dumpycactus

what my Saturday mornings were devoted to.

this is another place where i had no expectations of satisfying my heart, but only my camera; given the short visit.

i seemed to enjoy it.

i state it as “not worth visiting” because of the efforts to get yourself there far outweigh what i felt was expected of a “floating market”. perhaps it was the season and the time that severely affected the spectacle of it… this was in april, early morning 8-11, while the boats had relatively little variety (pumpkins, pineapple, watermelon).

i was also on a tour boat, so i had no chance of “experiencing”, but only stealing glimpses of what it possibly could be… so in this case, i had no expectations of satisfying my heart, but only my camera.

for this reasons, i prefer Bangkok’s Damnoen Saduak

seems like most travellers reach Vinh Long to get somewhere else…

i didn’t get a chance to see much, just the wet market. but what i did notice was that the people had warm, open hearts and so friendly, it was a nice place to stop for inspiration after a worn-out journey.

most people end up at the waterfront and have seafood dinner.

a calm place. moving with the sun. a place to breathe. street food stalls near the river. some temples.

i happened upon an amusement park, flooding back wistful memories… refreshing!

there is nothing here?
or at least i didn’t find anything.
unless someone can enlighten me?

Hang Chau II Hotel was also not very impressive.
footprints on the bedsheets?!?

the warm and friendly people of Cambodia…

siem reap has more to it than Angkor Park, but that’s the major and sometimes only reason why people are there. i admit, i also did not prioritise to see the city a bit more, so i don’t hesitate to take the next chance to be there again.

i was at the temples for about 16hrs/day for 3 days, and wish i could’ve had more time. fair warning to others: this is not normal, and it fits within my interests + “life career”.

prepare for dust and sunburns.
keep the rest free for imagination and inspiration.

i’ve read through heaps of reviews, and this particularily comprehensive one, i cannot find at the moment. i’ll update when available.

i went with the 3-day tour (HCMC exit to PP) with Sinh Café (yes, the original one), which i will not say that i’m any impressed with their performance.
a few ticks here and there, but over the course it does amount to something. the itinerary was kept to, except for the “incense making”.

i usually have my camera to keep myself company, so i didn’t complain as much as the others. many people felt the “sightseeing boat” offered very little to see. myself, i was interested in what local life consisted of, so i was fine.

at chau doc, we were dumped into this dingy hotel. they had specified each room would have 2 people sharing. however the girl i was to share with, decided to pay for another room, to maintain her privacy. the tour guide said, in this case, that i (a female) was to stay with the odd man out. we had a little tiff about how wrong i thought this was to put single male and female strangers in a room together, but he insisted that i had to pay if i didn’t want it that way. in the end, the girl stayed with me, while that man stayed in his room himself. two people per room huh?
oh, she also had footprints on her sheets, while my bed seemed like someone shaved their head recently on it.

at the end of the trip, we were not taken to where we should have been dropped off (Capitol office). at least it was around the corner from lakeside.

i apologise that i’m keeping this current review short and not listing all the little quarrels which occurred; but in general, you get what you pay for.

although the tour was generally a poor experience, i still believe the Mekong Delta itself was an area worth visiting. i keep these as two separate concepts…

buy a map, rent a moto, and ride with the sun in your eyes and wind whipping around you.

follow a tour, and you most likely get roped along into unworthy false shows of villagers, grown numb to tourists.

go a little bit farther and find trekking, valleys, and less “where you from? buy something from me?”

i passed the city. layers of old and new. modernity consuming without abandon.
i passed the countryside. lonely roadside stalls. bottles of petrol for the shabby roads.
i passed the town. children selling trinkets, postcards, fabric. buzzing fruit stands.

and it amounts to a tuk-tuk bumping past it all to take a deep breath, stare into the clouds, and wait for the sun to bend around the corner.

[photo: Phnom Bakheng, shot using 16mm fisheye]