nateniale's travels

Muddy paddy fields, rows of trees along rivers and canals, fruit sellers in sampans, houses and country life on villages by the river, fishermen trying their luck on the river, rows of houses on rafts or stilts with old men resting on hammock and children playing. If, like me, you had these images when you think of Mekong Delta in Vietnam, then, like me, you would be wrong. Or maybe, it was just the trip I took. Being in Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon for the second time left us with fewer choices of places to visit. So, we thought, let's do what tourists do - visit Mekong Delta. We took a cab the day before to the Sinh Tourist (or previously known as the Sinh Cafe) and bought ourselves the one-day My Tho and Ben Tre Mekong Delta tour. The tour started well enough. We took a motorise boat with the other day trippers along the river.           Then, the whirlwind of all things tourists started with the making of the Vietnamese rice paper and... the maki...

I never thought that I would be in Vietnam again, after less than a year in that country. My previous trip to Vietnam in December 2008 had brought me to some of the more famous places - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa. All the cities were different in their own ways, but one thing remained the same - the food was amazing. So, when the opportunity arose in August 2009 to be in Ho Chi Minh City again, or better known as Saigon by the locals, I looked forward to the food there. The crowd - not so much. You see, Saigon is huge and chaotic. It is loud with lots of motorcycles buzzing by. There are markets and sidewalks cafe where you can literally smell the traffic. But all this gave Saigon an electrifying energy that I have not found elsewhere. Vietnamese food We did not eat as much as our previous trip, but enough to satisfy us and remind us of all the great food in Vietnam, and Saigon in particular. Here are some of the food that we had. This is one of the must hav...