September 25, Mekong Delta to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
After breakfast at our homestay, we got back on the boat for the bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh City. There were no planned activities, so Melody and I walked around Tao Dan Park before having dinner with the group at a street food court.
We were expecting to be awakened by roosters, but I guess we slept through that. Even so, we had a leisurely morning before breakfast, exploring the property a bit more. We saw some nicely made wooden doors being loaded onto a cart, and Bao mentioned that there was a wood shop in the back, so we went to take a look. There was a pretty large table saw, and I saw an electric hand sander, but otherwise, the tools must have been put away. Next to the shop, we saw coconut husks and segments of bamboo, as well as a burn pile. The previous day, we had seen large slabs of wood drying; Bao said the yellow planks were jackfruit but wasn’t sure about the others.
We were served breakfast, which was both simple and very tasty. We then finished packing and made our way to the boat. Since the tide was up, we just had to walk across the road and down the ramp. We went across a wide section of the delta, through a canal, then across another wide section. Halfway across, the driver stopped the boat and we were all wondering what was going on. The driver started hacking at some coconuts and Bao started handing them out with straws so we could all have coconut juice. We sipped on them as the driver started the boat back up and we went the rest of the way across the delta.
We all loaded back onto the bus and were on our way. After a little while, we pulled over to the side to look at a Taoist temple. The temple was very ornate and painted with bright colors, both outside and in.
After we had gone for a while longer, we took some time at a rest stop. The rest stop the day before was all enclosed, but this one was open-air, complete with a garden that had a lot of koi in it. They must have been very used to people feeding them, because when we walked up to the edge, they were crawling all over each other, mouths agape, waiting for food to be given to them.
The koi reminds me of something that happened while we were in the Mekong Delta. There was a large fish tank at one place and Bao had put his finger to the side. One large fish looked like it was nibbling at it, and Bao thought it just wanted to play. Another person put a package of snacks she had bought next to the window, and nothing happened. She tried with the next package, and the fish started nibbling at the glass. The third package also caused no reaction. She tried mixing things up, but the fish only reacted to that second package.
As we were driving along, I saw a truck that had a dedicated spot next to the driver’s door for sandals. Looking at more trucks as they passed, I saw several more trucks with various places to hold sandals.
Since we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City a bit too early to check in to our hotel, we stopped for lunch. As we walked in and were looking over the menu, the music seemed hip and catchy. It wasn’t too long before we realized the same song was on a loop without an opening or closing, so it did get to be somewhat repetitive. Melody and I got some bun cha, pork with noodles and vegetables served with a broth.
We got back to the hotel, picked up our laundry (no damage this time!), got the bags we had left behind, and went to our rooms. We were in a different room but still had plenty of space. It was also on the sixth floor (rather than the ground floor) so we used the stairs when we weren’t carrying our luggage.
Bao had suggested that he was going to get street food for dinner, which sounded good, so we were to meet in the lobby before heading out. Since we had the afternoon available, Melody and I went to a café for a while (but we stopped to get ice cream on the way). After that, we walked around a bit and decided to go to Tao Dan Park.
The park is quite large and divided into a main section and a smaller section across the street to the north. We headed there first to walk through the sculpture garden. We were surprised to see one with a bust of Beethoven dedicated to his Appassionata piano sonata.
We then went to the main section to walk around a bit. We made a wide loop, eventually going through the flower garden. We then headed back to the room.
When the appointed time came, we met in the lobby to go with Bao for dinner. Since a couple of our group were still out and about, we decided to go to the Ben Nghe Street Food Market, which is like a big food court with street food vendors. After procuring a table, we split up to get our dinners. The conversation wasn’t quite as lively, probably because the past couple of days had been very filled.
We headed back a bit early so we could start packing since we were leaving Ho Chi Minh City the next day. On the way back to the hotel, I a couple of ways that scooter riders protect their phones in the rain. One person had a miniature umbrella, another a miniature scooter helmet. Those were in the minority, so I wonder if most riders don’t protect their phones until it starts raining.
