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Vietnam (South) South East Asia

Bec
2004-09-20 18:36:32

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again into a network of rivers and canals through which one can go anywhere.

Vinh Long
Vinh Long, 135 km Southwest of Ho Chi Minh City is a provincial capital. It has a great market as you can see. This young woman was selling nuoc mam of various grades. Nuoc mam (fermented fish sauce), replaces our salt and pepper and is used with all Vietnamese dishes.

Cantho
I had good company on this tour. Here four of us are being carted off to our hotel on this big pedal powered taxi. In the usual order, Raquel "Kelly" Cook from the US, me from Quebec, Delphine from France and Anne Galea from Australia.

There was a lot to see in Cantho. There was even this Hinayana Buddhist Pagoda serving the Khmer minority of the region.

The majority adheres to a Vietnamese version of Mahayana Buddhism that includes elements of ancestor worship, of Taoism and of Confucianism.

The colourful floating market on the Cantho river is so different from usual land based markets that it takes a while to realise that there is order in what appears to be utter chaos.

The delta people practically live on the water it is therefore normal that they be so nimble with those long oars.

Population density is high in the delta but the people seem to like being close to each other.

The serpent being handled by the man on the right is big enough to feed the whole family.

Canals like this one criss-cross the land like streets in our cities.

There is something mysterious and hypnotic about the delta, the overwhelming vegetation, the gentle smiling people and water everywhere.

After two days we all went back to Saigon. I stayed a couple of days to get a visa for Laos and then made my way up the coast by minibus with Kelly and two Norwegians.

Nha Trang
Our first stop was Nha Trang after a 10 hour ride that cost only 12$US. We all stayed at the Hung Dao hotel where I had a huge room with private bathroom for only 7$US. Vietnam is definitely not expensive!

There were some tourists, attracted by this beautiful beach, but not too many so it was still delightful. Unfortunately I could not help imagining how crowded, noisy, and gross this place will become when it becomes one of the "world class" resorts like Kuta in Bali or Phuket in Thailand.

Life's rhythm are still leisurely as you can feel seeing these people going to the central market on their bicycles

The handsome Long Son Pagoda was founded in the 19th century but has been rebuilt several times.

Nha Trang was called Kauthara when it was part of the Champa kingdom more than 15 centuries ago. The Cham people were of Malayo-Polynesian origin but their culture heavily Indianised.

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