DOWN TO THE DELTA Chris Birch and his wife Adrienne recently traveled from Pu Long in the north down to southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta
O
ur guided walk in Pu Long was all downhill, and with the humidity we weren’t looking forward to the trek back up. It was great when we discovered the driver was waiting at the bottom. As we walked, villagers called out xin chào (hello) in greeting as we passed. Sometimes the children would shout ‘hello’ and giggle.
VIETNAM 46 | AUDLEY TRAVELER
On the way back, we paused to see bamboo waterwheels – our guide explained that they irrigate the rice fields that are at a higher level than the river. We also walked around the rice fields while in Mai Chau, where we saw lots of small communities, a farmer sitting on his heels and watching his water buffalo and another leading his cow to fresh grass.
TASTING HANOI
On our drive to Hanoi, there were lots of roadside stalls selling different things. After stopping for oranges, sugar cane and grilled fish, we guessed our driver must have a shopping list from his wife. In the afternoon, we had a food-tasting experience with a blogger who took us to lots of little places to try the local food,
such as pho bo (a beef noodle soup), omelettes, a baguette made from rice flour, quail, and a green mango salad. This was a great introduction and gave us ideas for later in the trip. It seems that the Vietnamese don’t linger over their food; you just about finish one thing before heading off to seek out the next snack. Our hotel, the Hanoi Pearl, was in a great location close to
