Farewell to Saigon and SE Asia

Just one night to go before our group flies home to their soft beds, their favourite pizzas, their boyfriends..or whatever it is they are most craving. In Alex's case it's the 11 shower heads in her bathroom. I hope she doesn't drown!!

 

The last part of the trip seemed to go very quickly, as is so often the case. We've compared Hanoi to Saigon, and unanimously we prefer Hanoi. It's certainly much harder to cross the roads here. Our stops in Hue and Hoi An, in central Vietnam, seem like a long time ago. The Hue moto tour was great and Michelle and I had our palms read by a lovely old woman, dressed immaculately in white silk, beautifully made up and sporting a conical hat over her white hair. She was sitting under the roof of the covered Japanese bridge, no doubt to lure travellers into their future. So, as I'm apparently going to live to a ripe old age, I guess I shouldn't be too concerned crossing the Saigon roads after all. Except that she also mentioned my three children. And I can't for the life of me work out where I put the other two!!!!  Hoi An, with its relaxed pace, lovely historic buildings and riverside lit up with soooooo many lanterns is a favourite with us all. And we've all have had our wardrobes enhanced.

 

A visit to the War Remnants Museum in Saigon, the Cu Chi tunnels just out of Saigon, and ( over the border into Cambodia ) the Killing Fields and Genocide Museum in Phom Penh, were all sobering and emotionally challenging reminders of the insane cruelty we humans have shown ourselves to be capable of. It's impossible not to be appalled and upset, but also impossible not to wonder at the recovery communities and countries are able to make and the way that people are able to live side by side again and the pervading strength of the human spirit. 

 

We all loved our brief foray into Cambodia, and many are talking of returning some time. Our homestay was incredible - such lovely people and warm hospitality. I did hear a couple of the girls say that Ly, one of the family members who accompanied us around town and to our last stint of voluntary work, was quite hot! Always a bonus. Helping to build a very simple pole house for a needy family, alongside the family who would be living in it and a few helpful neighbours, was an awesome experience. We had to demolish the old one first and it mostly just came apart in our hands (along with a host of creatures!!)

 

Mekong Delta - what we thought would be a simple homestay turned out to be a sumptuous French era guesthouse. Nobody complained.There are always surprises here so it pays to be prepared for anything - treats included! Cycling along narrow paths around an island in the Mekong was great fun. Jordan tried to bring the power lines down. Or was it a house? Anyway, we all missed it! The prang of the day. Just when you need an audience there's no-one in sight. Everything was so lush (we just had to stop for a feast of rambuttans) and "Sin Chau" was heard around almost every corner. Well, there are plenty of anecdotes which come to mind but there's a queue for this computer so those can wait.

 

Janine