Day 7: River cruise on RV Mekong Pandaw
This trip was hosted (what does this mean?) – I travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam and experienced the RV Mekong Pandaw cruise as a guest of Vietnam Airlines.
Brick factory
After breakfast on our second-last day in Vietnam, we visited a brick factory. I always approach everything with an open mind, but this turned out as interesting to me as it probably sounds to most of you – it was my least favourite excursion of the cruise. We saw brick workers toiling, sweating in the heat, painstakingly stacking tiles in neat rows. Some carried loads of bricks via hand-drawn carts, which looked like back-breaking, thirsty work in dusty conditions and relentless humidity. The workers were clearly used to visitors gawking at them, but I felt terribly in the way and felt pangs of tourist guilt all over again.
Piles of bricks at the brick factory in Sa Dec, all painstakingly stacked by hand.
Pictured is one of many carts which were loaded up and pulled by hand.
I was glad to leave the brick factory. We got back on our sampan to travel to our next stop – Sa Dec Market.
Our sampan is waiting…
The back of the Sa Dec Market.
Sa Dec Market
I love visiting fresh produce markets in Asia. I love to watch and photograph the market action. The smells of ripe fruit intermingle with the odours of sweat, raw meat and seafood, blood and guts, mystery organs and slippery creatures. Everything is laid out in its natural glory, whether it’s fruit, fish, feet or fat. Clearly, the stallholders at Sa Dec Market are used to tourists not buying any produce – instead, walking slowly and taking lots of photographs. Many stallholders were quite relaxed, either ignoring us and getting on with their business, or stopping to grin and giggle self-consciously but good-naturedly when we asked if we could take their picture. Some people prefer the stealth approach to taking photographs at markets (being sneaky is the most effective way to capture people at their unselfconscious candid best), but courtesy is more ethical and can be just as powerful. A friendly nod and smile is often sufficient, and usually earns you the same.
Assembling a bowl of noodle soup
The chook boys
Happy fruit seller
Sweet potato lady
Buying rambutans
Fresh chicken for sale, including feet.
Garlic man. I couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but I got the impression his mates next door were teasing him as I took his picture.
This man in a motorcycle helmet stopped his exchange with the vegetable seller to smile at me.
A handful of fish.
Ribs, stomach, guts…take your pick.
The Gourd of the Grins.
The garlic for sale at the market was beautiful and in abundant supply.
Cooking sticky rice snacks.
Buying crabs
This woman took her time, carefully examining the fish so she could be sure to choose the best one.
Seeing this made me feel like eating banh mi…
There didn’t seem to be dedicated wet sections – you could find anything anywhere.
Bananarama
Welcome to Durian Alley. If there are durians to be found, I will sniff them out!
Tip: shoes – If you plan to go to wet markets, and if you have the space available in your luggage, pack a pair of shoes reserved specifically for those visits. That way, you won’t have to keep wearing dirty, wet and smelly shoes throughout the trip (unless you visit lots of markets) – you may not always have time or means to clean them properly after visiting the markets. I also pack garbage bags in my luggage for separating dirty clothes and dirty shoes from the rest of my luggage for the return trip home. Some people like to wear flip-flops/thongs as they’re much easier to clean afterwards, but I prefer to keep my feet protected in closed shoes.
I was as reluctant to leave the market as I had been eager to escape the brick factory. I could’ve stayed for much longer, watching and photographing. A ship crew member remained close by the entire time, ensuring that we photographers didn’t get lost or fall too far behind as we made our way slowly through the market, following the interesting sights rather than our guide (we lost sight of him within 5 minutes of being there).
The house of Huynh Thuy Le
The French writer Marguerite Duras lived in Sa Dec with her family as a teenager in the late 1920s and at age 15, had a love affair with Huynh Thuy Le, the 27-year-old bachelor son from a rich Chinese family. Their illicit affair became the inspiration for Duras’ award-winning autobiographical novel The Lover, published in 1984. Across the street from Sa Dec Market is the Lover’s house – the house of Huynh Thuy Le. The house ceased to be a private residence in the late 1970s and after the Vietnam War, became a government office (police station, drug squad, Department of Education office). It has now been declared a historic site, and is open to the public.
Invigorated by my walk through the markets, I fell reluctantly back to school excursion mode again. I think my tolerance for visiting buildings had been worn away by the many temples we visited in Cambodia. Cups of tea were served in the foyer and the weary travellers among us had an opportunity to enjoy a quick rest.
The house of Huynh Thuy Le
Visitors are free to explore the property. It shows its age in its stained walls, dusky mirrors and ornate detailing.
Visitors are welcome to sit in these chairs and enjoy a cuppa.
Lunch was served when we returned to the ship. These salad buffets were such a highlight of the cruise.
Lunch salad buffet
Green papaya salad with dried shrimps
Myanmar carrot salad
Okra salad
Chicken salad
Cheeses
My final soup and salad course. The soup was tom yam kung, a Thai-style hot and sour soup with prawns.
My chosen main course was Cambodian-style pork curry, with tender pieces of pork, carrot and potato.
Pork curry Cambodian style with rice
Lunch fruits, L-R clockwise: dragon fruit; watermelon, apples, oranges; rambutans; mango.
After lunch, we boarded the sampan again to travel to a place where popped rice, coconut candy and rice paper are made.
You’d never guess all the activity that takes place in here.
Making popped rice
Packaging popped rice
Making coconut candy – it comes in different flavours, including durian!
Making rice paper, a delicate operation – we were invited to give it a try ourselves.
I was fascinated by the bottles of snake and scorpion wine on display among all the hats, mats, t-shirts and ornaments. Snakes, including cobras, are placed in rice wine, sometimes with smaller snakes and/or black scorpions and left to infuse for months. Our guide informed us that snake wine is believed to improve virility and health, and should only be consumed by men.
Snake and scorpion wine
A bottle of snake and scorpion wine makes an appealing souvenir, especially at the bargain price of 200,000 Vietnamese Dong (approximately AU$9), even cheaper for the smaller bottles – but bad news: it will be seized by Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service if detected when you enter Australia. But you can take as many pictures as you like here to show your mates when you get home.
Cobra and scorpion wine – this bottle is 200,000 Vietnamese Dong or AU$9. The snakes and scorpions are often posed so they look like they’re locked in battle.
The mother of all snake wines.
There were other medicinal snake products for sale in the shop, including Fat of Pythons, used as an anti-dryness ointment for skin, and Cobratoxan, an anti-inflammatory cream made with cobra venom.
Fat of Pythons
Tea and snacks, including popped rice In the background: a very relaxed sleeping dog.
This place has been set up for tourists. There’s a wide range of souvenirs for sale, a place to sit and have refreshments. There were other tourist groups while we were there, but thankfully, not too many people.
That evening, our final cocktail hour nibbles – avocado cream and olives on crispbread. The cocktail of the day was the “Muddy River”, made with vodka, creme de cassis, pineapple and lime.
Cocktail hour nibbles: avocado and olive on crispbread
Sunset
As the sun set on the Mekong, we were entertained on the sun deck by a band of musicians playing traditional instruments, and a group of singers who performed Vietnamese songs. We didn’t understand the lyrics, but it was a theatrical, energetic show with lots of chuckles. And finally, the ship’s captain and crew who had looked after us so wonderfully all week stood before us shyly, each introduced by name as we gave them all a thunderous round of applause. This process was repeated later in the dining room with the chefs and dining crew while we enjoyed our dessert.
Traditional music performance
Traditional Vietnamese love song
Our trip was rapidly coming to an end.
Banana flower salad (2 servings pictured). And in case we didn’t think the salads were pretty enough, they were served with a hollowed-out, carved melon candle holder.
Cream of pumpkin soup, served in a specially baked crusty bun, complete with knobby soup pot lid. and a lemongrass swizzle stick.
Duck breast with turned potatoes and zucchini.
Panna cotta with passionfruit and mini tarts – lemon, chocolate and custard (with fruit).
That night, I packed my luggage before going to sleep. Are you a “night before” packer? Tomorrow morning, we would all leave the ship for the last time and travel by bus to Ho Chi Minh City for our final day in Vietnam. Some of the passengers were staying on in Ho Chi Minh City for the next few days; our group of six would fly back to Australia tomorrow evening.
Just one more post to go!
This trip was hosted (what does this mean?) – I travelled to Cambodia and Vietnam and experienced the RV Mekong Pandaw cruise as a guest of Vietnam Airlines.