Back in Blighty- a winter wonderland

We had a trouble-free trip back home from Saigon courtesy of Turkish Airlines. The only problem was adjusting to the freezing weather at home. Here's how the house looked when we arrived...




Eleven weeks of tropical weather has softened us up a little.
It's not easy to summarise our trip which had so many highlights. We enjoyed every single day which continuously brought us new experiences and new friends.
Returning to the UK, one realises how developed a country we live in. We've not seen a motorbike or heard a horn since we've returned!
Seeing how differently people live their lives in India, Myanmar and Vietnam has been intriguing. On one hand it makes you appreciate the advanced technology in the west and the personal freedoms we enjoy. On the other hand you can only admire the tenacity of people who often struggle to live under much harsher conditions but do so usually with a smile on their face. It seems like by stripping away the complexity of western life you expose fundamental human traits, and the generous human spirit shines through.
We've travelled many miles on many forms of transport, from bullock cart to motorcycle taxi, Sampan to river steamer, and all without major delay or mishap.
























All along the way we've met warm and friendly people who have made us so welcome in their countries.








































We've seen some spectacular scenery




















And some awesome sunrises and sunsets


























In case you were wondering, to date my 52 blogs on our Indian takeaway trip have been viewed 2784 times by people in 12 countries. Thank you to my faithful blog followers, whoever you may be, and I look forward to trying to entertain you with our next adventure.

Location:Tattingstone ,Suffolk, United Kingdom

Good evening Vietnam

On our last night in Saigon we met up for dinner with Paddy and Lyndsay, good friends of Nancy and Henry, who are currently living and working in Saigon. We further expanded our culinary experiences by eating cactus and whole soft-shelled crab-yummy!
Paddy has a great old Russian motorbike...


After dinner we wandered around our hotel district and found a road with tiered seats on both sides where copious quantities of cheap beer were being consumed by rows of tourists, watching the waves of motorbikes flood by- of course we had to join in!


A great way to finish our time in Vietnam. Here's a few closing impressions:
Like Myanmar, Vietnam has a single ruling party that implements similar restrictive practises on its people. It has a large state mechanism, and corruption is again rife. But there is a free press, and discontent with the ruling party is openly voiced, although affecting change is another thing. However, in recent years Vietnam's economy has expanded rapidly and poverty within the country has been greatly reduced-it is clearly a vibrant country on the rise, and although many may feel unhappy about the government, there appears little dissatisfaction on the surface.
It is labelled a 'communist' state, but what this means today is hard to say, as the economy appears to embrace capitalism and Western consumerism.
From a tourist perspective we found many nice hotels at very reasonable prices, great food, good cheap travel options and many things to see and do - a wonderful place to spend a few weeks or more.
Where to next?
We're on the plane now, heading back to Blighty - snow permitting!
Thank you for following the adventures of Captaincol and the Mehmsahib over the last 11 weeks - we've had a ball!
I feel there might be one final blog left in me when we arrive back at our home in the Suffolk village of Tattingstone, where we are looking forward to seeing all our friends and family.

Location:Saigon

Saigon veteran

You can't come to Vietnam and ignore the war. From the homestay, we returned to Saigon on the bus from Vinh Long, checked into the hotel and went to visit the War Remnants museum.


They say that history is written by the victors and the museum certainly presents a somewhat distorted view. However, there is no doubting the unconscionable suffering of the Vietnamese people brought about by the actions of the US military.
In Vietnam the war is always referred to as the American war and is rather simplistically portrayed as a struggle for freedom by the people of Vietnam against the US imperialist aggressor seeking to capture the natural resources of the country.
For those of you like me, too young to really understand the war at the time or those who just slept through the sixties, here is a potted synopsis of what I believe happened. France was the ruling colonial power in Vietnam for 100 years until WW2. At this time the nationalist freedom movement, headed by Ho Chi Minh was based in the north. After WW2 France sought to recover the territory and the country was divided between the communist north and the south ruled by Diem, a Christian despot/ puppet supported by France and increasingly the US. Unifying elections were promised but never materialised and the stage was set for a bloody guerilla war by rebels in the south (Viet Cong) supported by the North and other communist powers. The official Vietmanese history never refers to other countries military support for the North or the perceived threat of communist expansion that escalated the US involvement, nor mentions those Vietmanese in the south who opposed the communist regime. Nevertheless the impact of the war on the people and land of Vietnam was devastating.
The next day we took a trip 70 km to the north east of Saigon to Cu Chi, where the Viet Cong operated from a network of tunnels 278 km long.






We were surprised to discover that our guide, Mr Binh, was a Vietmanese who had grown up in the US and returned as a captain of the US Navy fighting the VC in the Cu Chi area.


At last we got a broader picture, "the war was fought between many countries and there were no real winners.."
Mr Binh himself decided to stay on after the war in 1975 and was sent to a 'retraining camp' for 5 years, on mine-clearing duties. His family escaped by boat and are now settled in Australia.
He now gives spellbinding first-hand accounts of the conflict with the Viet Cong.
We returned to Saigon by boat,



passing Br Binh's old US Navy base in a somewhat somber and reflective mood. The world has changed a great deal over the last 50 years -surely such a conflict could never happen again?
When asked how Vietmanese people like communism today, Br Binh replies "they like the US dollar!"

Location:Saigon

Homestay safari

We took the morning bus for an hours ride from Can Tho to Vinh Long. A shuttle bus from the bus station dropped us off at the ferry jetty where we had arranged to meet Mr Treung to take us to his Homestay on the island of An Binh, just over the river. At the jetty we started chatting to Francoise, a French lady who we remembered seeing when we were cycling in the countryside around Can Tho the day before. She was looking for a Homestay on the island, so she tagged along with us. Mr Treung duly turned up on his motorbike and we all took the 5 minute ferry trip and were met the other side by a couple of other motorbikes to take us all to the Homestay.


The Homestay was a large wooden house tucked into lush green jungle, sliced up by numerous water channels with small paths running alongside (just wide enough for a motorbike to pass a bicycle as we found out later!). A great getaway in the middle of nowhere- just what we had been hoping for.


It didn't take me long to get into the swing of the place...


I was expecting a mat bed but was pleasantly surprised by a comfy mattress..


After lunch, we took a bike ride around the island to mingle with the locals and, as ever, engage in our usual high-level cultural exchange, discussing the merits of United vs City...



and were back in time to help prepare the evening meal. Cooking facilities were traditional.





On the menu was pancake rolls (getting quite good at making these)


chicken vegetable soup and Elephant fish from the river. It's supposed to look like an elephant's ear apparently.


All beautifully presented...


We washed it down with a teapot or two of rice wine with a beer chaser, and unsurprisingly slept quite soundly, despite the cacophony of frogs and assorted wildlife noises- some might have been coming from the neighbouring crocodile farm, just 50 metres away...






There's a few handbags in that lot!
Of course they eat them here aswell. We saw quite a few whole ones being BBQ'd along the strip in Mui Ne. The Mehmsahib's quite proud of me because so far I've resisted the temptation to ask a waiter for a crocodile sandwich and tell him to make it snappy.

Location:Vinh Long

Mekong Delta

We had a great time in Mui Ne with Ben, Mi and other friends from the Kite Surf crew at Adikites.




After 4 nights we were back on the sleeper bus from Mui Ne to Ho Chi Minh, which henceforth I will call Saigon as everyone here seems to. Pick up was 1.30 am, and we got a few hours sleep before arriving in Saigon at 6.00 am. After a some brekky near the bus station we found our hotel we've booked for the 21st and left a few bags there (we seem to have collected an extra one with a big kite in it!) before getting the local bus, then the tourist bus for the 3 hour ride to Can Tho in the Mekong Delta.
It's very reminiscent of the Kerala backwaters here, but without the houseboats (for now) and a bit more industry.




We're staying for two nights at a nice little hotel (Nam Mon) just outside town, and they arranged for two students (Ang and Nguan) to show us around town in the evening on the back of their motorbikes.
Cars are too expensive here, so other than taxis everyone uses motorbikes.

We sampled a few more local delicacies like this rice pancake.
Ho Chi Minh is pretty big around here...




The next morning we were again up before the larks for a private river tour with our guide Hieu, visiting some of the local floating markets on the river (5 am start!).




That's our lady boat driver, by the way, not Hieu.
The floating markets are really a bit like a bring and buy sale in the middle of the river. Local farmers load up their boats, putting the goods on offer on display on a pike above the boat, and will sell or trade goods between themselves or other locals.












I don't know where they all get the fancy pants from!

We also had an interesting visit to a place that makes rice paper and noodles.




The only trouble with taking a trip in Vietnam is that half an hour after you've finished you fancy another one...

Location:Can Tho