At 3:11 on Wednesday, Leanne and five Cambodians picked me up from school. Four men sat in the front seat of a late-model Toyota Camry and we sat with a lovely Vietnamese man in the back. Nearly an hour into our trip, we noticed a sign for a city that was not in the direction we were supposed to be heading. After a furious phone call to our "travel agent" (the fifth one of the day) and some discussions with our driver, we realized that we were headed to Ho Chi Minh City and not the one that we intended. This mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise as our travel was much easier with HCMC as our city to launch from.
From Ho Chi Minh, we took public buses to My Tho and then to Vinh Lang. These towns are located along the mighty Mekong and both had beautiful river front areas. We ate dinner with an hilariously idiosyncratic Swiss guy by the name of Jean Pierre who ordered our food for us by clucking and mooing to indicate our desired dishes. We then left for the city of Can Tho on the back of motos with two great drivers who helped us immensely on our trip. This town was one of the most remarkable towns that I have seen while traveling. The streets were clean, the town organized and the people were outwardly friendly and ready to help whenever needed. We ate remarkable wantons and spring rolls at a restaurant called, suprisingly enough, the Mekong, whose specialties included fried frog, stingray and snake wine. We took a trip from Can Tho to a floating market in Cai Rang and through some small tributaries that went along the banks of Vietnamese hamlets. This was one of those surreal experiences in which Leanne and I had to keep reminding one another where we are and what were were doing.
Our last stop was Chau Doc along the Cambodian - Vietnamese border which was more like Cambodia than Vietnam. Loud, busy and chaotic, it was a good transition city to ready us for the realities of Cambodia again. Needless to say, we ate a quick curry dinner and retired to our room where we enjoyed our free air con and a few hours of week-old NFL football games, The Hills and Jersey Shore. We planned on vacation and cable TV was part of the package!
After banana pancakes this morning, we came back to Phnom Penh on a speed boat from Vietnam. I listened to CCR, Buffalo Springfield and The Doors, which allowed me an adequate soundtrack to visualize what took place on that very land and river not too long ago. It was a wonderful trip, full of memorable experiences and images, some of which I have left here for you.
Lastly, if you are interested in viewing more of my photography I will again be starting my blog at deremerphotography.blogspot.com if you are at all interested in seeing more images from our trip to Vietnam and from our lives in Cambodia.
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