Kien Giang & An Giang

A horrific amount of my time is monopolized these days by such laborious things as 'responsibilities', 'work' and others. When I see TFW scratching around on the floor like a dying, wounded animal, a pang of guilt and remorse shudders through me -- yet more often than not, pass by that poor creature I must.

Last week we flew to Rach Gia airport in Kien Giang province, transferred to the bus station and took Mai Linh's 'express' service to Ha Tien. Kien Giang is in the bottom left of Vietnam (for the geographically challenged), or if you want to be technical, the 'south west'. Phu Quoc island is also part of KG.

We jumped out of the cab around 30km from Ha Tien at Ba Hon where the road forks onto the Hon Chong Peninsular. The peninsular was beautiful at one time, but the drive out to the bay was pot marked with half quarried cliff faces and smoldering cement factories. Beyond the industrial mutilation of nature, the road hits a windy, forested section through which eventually emerges the 3 kilometer bay of Hon Chong.

We stayed in the 'Green House' which looks like this:

and had a fantastic room which looked like this - large, airy, with a private veranda outside and a wonderful view :

At the other end of the bay, the end of the road in this part of the world, is Hai Son Tu, or Sea Mountain Temple. A temple is entered through a large cave, the pathway leading past neon glowing Buddhas and onto a small beach where you would be faced with Hon Phu Tu, or Father and Son Isle.

After one night enjoying the fresh air and the views, Ha Tien was the next port of call. The end-of-the-line in Vietnam, Ha Tien is around 6km from the Cambodian border. The countryside surrounding the town, from Ba Hon to the border, is stunning. Miles of irrigated flat paddies and the occasional fringe of palms charm you into submission.

From the Thach Dong Cave Pagoda a few ks out of Ha Tien not only can you see the beautiful countryside of this area...

but you can also peer over the border into Cambodia...

It is down the road in the picture above, you'll eventually come to the border gate.

This border has been open now to foreigners for some time. According to the guard, it is possible to get a visa for Cambodia in Ha Tien, although I didn't look into this any further. The border is open from 6am to 6pm. The border opens a new way for backpackers to travel from Phnom Penh to HCMC. Previously, the only options were the bus from HCMC to PP via Moc Bai, the boat from Chau Doc, or flying. Now, those travelling on the Cambodian side can head down to Sianoukville (as many do anyway) and then take the coast road through Kampot and Kep, enter Vietnam and come through the Delta this way. From here they could take the boat from Rach Gia to Phu Quoc, then fly one-way to HCMC, or travel up through the delta themselves. Of course, they could do it all in reverse. And this is why Connections is looking at the Mekong entry/exit tour from/to this area to/from HCMC! Anyway, that's another story.

Day three - having looked around the town itself (that was a damn fine ten minutes by the way) and the surrounding attractions (a couple of hours) on day two, I jokingly suggested we should go to Chau Doc. By 9am I was in charge of a little Neo, driving back down the coast road to Rach Gia, looking for the turn off to An Giang province. Back at Ha Tien`s premiere hotel, the knowledgeable staff had said around two hours to Chau Doc. One suggested it was 50km away. My ass suggested otherwise. In fact, after the speedo count on the way home ( yes, I had a bike with a working speedo), it was a 123km trip there, so a 250km round trip. I couldn't sit down again for two days. After roughly three hours driving, and we arrived in Chau Doc. Entering the town was the main reason for my wife's -- let's call it a 'strong desire' -- to come to Chau Doc, the Temple of Lady Chua Xu. People come here and wish for whatever they require. Happiness, luck, etc. Those who get it often donate things to the great Lady -- often gold, or large dresses for her to wear on her great throne inside the temple.

Here, all the dresses that have been made for the lady are stored.

You don't drive for three hours in the tropical sun without rewarding yourself -- hence heading straight over the the Victoria Hotel in the heart of Chau Doc to sip an expensive but refreshing lemon juice on the banks of the Mekong River.

Finally, it was over to the market to pick up some of this famous 'mam' which I think is 'mám', but my wife is not here to ask so it's only a guess. Bizarre, foul smelling stuff -- and she bought three kilos of it.

After expressing disgust and horror solely through facial expressions, defeat was admitted and the mam went between my legs on the Neo.

The next morning, we were horribly late for the plane, arriving 5 minutes before departure time. The plane was waiting on the tarmac, all we had to do was get through the security check. Everything was fine, except the mam. I looked to my left and saw the VN airways guy walking towards the tarmac. Everything is in slow motion now, and off to my right, the misses is in full flow with the surely green-uniformed women at the x-ray machine. Left again, VNA man is raising his hands and making a cross sign to the staff manning the steps up to the old prop plane -- he means, that's it, close the doors. I march over to him with my finger raised in teacher style and say something like 'Excuse me Sir, I would much prefer it if we could get on that flight so kindly ask them to wait a few more seconds....'. Chi gives up and leaves the building with a volley of verbal abuse, we trapse across the tarmac, one with steam coming out of their ears, and settle down for the return to relaxing Saigon....