frenetic streets and negotiating a gaggle of assorted and very attentive hawkers.  All attentive to ensure our $US were wisely spent....  

We needed a coffee to relieve our frazzled nerves and there it was, Gloria Jean's!  As recompense, we had a local dinner at the Indochine. Set in an old colonial building, not yet restored, although well preserved might be a better word, but it did have character. Disappointingly, local food is not particularly spicy.

General Post Office

Dong Khoi Street used to be known as Rue Catinat and is the centre of the old French Quarter. We took in the Notre Dame Cathedral (1883) with two bell towers, the General Post Office and Municipal Opera Theatre (1899). The Post Office is quite spectacular and my endeavours to photograph floor tiles sparked a bit of a "theme" for me, especially being a patchworker. 

We drove past the People's Committee Building (formerly the Hotel de Ville, 1908), the Rex Hotel, a haunt of journalists during the American War, the Continental Hotel, (a setting for Graham Greene's, The Quiet American) and the renovated highrise, Caravelle Hotel. 

Afterwards we lunched at an interesting pho, or noodle shop, decorated in the old style with lots of dark timber panelling, all quite intricately carved and old chinese furniture.  It brought back memories of those fabulous old cafes in Malaysia with their black furniture, small mable-topped tables and dark, mysterious interiors

Notre Dame Cathedral

Our explorations next took us to downtown Cholon (Chinatown) past a very busy and large local produce market, Cho Binh Tay, through Thien Hau, a Chinese temple of the Goddess Protector of Sailors, with very tolerant worshippers, I must say.  Being sailors, we made an offering in the hope of good fortune and safe passage. After the calm of the temple, it was not long before we plunged into the depths of the Ben Thanh market and its wall to wall stalls, and as a final stop, every shopper's delight, the Tax Trade Centre in Nguyen Hue. Back for a swim and a beer before a disappointing, albeit interesting dinner.  Frogs, eels, crocodile Belgian style and snails on the menu. Snake's head porridge. Mmmmm? Perhaps not tonight!!!

Vive Viet Nam

Vietnam: A Snapshot

Battle Tours (Australia):  2007

Hue Kites

A few statistics, some with comparisons to Australia for us to appreciate the differences, and of course, interesting bits & pieces (sourced mostly from guides, internet sources) to enlighten us and provide a background for our trip:

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Land of the Ascending Dragon

Capital: Hanoi

Area: 325,360 sq km (Australia has 7,617,930 sq km)

Climate: Tropical and monsoonal

Population: 85,262,356 (Australia has 20,434,176) (as at Jul 07)

Scenery: Vietnam has a long coast line facing the South China Sea. It stretches from the low, hot & steamy Mekong Delta in the South (Nam Bo), through central highlands (Trung Bo) and up into the cool mountainous regions and Red River Valley of the North (Bac Bo). Vietnam has common borders with Cambodia, Laos and China.

Cau Hai Lagoon

People: Aprox 87% are ethnic Viets (Kinh) who are descended from the Hung or Lac originating from the Red River delta. Other significant groups are the Hoa (Chinese origin) who predominantly live in Cholon and the Mekong Delta, the Khmer (Cambodian heritage), who also live in the Mekong Delta and the Cham, who can be found on the central coast or Mekong Delta. Various important ethnic minorities, including the Muong are located in the central and northern highlands.

Culture: Vietnam is a Communist State. Culturally close to China, the Vietnamese are followers of Mahayana Buddhism, a Chinese evolved doctrine of the belief. They respect and follow Confucian teachings (moral & ethical principles), revere Taoism (preservation of natural balances eg yin & yang) and retain spiritualist traditions. Vietnam also has a representative group of Christians, largely Catholic; followers of Cao Dai, an eclectic religious mix (more later) and a small community of Hindus and Muslims.

Economy: Largely agriculturally based (rice growing represents 45%GNP) with a growing industrial sector (30%GNP); tourism and foreign investment have only been encouraged as recently as 1992. Vietnam has one of the lowest standards of living in the world, however we certainly saw evidence of strong and purposeful development in the areas we travelled, particularly in Saigon and Hanoi. What was particularly heartening was the attention given to public spaces and concern to preserve the past.

Street Stall - Cholon Style

Currency: Dong with an exchange rate guaranteeing at least 15 minutes of millionaire status - less for the shoppers among us. US$1 purchased VDG16,225.  

Ancient History: A fascinating mix of truth and legend, Vietnam's history can be traced back to tribes living in the Dong Song (or Red River delta) to times well before the Bronze Age. Southern migrations of these peoples, periods of Chinese domination, resistance to Malayo-Polynesian settlers and Khmer peoples has resulted in a complex yet interesting history. 

Current History: French Colonialism 1858-1956; Japanese occupation 1945; American intervention 1965-1973; Communist State declared in 1973 with reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976. In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia in response to the activities of an expansionist Khmer Rouge regime backed by the Chinese. As a result it was ostracised internationally until its troops were withdrawn in 1989. The US lifted its embargo in 1992.

Vietnam: Itinerary



Halong Bay

Itinerary: Flying into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) with excursions to Vung Tao for a Long Tan Commemoration Service, the Mekong Delta and Cu Chi. Flying on to Hoi An and driving on to Hue. Our flight to Hanoi was cancelled so we elected to bus it - something you have to do - just once.  From Hanoi we travelled to Halong Bay for an overnight cruise around the islands. All up 19 days. We had booked our tour through Battle Tours and found our guides to be experienced and friendly, the hotels nice (those with pools especially so) and our fellow travellers very pleasant company.

Technical Details: Disappointingly, many of my photos turned out fuzzy. My camera had been repaired, which it seemed affected its focus. And, as you do, I didn't check the camera well enough before we left.  Yes, I know!  A poor workman blames his tools; but on reflection, always invest in the best quality equipment you can afford. 

Roti Canai for Breakfast

Still the best Asian cookbook out there
(from Book Depository)

Back to the travelogue. I can't leave Malaysia without some comment on their glorious food.  Despite the obvious influx of western style foods, there are still plenty of food halls (and open air market stalls) selling delicious local food. Back then, we used to eat out regularly in the local style, trying most of the restaurants and stalls in PD and beyond. Our local night market was also an opportunity to sample out-of-town specialities.  Best of all was the little man on his scooter who delivered fresh goodies to our houses.

Delight of the Orient  - for some!

I learned to cook special curries from our acquaintances and loved to shop with the locals at the Seremban market for fresh, seasonal fruit and vegies. Pork, located in a separated complex, was available as was mutton (goat), beef (buff) and quite an array of birds, aside from the usual chicken - all melt-in-your-mouth.  I even found a man that sold frozen New Zealand lamb - well, it was perhaps best described by those of us with a taste for lamb, as mutton or really ancient sheep - but at least we were able to get our fix.  Malays find the taste of lamb too strong.... beats me how they can taste it over all that chilli heat!! 

Malaysian hospitality is wonderful and I loved their all-inclusive style of celebration called "open house" and method of serving food in "banana leaf" style - no plates or cutlery, just a variety of curries and  condiments served on a banana leaf and eaten with your fingers. A very free and relaxing way to run a party or entertain!  Here's a few of our favourite dishes that we encountered back then and hoped to re-sample this visit:

Nasi Lemak.  Rice in coconut milk served with cucumber, egg, peanuts, ikan bilis (small fried fish) and finally, lashings of a fiery, chilli sambal.  To make it more of a meal, a meat or vege curry such as beef rendang or sotong sambal could be added. Of course, it's best served banana leaf style.

Noodle Dishes. Char kway teow made with fresh vege and flat rice noodles, stir fried in a wok and prawn laksa, a rich coconut "soup" with prawns served over rice vermicelli rank as my favourites. We were often served these dishes at the Port Dickson Club on weekends. Mee, thick yellow wheat noodles, were also good either stir fried (mee goreng) or in a soup dish.

Other Staples. Roti canai, papery thin breads whirled over your head by the cook as you wait for this breakfast treat. Add some curry gravy, dhal or perhaps a little ayam curry and I'm in heaven.  Karipaps (curry puffs) helped fill in those gaps when you felt a bit hungry!!
  
Stall Specials.  Nothing beats chilli mud crabs.  Coat freshly caught & steamed mud crabs in chilli sauce, eat with your fingers and try not to get too emotional! 

Chicken satays fanned whilst being cooked over hot coals, then served with peanut sauce are too good to pass up on hot, steamy nights.

Kitchen Essentials.  Belacan - smells ghastly but adds that special zing to your curries.  Charmaine Solomon has written extensively about food in South East Asia. Try one of her comprehensive cook books. And a wok - can't live without my wok! 

Deserts. With an abundance of fresh fruits such as lychees, bananas, mangosteens etc, etc - too many to list - we only tried a few very sweet deserts or cakes such as dolol - coconut cakes wrapped in banana leaves to make cute triangles, then steamed.  Most memorable however, was ais kacang; shaved ice served in a tall glass with toppings of cendol (small gelatin cubes), peanuts, cincau (black jelly), red or black beans, rose syrup, coconut cream (santan) and finally gula melaka.  Makes your teeth rot just thinking about it!  I can't finish without mentioning durian. Yes, we tried it and it tasted to me like creamed garlic. Mind you I had my fingers firmly holding my nose at the time. 

Drinking.  Finish it all off with a Tiger Beer or a foamy teh tarik (stretched tea - you'll understand once it is served!). 

Of course you can't really cook up a storm without the help of Charmaine Solomon.  Her Cookbook has been around for years and is still the best available if you want an authentic recipe or several.   

River Baptists et al

The River Baptists by Belinda Castles is my latest read; unfortunately despite being a winner of the Australian /Vogel Literary Award, it's not up on Amazon yet, so no cover for you to see.  Not a bad story and of course it's set locally - hence my interest.  I believe there are a few other novels about the Hawkesbury River area so I am looking forward to seeing what makes the area so interesting to authors?? 

A recommended movie treat, the "Oyster Farmer" also sets a somewhat interesting angle on our "locals".  The river, it seems, harbours its fair share of quirky people with dark histories (Wow!! How long have I been in the neighbourhood and not really noticed??) but it is really nice to see a departure from the usual depiction of Aussies as laconic dudes from the outback (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), weird city boys (like Mad Max or Romper Stomper)  or indeed, comedic dancing queens (Murial's Wedding and Cosi). So, wind up the DVD and watch some of Aus's best. 

(Ed. An update: finally found a cover copy of the River Baptists......)

Heritage Textiles

Although our trip to Malaysia was not essentially a "textile" trip, I did some reading on classics or traditionals specific to this area - just in case we stumbled on something grand, or even unexpected. As one might!  Forewarned is forearmed so they say!!  

Batik Sarong

Batik is a wax resist process of decorating cloth.  Essentially, hot wax is either drawn directly onto a fabric length with a canting, or stamped on, and then the whole cloth is immersed in a bath of dye. This process is repeated to come up with a final, multi-coloured product. The wax can often crack, giving the resulting fabric a crazed appearance.

Batik is considered the national cloth of Malaysia.  If you fly Malaysian Airlines you may have noticed the stewards uniforms?  Otherwise, plenty of sarongs in imitation batik were about in stores for souvenir hunters.  (For interest, imitation fabrics are generally screened, and can be spotted easily as both sides of a true batik fabric are the same).  I did come across a factory in Penang a few years ago where demonstrations of this technique were conducted for interested visitors. 

Kain Songket is usually woven by hand on a frame loom.  Generally, a metallic weft thread is partnered with cotton or silk warp.  The result is a rich and boldly coloured fabric highlighted by an intricate traditional patterning of gold or silver threads.  Production of kain songket is a traditional craft practiced in Borneo, Kelantan and Terengganu.



Kain Songket

Generally designs on both types of cloth are based on traditional Muslim patterns, with geometric or floral being popular, fitting in with religious beliefs.

This review is a bit basic. This was unfortunately not the trip to launch out to find production centres.  However, the Craft Museum had some lovely examples but I settled myself with a few little mass produced souvenirs to satisfy a shopper's urge. If you want more something more specific on techniques then head to your local library, craft museum or surf the web for a bit. Try this one for kain songket and this one for batik.

Port Dickson. Another day...

Penawar looking a little sad

After another day spent in KL, we were able to hire a vehicle and headed South out of a somewhat surreal maze of intercity highways.  First stop was Putrajaya, a new and remarkable city-scape.  Its planned boulevards, spacious views and designer buildings loomed large out of surrounding rubber plantations; feature pages in a designer home magazine perhaps but where were all the people? 

Malacca Straits

We took the old road to Port Dickson at Seremban, now a major centre.  The road, yet another toll, had changed a great deal - now modern and part of an interconnected highway system across the country.  Have the drivers' abilities changed however??  I recognised the nursery where I bought my chinese egg pots - none in stock today!  A chinese cemetery entrance had been cut away, the hill now gone, and a new development, once the tiny village of Lubak, now spread almost down to PD.

The old town looked familiar but many of the shops were new - even the Colonel has invaded.  The old market building was still standing but in a state of disrepair (could that have been possible?).  PD seemed less prosperous despite the many grand apartment buildings.  

Our search for Penawar was realised with a little local help.  A shopkeeper who had lived in the area for many years was able to guide us around the government buildings to the house.  A shadow of its former self, the house seemed smaller than I remembered; it used to be one of the most modern houses in PD (indeed, with european toilets).

The Port Dickson Club was next on our list.  We were happily allowed to see the grounds, visit the Yacht Club and take lunch.  After chatting with a long-time member/resident expat we drove on to find the Ming Court Hotel, now disappointingly derelict and dwarfed by endless monster-sized beach resorts strung along the calm, warm waters of Malacca Straits.

Port Dickson Yacht Club

After a final tour of the town (where had our Oceanic Supermarket gone?) we headed back towards KLIA and our stay at a more upmarket over-nighter where the "group" was to gather.  The road trip was exceedingly memorable; not only for me - lunch at the club came back with an appalling vengeance !   

Let me tell you however, the toilet stops along the way were immaculate.  On to our last overnight stop in Malaysia before joining our fellow travellers for the next stage of our journey of memories - Vietnam.

Malaysia to the Max

We hardly recognised the growing metropolis of Kuala Lumpur.  Well, it has been some time!!  But whilst some nations languish, Malaysia has advanced full speed and dare I say it, Sydney could use some lessons, especially in the art of people moving. 

PETRONAS Twin Towers

We had planned two days in KL with maybe a side trip to my favourite destination, Malaka, and a day to visit Port Dickson, home of the original Penawar and base for our 2 year stay in the early 80's.  Clearly, things were vastly different and we could only hope that many of the places were still around.  It's nice to revisit with the past, especially happy memories and I had been simmering for a return to Malaysia, particularly after recently becoming engrossed in Peter Carey's "My Life as a Fake".

The Monorail passed by our hotel so on our first day we used that as a means to orientate ourselves to the brave new landscape of KL, alighting at Sentral to source some touristy information...but with limited success  Not too many freelance tourists I guessed? 

We noted the KLIA express makes travelling fast & easy, and how smart to load your baggage in KL at the airline check-in rather than carrying it all the way to the airport! 

KL is one big shopping mall - a bargain hunter's paradise, I'm sure.  We decided this wasn't for us and headed for the stainless steel twin towers, this time on the light rail.  So faaasssst!  At the towers, visitors were only allowed onto the walk bridge connecting the towers and the daily quota was up, so we took a few snaps from outside and hailed a cab for the craft museum. 

The Craft Museum itself was closed, leaving a village of shops to explore. There was some exquisite weaving, batiks and painted cloth in traditional styles, but it was all quite expensive, cloth was generally made up into something and so, it all had to stay in the shops!

Maternity Hospital still going strong

We moved on slowly, caught in KL's famous Friday gridlock, to the Chinese Maternity Hospital. Again a few snaps and heaps of memories - the tree monkey was born here 24 years ago....  We walked on to Bukit Bintang - the distances seemed so much further apart in those days - to our old shopping haunt and the hotel where we stayed before moving to PD. The hotel was very swish now and the mall - well, full of shops and people!  Clutching a few beers we headed back to the hotel to spruce up before heading out to find the Coliseum Cafe.

At least our favourite Cafe hadn't changed. One of the waiters said he had been working there for 30 years (quite possibly in the same white shirt....). Captain Morgan, head waiter, preempted our order - why waste time reading the menu, right?  Large steaks were quickly delivered to our table on a very old trolley, the sizzling was added with a flourish and a flood of mushroom gravy. The room was misted up from hissing steaks and the ambiance was certainly very old Chinese KL (established in 1921).  I forgot to mention the bibs - better than serviettes   The steak was very good, thus keeping the Coliseum popular with a nice mix of patrons from the tourist, local and  expat community. 

Globe Silk Store

After dinner we walked up Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and unexpectedly passed Globe Silk Store.  I really had gotten my navigation wires crossed.  In our day, it was "the" department store in Chinatown, although now somewhat dwarfed by its space-age cousins.  They had some lovely fabrics back then and regretfully I wasn't as much into patchwork, so no stash builders!  However I do still have a chinese-style silk blouse that I bought there in the 80's....and sadly no, it doesn't fit me any more!

Out the door again

The house is a hive of activity today. We are off again!  This time down memory lane; first to KL and then on to Viet Nam for more than 3 weeks.  Not enough time to get to everything before we leave but at least the camera was repaired in time - just!  So I have great expectations.

I am not expecting to have too much time to email whilst we are away. Better to be doing it, that is, travelling, rather than sitting at a computer in a cafe or hotel room, wouldn't you say?  Learnt that lesson flying over Everest.  Too busy taking photos, which in the end turned out rather badly, and then didn't have any time left to take "the experience" all in.  Also some things, unless you are an expert photographer, can never be duplicated on simple 5x7's. Especially when they're taken through an aeroplane window.....

My poor Khan has also packed his bags today to go and live with his new family.  He deserves to have a full-time family and I can't always take him with me whenever we go away.  Besides, animal quarantine is never a guaranteed solution.  The places we travel and the experience of being separated for long periods would take its toll on both of us.  I should have taught him how to send emails!!

I'm going to attempt to limit myself to six reports - six of the best so they say - on any particular area/country/town  visited. This challenge should encourage brevity and better photo inclusions. Please do not use my photos or words. 

(Five years later and I'm still working on the brevity bit. Ha....  Ed)