Thu Thiem

Saigon is a large, heavily populated city. I have visited, driven through, worked in, or lived in almost all the districts of the city. Thu Thiem however is an exception. For years I have watched the bikes streaming off the ferry and entering the flow of traffic on Ton Duc Thang. For years I have gazed at the old SANYO advertising board over the river and wondered what lurks behind. In my mind, it was a row of old sheds and not a lot else. So one Sunday when passing and with little else to do I ducked onto the small ferry, paid my 1,500 VND fee, and finally took a look at Thu Thiem.

Of course, it mostly looks like the rest of the city, and the first route I took was an anti climatic road leading to the bottom of the Saigon Bridge. That ain't nothing new. Eventually, heading back into the heart of Thu Thiem, I found what I was looking for, or at least what I suspected was here.

To me, this was amazing. After resigning myself to the fact that Saigon is a chaotic jungle full of choking fumes and ruined by traffic, I find this -- a peaceful countryside lane within ten minutes of District 1.

The road led to the Saigon river, and a view out over District Four and Seven and their various ports.

Of course this little hidden corner of the city, so far protected by water, will soon be opened up massively by the East-West highway project (including the tunnel under the Saigon River). A bridge from Binh Thanh to Thu Thiem will be finished by TET, and eventually will link to the highway, another bridge linking from Thu Thiem to District 7.

Here's the highway under construction, looking back to District One and the tunnel under the river.

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....

Visions of 2020 to come true...?

Back in March this year I wrote a piece called 'Will 2020 ever come to Saigon'. In it I said :

What I envisage for the city is a pedestrian area encompassing Nguyen Hue, Dong Khoi and Lam Son Square. I am no urban planner and maybe it's too late to build the parking that would be necessary, but wouldn't it be nice.....

It looks like we may be on the first step towards this, according to a column inch in Thanh Nien recently (this taken from their new printed English version.

One can only wonder how much truth there is in this article, and how long it will take to implement such a plan. The word used is 'consider', so they are still only thinking about it. Personally, I think it's a great idea!

The footy

Yes, this is what we deal with, in fact the above picture is nothing too dire. Awful awful pitch, and the game finished 4-4.

Saigon Raiders (my team) have a new website, you may recognise the writing style in the news sections and the match reports...check out our team profiles at http://www.saigonraiders.com/.

We are four games into the new season and our record is won two, drawn one, lost one. The Saigon International Football League also has a new website, again you may recognise the writing style on the homepage...(and you wonder why I am not posting much these days). Check out the league and all the teams at http://www.sifl-vn.com/.

Errr

Umm.....

Errr....

On Kim Jong Il....

He was born in a log cabin at his father's guerrilla base on North Korea's highest mountain The event was reportedly marked by a double rainbow, and a bright star in the sky.

From the Washington Post :

SEOUL -- Han, a Communist Party official in North Korea, was walking home from work when he heard he was in trouble. He had smuggled a radio back from China after an official trip. He listened to it late at night, huddled with earphones on and shades drawn, to hear music that brought him a whisper of sanity and took him away from the horrors of his day.

Now, someone had found it, or someone had told.
"It could have been my children who said something outside. It could have been my friend; one knew," said Han, 39, who spoke on condition he be identified only by his surname.

"If a farmer or laborer had a radio, he could have been released," Han said. "But I was an official. In my case, it would have been torture and a life sentence in a political prisoners' camp."

Although not the greatest follower of this news source, from CNN....

Human Rights Watch has estimated there are 200,000 political prisoners inside North Korea; Pyongyang denies any camps exist.

North Korea is the last Stalinist regime, a closed one-party state founded on a personality cult, a rogue regime known for repression of its people, a nearly bankrupt nation, where, in the 1990s, the U.S. government says more than 2 million people starved to death during a famine. Kim Jong Il denied the famine even existed.

And from the BBC today : Flood hit North Korea 'faces famine'.

Less of the state visits hey....how can the smiling faces on the front page of the paper be anything to be proud of?

Stormy Pics

Once again, a massive delay between posts, but I am submerged. Lots of material in my mind, lots of pictures to take, just finding the time.

For now, just some pictures I took last night. One of many things I would love to learn more about, photography. Vietnam is like a photographers wet dream...or is that too graphic. As I arrived home the encroaching storm was swaying palms and scattering trash across the street, with purpely-black clouds looking more menacing than a forest bear after you just slapped his wife and called her a ho. In the other direction, all was light and serene.

Now turn around slowly....

Back in the other direction, here she comes....

Eventually night falls....

And the storm broke....and then it was too dark to take any more pictures. I thank you.

Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a magazine published in Vietnam for expats and travallers. I find myself contributing to said magazine, and learning a trade that I am really quite enamoured with and would like to get to know better in the future. Here is a well lit and professional picture of said magazine.

Pathfinder is due for relaunch in the next few months. To continue the shameless plug and self publicity (hell what are blogs for, did I tell you about Connections?), I will link to some of my work on the Pathfinder website...

You'll recognize the pictures on Saigon Street Fare and Quan 94 from my previous entry right here (scroll down...). I'm also raving about La Hostaria on the site. Enjoy!