Magnificent, Mighty, Majestic, Massive...Mekong

Words just simply fail me in trying to describe how immensely wide the Mekong is.... well in this case how sheerly enormous the northenmost branch (out of 8 branches) of the Mekong that fan out in the Mekong Delta as it meanders into the sea. Even with a wide angle lens i could not capture the effect of its overwhelming size adequately... i think i would have needed an eagle eye lens or an aerial viewfrom a low flying helicopter to achieve that. Anyway here are 3 pics of the Mekong river from different points taken while i was in a boat on the river itself.
A bridge under construction
Riverside town of My Tho.
On the left is a multi-level ferry that serves the local area and the right is an ocean liner... obviouly this is a very deep river!
My Tho is the nearest Mekong river town to Saigon only 1.5hrs away bus. Along the way the landscape changed from obviously dry land to a distinctly aqua-based agricultural area as evidenced by the vast paddy fields we passed by. Many of the farms also their own ponds or mini canals to take advantage of the rich waters of the Mekong. An interesting thing to see was that most farms/houses in the area had graves within their own land, part of the local ancestor worship tradition and also the old wives tale logic is that it prevents your children from selling the land due to gambling/drinking debts as both vices are widespread in this bountiful Mekong delta region.
If you look in the middle of this paddy field you can see one of those ancestral graves I was talking about.
Despite the fact that we were still inland and the ecosystem was more like a muddy mangrove swamp, the islands we visited still had a seaside feel to them especially in the idyllic lifestyle of the locals. The people of the Mekong delta region take “lepaking” very seriously and their favourite way of doing so are on hammocks (obviously an American influence) which are everywhere, even some of the coffeeshops have hammocks instead of chairs!!
Some of the locals in their hammocks.
As part of our 1 day (more like 5hr) tour in the area, we took boats to 2 islands in the driver to visit a coconut plantation, honey farm and fruit orchard.
Of all things we saw them making doldol…!!
Or as they very commercially label it “coconut candy”.
Some interestingly carved coconut souvenirs.
A Shaded pathway in the fruit orchard we visited.
On the 1st island we had a half hour bike ride:-
On the 2nd island we had a row-boat (sampan) ride. In fact we had to change boats a few times so we got to try 3 types of boats, firstly the 36 seater that brought us across the Mekong.
A 12 seater that we had to transfer to as our boat was too big to go upriver on the 1st island itself.
The sampan which was just for a joy-ride through a narrower river on the 2nd island.
All the boats seems to have a common blue color and traditionally Mekong delta boats have eyes painted on the front as advised by their local shamans (nice to know we Malaysian’s aren’t the only ones dependent on the good old “bomohs”). If you look at the front of the Mekong river boats below you will see the “eyes” painted on the boats where the tyre is (no that’s not a spare tyre, its for cushioning the impacts of dockings)
Most of the rivers/canals within the islands were lined by sea-coconut palms on their banks.
The sea coconut flower.
Seeing the Mekong at its delta was awe-inspiring as the river is simply so immense, well after 4500km and flowing all the way from Tibet, through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand (its actually the laos-thai border) and Cambodia, what do you expect. In Viet Nam where it branches into 9 river mouths as it meets the sea, it's known as "cuu long" which means 9 dragons. I definitely hope to return for a longer tour further into the Mekong Delta region one day to explore another 'dragon'.

Saigon sights

Walking from quan 3 (district 3) where I live to the adjacent quan 1 the city centre of Saigon is like watching the streets transform from congested and chaotic to orderly and smooth. Saigon city centre still retains some of the charms of an oriental Paris with its elegant buildings and beautiful boulevards. Some of the facades here reminded me of Shanghai’s bund and French quarter but of course not quite as grand.

The most noticeable and striking landmark would be “city hall” an ornate building that looks like it belongs more to France’s Loire Valley. Unfortunately the building which is a former hotel is not open to the public.


The municipal theatre building is just so cute, it looks like it's made out of pink icing:-

The main tourist attraction seems to be the reunification palace, which is the former french governor’s residence and now has become a museum. The original residence built in 1868 has undergone many changes over the years due to power change and war damage, this latest structure was completed in 1966. Will save going in the museum itself for another day when I have more time. Of course what French colonial city is complete without its cathedral, named Notre Dame no less!


Right next to the cathedral is another French masterpiece, the post office. This has got to be the most beautiful post office I have ever seen both outside and inside :-



Cho Ben Thanh is the main market in Saigon which has become more of a tourist trap than an authentic “market”. Just imagine, central market, petaling street, Kamdar, a fresh food market and hawker centre all rolled into one giant market space… and you’ll get the picture.

My favourite place so far has got to be the fine art museum, not just because entrance is free but also cos it combines a European facade with oriental details and finishings. One can just imagine the heyday of this grand old dame of a building that used to host parties for the rich and famous of Saigon during the French colonial era when it was a privately owned mansion :-


The inner courtyard of the fine arts museum:-

Inside the fine arts museum :-


Antique elevator and equally rustic staircase of the fine arts musem


Of course there’s much more to see in Saigon city centre like many other museums, the botanic gardens/zoo, riverside area, Xa Loi pagoda, VietNam Pagoda etc etc….
There is also much much more to each attraction in itself and my simple pics do not do justice to the elegance of the buildings. Anyway those are some of Saigon’s city centre landmarks I managed to visit so far in my first weekend here.

KUL-SGN

Arrived in Saigon at around 9.45am local time on Dec 3rd, the time here is one hour behind KL which is strange given its more easterly location. Apart from the airport and during the flight have not taken much pics here yet as its been more of settling into the routine of a new place and new office since arriving. My posting to Da Nang has been postponed indefinitely so i will be in saigon for now which is good as i don't have to live out of a suitcase in a hotel room and can thus fully unpack in my place here.

The flight from KL was just a short hour and a half but with my new toy (the latest olympus digital cam with 18X optical zoom) in hand I took about a few dozen pics from the plane window, ok....i went overboard and got rather snap happy.

Some manmade lakes (former tin mines) that dot the area nearby KLIA

A view of our East Coast baeaches, still sunny and clear despite it being monsoon season.

Clouds never cease to amaze me....

Land Ho! My first glimpse of Viet Nam, a flat landscape of what i presume to be paddy fields.

Delta of the mighty Mekong river which splits into 9 major branches as it meanders into the sea.

Baggage claim area on arrival in Saigon.

A brand new airport welcomes you to Saigon which while not as grand as KLIA is definitely a nice enough welcome. The immigration and customs uniform look like part of the military… well I suppose they are. Although the officers look very serious and there is no touristy welcome, getting through immigration and customs was a breeze, there’s even special lanes for ASEAN citizens. Baggage claim was also very quick which is more than I can say for KLIA or even Changi.

First thing I noticed about Saigon is the buildings (shops, houses, offices) are all very narrow and not too highrise. Next thing is the traffic which seems like total chaos to me but somehow it moves along smoothly, the roads are ruled by motorbikes and traffic lights are more often than not viewed as mere ornaments while "one way street" is just a suggestion. Wandering around "quan 3" (district 3) where i live and traveling to the office in "quan binh thanh" [which is a harrowing 10mins ride though the utter mayhem of rush hour by motorbike "taxi"] , I noticed that there are quite a few churches around and on some streets are lined by huge/tall trees both obviously a French colonial legacy. Crossing the street here simply involves making your way through gaps in between vehicles are the roads are never clear of traffic! Plan to take more pics around where i live as well as explore the heart of the city "quan 1", this weekend so i will have more pics to share next....