Even so, watching the goods being exchanged between boats and purchasing our coffee and breakfast by essentially colliding with other rafts was a cool experience, if anything showing us how real life used to be around here not too long ago. One thing I struggle to understand though - how does a country with an average annual temperature of 30 degrees Celsius think boiling hot noodle soup is a suitable choice for breakfast?! If someone has the answer, please use the comments box to enlighten me.
The rest of the morning was spent navigating the narrower, quieter canals on a smaller boat and visiting different farms, where we were fed enough fruit to make up for the rest of the trip, slightly offsetting the severe Vitamin C deficit in our bodies. The smaller canals were far more picturesque and pleasant than the large rivers of the delta, leaving me wishing we had spent more time exploring them over these two days. The lady that took us around in her boat was especially adorable, gifting us all sorts of figures she made out of water coconut leaves along the way - from a crown, proudly worn by Ben for most of the day, to grasshoppers and helicopters with unconventional rotor configurations.
After one last stop at the beautiful house used as a setting for “The Lover”, the French movie based on Marguerite Duras’ autobiographic novel (which I think I have read, but was such an ethereal experience I have almost forgotten about it), we drove back to HCMC. Ut, our guide, had us once again engaged in deep conversation for most of the way, when both of us just wanted to pass out in peace. Amusingly, this time he decided to conduct a thorough recap of everything that we had done in the past couple of days, including a test of Ben’s recollection of our activities (which he promptly failed while I pretended to be asleep, as I did not know the answer myself).
While we aimed to do some sightseeing on our last afternoon in Saigon, the persistent rain led us to the Heart of Darkness brewery instead, where we were forced to partake in some more craft beer tasting - ultimately, both the selection and the quality were far superior to what we had at Pasteur two nights ago, so we were quite glad it rained. After a couple of beers, out of our flight of six, I went on a slightly inebriated tangent about how I would love to have a job that allowed me to live wherever I felt like. If I did not enjoy my current occupation as much as I do (which I appreciate makes me incredibly lucky in that respect) I would have probably left everything behind and tried my luck as a freelance writer or photographer. While I am fully aware I am not that great at either activity right now, I am sure the threat of starvation would steepen the learning curve significantly…
What we hoped would be a big night ended up being slightly disappointing, as most places in the backpackers’ district were fairly empty around midnight. The highlight of the evening ended up being Soul Burger, an American joint near the Ben Thanh Market, which provided us with large-and-in-charge nutrition - after having noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past couple of days, we have to admit we welcomed a change of pace. The American cook’s “bravo” when we finished our double-patty beauties reassured us that we had come to the right place.
Tomorrow will mark what feels like the ninetieth early start on the trot, as our bus to Phnom Penh departs at 7am. Funnily enough, the three days after that will also force us to rise before the Sun, so I may well have to wait until Burma for my next lie-in. Knowing my sleeping habits, however, I can tell you that, whenever that happens, it will be glorious.
Cheers,
J-Wowww
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