Somewhere on the Mekong….

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#avalonsaigon

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#vietnam

Day 6 on the Avalon Saigon on the Mekong

We did not travel very far overnight as you can see from the map above the border of Cambodia and Vietnam is still pretty close.

Our destination this morning was a very small place called Long Khanh A. Apparently there is a Long Khanh B and C but we were only visiting A today. As more silt builds up in the Mekong delta, more islands form and instead of figuring out new names for the islands, they just add B, C, D etc as they are in a similar location to the original spot, in this case Long Khanh.

We started off this morning with a different Sampan to take us to Long Khanh A. Our local Vietnamese Guide Phi walked us around the island showing us the homes and sights and sounds of the island.

Docking in Long Khanh A.

You can see that docking in some of the places we stop is a bit sketchy. The lady with the conical hat is next to the steps that are portable, that we have to use to get down off the Sampan. We usually have our guide and Tour Director and the guy in the hat as well as the lady helping us get down from the Sampan! It really is an authentic way to see Vietnam and where the locals live and work, since it would be very, very difficult to get a larger group into some of the places we are docking!

We pulled our Sampan up to the local coffee shop when we arrived! Anyone want a double double, or a Vietnamese coffee?

Bikes for hire we presumed close to the small dock that we landed at.

The small town had some paved roads, but no vehicles were on the island; only motor scooters, so the roads were extremely narrow to walk on. When a motor scooter went by, the entire group had to walk in single file to let the scooter go by!

The first stop on the island was to visit a local farmer’s house which he had inherited from his father. This farmer was also a Chinese medicine doctor, having learned from his father and grandfather the practise of Chinese medicine

The father had served in the War of Independence as it is called in Vietnam, as a medic and the farmer proudly showed us the medals that his father had earned from serving.

It felt a bit weird walking through the house when the farmer’s mother was lying in bed and obviously not able to get up and about, but the farmer didn’t seem to mind, so the entire group traipsed by the mother in her bed!

As I was looking into the back of the home, the farmer’s wife came and brought their daughter to me to speak English to her. She was going to the local school and was 11 years old and wanted to be a doctor when she grew up. We took this photo and Ha our Tour Director shared it on her Vietnamese social media profile.

Selfie time! I wish we had more time to chat.

We walked around the island and saw local people doing whatever locals do such as gardening.

Smiling at the tourists!

More smiling at the tourists!

Hanging out with the local dogs and parking scooters inside the house.

Just lazing around in a hammock and waving at the tourists!

Hanging laundry on the cemetery fence.

We eventually meandered back to where we had docked to arrive at the home of a local weaver. Apparently many people on the island were weavers, weaving traditional cotton scarves and clothing from the hand dyed cotton.

The father of the family was working on a loom and showing us how he wove the fabric that they use to make the clothing, and scarves.

The family also had an electric loom but they made synthetic cotton scarves on the electric loom.

The weaving family were wearing clothing that they had made. On the table were scarves, hats, purses and backpacks we could purchase. The prices were very reasonable with a large scarf costing $4USD.

The granddaughter wearing a beautiful hand woven top. She was so cute!

After our ‘Avalon Family’ as our Guide Phi calls us, had the chance to do a lot of shopping, we headed back to our Sampan to take us back to the Avalon Saigon for lunch.

The life jackets were super hot to wear, but were mandatory!

Avalon Saigon anchored in the Mekong off Long Khanh A island.

Approaching the Avalon Saigon to disembark our Sampan.

We had the usual hand sanitizer, shoe removal, cold eucalyptus towel, fruit drink and some fruit and then headed back to our cabin. The excursions in the heat really take it out of us and it was nice to be back to the ship with about an hour to spare before lunch time.

The ship immediately started moving to our next destination for our afternoon excursion and after lunch our Tour Director Ha came over the PA system as he usually did 15 minutes before our departure to warn us of the heat, weather forecast, bring water, sunscreen and hats and our QV boxes for the tour. This time though he mentioned we should also pick up an umbrella and was he ever right!

As we were embarking onto another Sampan for our afternoon excursion to Cu Lao Gieng, the rain started coming down sideways. The Avalon Saigon staff were ready with umbrellas to keep us dry as we boarded the Sampan. The problem though was that Sampans have no sides, so depending on which side of the Sampan people were sitting on, many people were getting wet!

Avalon had the solution though! We were each given a hooded rain poncho to put on over our clothes to try and keep us dry. .

The rain was coming down so hard that the water was being pelted and it was jumping up like crazy!

Luckily when we got onto shore we did not have too far to walk. The walkway was pretty slippery though and my choice of footwear to wear my shearling Birkenstocks probably wasn’t the smartest choice!

As we got under the tin roof of the home we were visiting, the rain started coming down so hard, it was difficult to hear what our guide Phi was trying to tell us about the art of making conical hats!

Made using a mold, to which bamboo 16 rings were added to the frame of the mold, conical hats are made by using either palm leaves or coconut leaves which have been dried, ironed and then sewn together to cover the bamboo frame. The hats have 3 layers of leaves on them with the last layer being lacquered. The hats are excellent in the sun, providing shade and also shelter from rain. In Vietnamese the hats are called Non la.

The cost of a handmade, hand woven hat was. $4USD. Of course I had to buy one and figure out how to get the hat home in my suitcase!

To get to our next location on Lao Gieng Avalon had chartered these motor carts which seemed like a great idea when it wasn’t raining!

It was a great adventure in the pouring rain trying to figure out how to stay as dry as possible and how not to get bumped out of the cart.

Soaked to the skin but still smiling!

Built in 1877 by French nuns, Cu Lao Gieng Church is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Southern Vietnam and used to be part of a larger complex that included a monastery, an orphanage, a school, and a leprosy centre.

Cu Lao Gieng Church

We heard from the priest of the church as well as from a brother of the church who was a doctor and worked with the former leper colony on the Island. Now that leprosy has been eradicated he works as a dermatologist in the local community.

After a short visit to the church, the rain had stopped and we hopped onto our motor carts for a ride back to the Sampan.

We had one more stop on the island before our long day of exploring two islands was over Some people had had enough so they stayed on the Sampan which dropped us off and then took them back to the Avalon Saigon

The boat builder who learned his craft from his father and grandfather. The boats are made using Hopea wood and sell for $500 USD. The boats are ordered before rainy season and delivered during rainy season when the water levels are high This boat takes 2 weeks to make and the builder makes a profit of $180USD on each boat.

Walking back through the rice paddie to the waiting Sampan.

Walking back to our cabin #111 with a new hat!

Phew! What a long day of touring and throw the rain into the mix and we were all pretty pooped after this day! It really was interesting to see how the locals live and make a living on the Mekong as we explored back water locales today on our Avalon Saigon river cruise.

We truly are having some really unique experiences and are enjoying this cruise immensely. The smaller group size and small ship makes for quick excursions and no buses which we really hate! The cruise is flying by and so is our vacation but its fun, interesting and a great big adventure every day on the Avalon Saigon on the Mekong!