AQUATIC LIFE by the Mekong River

Aquatic Life is, again, a title of the movie. It stars Bill Murray. In that movie, the pirates who raided the ship speak tagalong, the language of the Philippines. According to the entertainment news I read long ago, it was supposed to be an Indonesian language but nobody in the crew could speak Indonesian but there was one who could speak tagalog and so…. On my third day in Ho Chi Minh City, I decided to see the rural Vietnam life by listing myself for a local travel tour. The day’s itinerary is to acquaint the tourist what and how people in Mekong River live and do business. Just like any other countries, we have famous rivers / lakes that contributed to our country’s long history of trade and commerce. India has Ganges River. Egypt has Nile River. China has Yangtze River. Philippines has Pasig River U.S.A has Mississippi River Brazil has Amazon River Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand has Mekong River. And so on. (Write in a comment what’s the longest / historical river do you have in your country.) Rural day in Vietnam is a slow-paced life. It’s uncomplicated. Jus like any other rural life around the world, life is simply laid-back and there’s nothing much to worry about. The vast countryside natural beauty is your courtyard.

Ho Chi Minh City can be a boring place. Aside from the things I saw yesterday, there is not much to see. The image of a war-torn country is not anymore there but what is ubiquitous is, just like motorbikes, the fast speed of life. If you wanna visit and see Saigon, waste not your time, go to the countryside and other parts of the country where natural scenic beauty awaits you to be devoured by your senses. I haven’t done that but hopefully next year.

Our tour boat.

Life in a river. The tour guide said that these people stay in the river for a week or less than a week to sell their farm produce. When everything is sold out, they’re going back to their village to be with their families for a few days and back to the river again.

If you want to get a cheaper price, buyers should hire a small boat and go to the bigger boats which sell the farm produce. Buyers can’t buy less than 10 kilos. It has to be more than that.

A boat loaded with rambutans.

Most houses in rural and urban Vietnam have long antennae on the roof of their house. Those are for TV and radio purposes.

Lady boat operator in Mekong River clothe / cover themselves from head to face to arms to toes. I quote the tour guide’s words verbatim: “In Vietnam, a white lady is beautiful. A black lady is ugly. So, that’s why, all ladies cover their body when they go out to protect themselves from the sun.” This belief echoes all over Asia. In the Philippines, we have this obsession of whitening lotions and sunscreens. Even the men use whitening products to look mestizo. In China, my students said that black people are dirty. My Thai friend says she applies whitening lotion two or three times a day. A Cambodian friend I met asked me if I use whitening lotion and I said no but sunscreen yes, because I’m traveling now—but only to protect my skin---not because I want to be white. He smiled and said, “You will become ugly like us Cambodians.” I was surprised by his remarks. But, I admit, once upon a time, I was obssessed with whitening lotion, too. ;))

Rural Vietnam High school girls in their uniform.

We visited some local candy factories and tasted their samples which we really enjoyed. In one of the factories, they have this snake ginseng. Beside these bottles is a big glass bottle where you can just get a cup and serve yourself for free. By the look of this alone, I don’t wanna drink a drop of it! Nevah.

Father and son in a hammock.