Tự Nhiên

I have heard of this place called Footscray, a place where Vietnamese congregate in great numbers to eat shop and do other normal things. I had been to Richmond, near my house, Springvale for food yet not here. Richmond is small, while Springvale is a mixture of Mekong peoples. Footscray is big!

I arrived in Footscray via an intricate maze of streets lined with factories which suddenly just opened up into suburbia. Yet one block in the familiar sound of Vietnamese rang through the air, the smell of fruit and vegetable markets lingered, all the while seeing signs printed in two or three languages.

The first stop was for fo. Sorry been living in Oz too long, I meant Phở. Just like in Vietnam the choice I like was number 1. I also settled for the coffee. This was the first time I had gone out to eat Vietnamese food since I arrived back. I always had planned to eat, however I just never got around to it. Something always got in the way.

After that I walked around just soaking up the atmosphere. It is different from that of Richmond or Springvale as it partially closed off to traffic so people tend to walk. It really is just like a big market. After walking around I saw “the sign” and had no idea that was where I was headed.

The sign

Once inside, it was chaos, like any market I had been to previously. The difference between the markets in LX and here was the yelling. For some reason they just yelled. At one point I went to talk to my friend and the next I was picking my eardrum up off the floor and shoving it back in the ear it was blasted out of. There was one thing which still I am yet to do, buy a whole fish and fillet it. Something just doesn’t sit right in this day and age with me for this process. Remembering doing this as a kid, I am willing to pay more for my fish (fillets) so as I don’t have to involve myself in this messy process.

After leaving I recalled the market adventures I had in Vn and think about how much easier shopping has become.

Footscray from outside the phở shop

A great buy

I am very satisfied at the moment. I have just got a subscription to the ultra right wing free market ideological propaganda called the economist. The authors of the paper tend to have studied only that free markets and democracy are the only way to live, and forget about the fact that markets fail.

I am not satisfied because I am becoming a free marketaholic, but because of the three issues I have received, two of them have special reports are smack bang on topics I like. The first being directly related to my thesis on food prices and energy markets (one such market failure) and the other about a place I am fond of Vietnam.

Big head time!

While working in Vietnam I had the luck to be able to work on a few research projects. Most were directly related for the university's performance identifying weakness and strengths within the economics faculty. However the last project that I did was a study on the Pangasias (Tra & Basa [Vietnamese] catfish) value chain. This project looked at the uncertanties facing the industry at the industry level to identify where improvements could be made to ensure that the livlihoods of those working in it could be secured for the future.

While working on this project I met another Australian who had done similar work in Laos, and had proposed to do a project for the whole Mekong region, Vietnam, Cambodia, & Laos. He was in the process of writing the application when we met and was fishing around for ideas and collaborations. I really liked his enthusiasm when I met him and it gave me a push to complete the project, as my comitment was starting to fade.

Well yesterday, I was in contact with my old boss and he informed me that the funding for the project was secured and the individaul project proposals are taking shape and my work on the catfish value chain is the basis for his project. I was pretty much blown away when I heard that and my head swelled to an all time size, bigger than the Eureka tower shown from my work in the in right side of the picture. I am now on a work high, as this I think is the biggest accomplishment from any work I have done previously. However, I am going to try to top it with the current work on climate change, and try to make my work make a difference for the better.

Looking southeast from my work with the Eureka Tower at the right

The focus of the photos is beyond the buildings that is why the Eureka Tower is not well shown.

Another shot from work with the Eureka Tower at the left.

Retired

After watching some videos on You Tube using Adobe Illustrator, I have been playing around with my copy. The videos made it look so easy, and at times manipulating the artwork was quite frustrating. Other times I was inspired.

Since I was no longer far from the Great Southern Land, I thought it might be good to update the logo. I had a discussion with Tyler for some names and the best we came up with was Standing on the Great Southern Land. I didn’t think that was that good so I let the unconscious run wild and came up with Under the Southern Cross. I know you can be under the Southern Cross (Crux if you’re an astrologist) on many continents, yet is has quite a symbolic meaning in Australia, check the flag.

I had this picture of Melbourne looking westwards from the Rialto Tower at night and thought that would make a good backdrop for my new logo. I sat at home and designed a little sketch of what I wanted on paper and then tried to illustrate it. As I was working through on the computer I could see what I wanted was not going to work out so I changed it midway through and came upon the design that you now see.

I had a bit of luck though. With the font I used a brush tool write the characters and then accidentally clicked another button and saw that the font turned out better that way. I was impressed so I left it that way and added it the backdrop. After lots of messing around I finished and it is time to hang up the old logo and add the new.

Officially out of service for a while

Welcome to the team

The last moments in Vietnam

Here they are the photos I promised from the I would have written earlier post. The last night in Vn was a special occasion. I spent it with the person I knew most in Vietnam, Eric. We met up with some friends at O’brien’s and then went on to Sheridan’s (17/13 Le Thanh Ton St District 1). It is the best bar in HCMC I think as you are free from distractions you find in other places. The music is good and the owner, Michael, is a good host. We met Duc and Sabrina that night and we stayed there until after closing time. It was a great time and I am sure all had a great time. The next day I caught up with some friends that I will miss.

I went to Diamond Plaza, a Korean style department store which appears to sell everything. It was a good idea as it would prepare me for the commercialisation I faced when I arrived in Australia (it was weird to be so confronted with so much advertising).

After a long chat with my friend I headed to the airport. And of course I had problems at the airport. First it was too much luggage, so I had to split it and pay extra weight. Went through and waited for the Visa stuff then it was something you can’t take on the plane. Went down to the check-in and took it out of the suitcase. Next, I walked through the metal detector and then another trip to luggage check-in room, this time behind the scenes. Here I had too many DVDs and the customs guy wanted to check them all out before I jumped on the plane. I was pretty surprised as this what you would think they would do when you arrived to keep out socially evil ideas. Well I was polite and explained my purpose for being in Vietnam and he decided to let it go.

By the time I got to the gate it was time to board. On the flight I sat next to this idiot he knew everything about Vietnamese and wanted to show off to everyone. After that short 2 minute conversation and a promise to keep my mouth shut, I waited to feel the forces of the plane elevate into the air. As we got in the air I looked at the mess of lights outside the window and it finally hit me. This was it, I am leaving Vietnam for a while. The emotional toll and no audio (once again on Vietnam air), let me drift into a deep slumber. I awoke and was practically in Melbourne. As I got off the plane I started to realise that I was in a different place, with different customs, a familiar language, and I am not the unusual person any more. I had reverted back to the mean (average).

The last week and a bit

Well since Sunday last week I would have to say that life has been turned upside down. It seems every where I go people know that I am leaving. I can not help to feel a little down as more than two years of my life have passed here in this quiet town. I feel for a quiet town it does have a lot to offer. The people here are what I will miss the most.

Last Sunday I was invited by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and Agifish to go to some pagodas and an ecotourist restaurant. One pagoda was a place where people hoped to receive a great fortune in life. The other was commemorating a great general. It was a weird feeling discussing the general’s life. He was responsible for expanding much of the south of Vietnam to its present day area. I was at a loss trying to think if we had anything like this in Australia yet I couldn’t, the closest I could imagine was the explorers who went over the mountains and claimed the land for the crown.

The ecotourist restaurant was also a hatchling nursery for tra fish, a type of catfish found in the Mekong river. We also saw a variety of other animals there including my most scariest land reptile, the crocodile. The crocodiles were quite small only about 1.5 m. The food was really good at this place, very traditional Mekong Delta food. It was good for a farewell.

Monday and Tuesday were low key however Wednesday was a big party. I had invited many of my closest friends here to have a big party. We went to Truyen’s once again and I enjoyed the spaghetti, fish, and beer. I stayed quite late as the atmosphere was amazing. I must admit I was mixed as I was sad to leave yet happy to see all my friends there.

The next day one of my colleagues and my students organised a farewell party. Each class prepared a dish. Once again the mixed feeling overwhelmed me. It was good to join them and talk about what they will do next. I felt proud that they can now speak English, as I remember when I first met most of them that they were very shy and didn’t utter a word. Some of the students tasted brandy for the first time and it was interesting to watch their faces screw up as the heat from the brandy went down their throat. I still get that feeling when I drink brandy.

Last night I went with Eric to the no name for a quiet one. I did really want to meet Son, as he had been away on Wednesday. I gave him call and he said he just got back and would join us. At the restaurant was an over eager student who wanted to practice her English. I would say she was cute, except her constant hovering at our table was wearing me down.

After that Eric and I decided to return to the house in hope of watching 24. I felt that in the state I was in I didn’t want to watch tv, so we finished off a 6 pack each. I woke up at 6 this morning in ok kind of state, which surprised me. It was not long for this to change, the workmen arrived at 630 and started to bang the wall, the machine next us started up, noisier than living inside a rocket engine, and the kids starting to play. I thought I would go out to breakfast yet the repairmen came 2 hours ago to fix something. My broken toilet, no they came to fix the working air conditioner. Just glad I don’t have a hangover.

O’brien’s Factory

Eric and I eagerly followed Jeff to a restaurant that he said was close to the best in town. I had seen the front of this restaurant for a few times and had wondered what it was as I had not been able to decipher any name on the outside. I thought it might have been a liquor shop. When we were inside it looked liked an English pub. It was not too crowded and the atmosphere was welcoming.

We sat down got a few beers and looked at the menu. I was in heaven as there were two pages of choices which I wanted to try. After looking through the menu 4 or 5 times I had settled on a choice. I wanted something small as I had already eaten a pizza and kebab that day and most of the servings here looked decent size. The waitress came and Eric, Jeff, and I gave our orders and they both seemed puzzled by my order. I chased the waitress down to change my order and found that there was a whole back section to the restaurant waiting for us. We moved table into the games room and listened to the sound of pool balls ricocheting of each other.

When the food came it looked good. First, was Eric’s Philadelphia beefsteak. It smelt good and from all accounts it tasted good. Next was my Cajun chicken. It was more than what I had expected. It was a sandwich with salad. It smelt good and tasted wonderful. Last was a woodfired pizza. This place must be the only woodfired pizza shop in town or maybe even the country.
We were all stoked with what we ordered and were ready to move on to live music at Sheridan’s Irish bar to keep the British Isles theme alive. I suspect in the short time left I will be returning there sometime

Coming Home

I have made a number of trips to HCMC recently to secure an airline ticket home. My original plan was to go to Brisbane however that did not work out and I will fly to Melbourne and then go to Rosedale, Gippsland.

I will leave Vietnam on the 29th of June and arrive in Australia 30th of June. I feel lost as from there I do not know what I will do. I have applied for some jobs yet no luck has come about it (already 1 rejection). I hate applying for jobs as you feel that you have to really show up to people which I don’t like to much, although I have been known to do it. Will keep all of you in the loop as things develop. You can contact me at 75sparks@gmail.com.

Mon Ngon Ha Noi

For lunch the next day after going to skewers (Sunday 10th) I went to meet another friend who lives in HCMC for lunch. We were going to go for pizza however she was not up for the idea. After the previous nights dining disaster I was not in the mood for another bad eating experience. I asked her where she suggested and she said she knew a place.

We drove to 54 Dinh Tien Hoang St in district 1 to a restaurant called Quan Mon Ngon Ha Noi. They had some specials listed outside such as bun and cha (noodles and spring rolls). I was told the food was good and it was late on a Sunday and the place was still crowded. As I walked into the restaurant I felt that my fly was undone or something worse since the place went quiet as everyone stared at me. I guess not too many westerners come to this restaurant. As we sat down everyone returned into their own world of chatting and eating.

As I looked at the menu nothing really seemed familiar, except for a few names of meats and spring rolls. My friend asked me what I wanted and I said to her that I trusted her to make some good choices. She ordered one of the specials (something in fish sauce yet I really don’t know first pic), some chicken and noodle soup (second pic) and spring rolls (third pic).

One thing about eating this kind of food is that it uses all your senses. With this food you make it, you use the lettuce leaf or leaves to form the base of your roll. You proceed to put ingredients on to your liking. I prefer the sweetness of pineapple and mint with the meat and noodles. Here I had something I had not seen or done before spring rolls with the fruit and noodles. Well I wrapped it up and it got messy yet tasted fantastic. The spring roll really contrasted the freshness of the other ingredients. Tasting them all the dishes though I thought the noodle soup was best. If I was going to stay in Vietnam a bit longer I would definitely venture back and eat here again.

Jeff

Well luckily Eric keeps tabs on everybody’s moves so we know where to go and when. Last week we went to HCMC and met Jeff. I thought that last time I would see Jeff was in LX when I was cursing about no Gatorade. It seems the whole country has run out as I haven’t found any in HCMC either. Jeff is based in Long My with VIA and was on his way to Nha Trang, the long beautiful beach.

I got a message from Jeff to meet at the Eden restaurant. At this restaurant I met one of Jeff’s co-volunteers from Can Tho. Just as we were leaving the waitress came over and started to tell Jeff to cut his beard. I was quite amused to watch this yet I needed to be careful or it may happen to me. Sure enough Jeff betrayed me to the waitress however she said only he should cut his beard. I had a good laugh and decided it was time to go.

We met up a little later and proceeded to view the art show. Afterwards Jeff was starting to feel hungry and was convincing us to look for this really good restaurant. It was worth the search. We ordered our food and I can say I was impressed with what we got.

Next we headed out to Sheridan’s Irish bar. We sat there and drank Amberstout most of the night. I must admit I like this beer more than I like Guinness. We talked about nothing for a really long time, yet it was not boring. At 11 Jeff got a reminder to make our way to Go2 bar.

We jumped into the taxi and met up with his friends from earlier today. We found that Amberstout was cheaper here than at the Irish bar and decided to stay for a few more. It was not long that we had put down quite a few and I was starting to feel bloated. I couldn’t put anything more into me after a pizza, a kebab, a huge chicken sandwich, and a large amount of beer. It was time to go home and crash.

The Artshow

Eric, Jeff, and I finally got to see the art show that I talked about previously. The art show was a lot smaller than I thought it would be, yet it had a roomy feel to it. I found it easy to see Tinh’s work as he had showed me previously on his phone. I was amazed at how different it looks real compared to the pictures. You do miss some detail. I took quite a lot of pics yet I just put the pieces that I really liked here after a picture of the artists. Tinh's piece is the first one. It was a shame he was out of town as he could have explained his inspiration to us over a few drinks. Enjoy!

Skewers

Skewers is a restaurant in District 1’s expat area in HCMC (Thai Van Lung St). I had seen that they did Mediterranean food there and had wanted to visit since I found it about 2 years ago. I invited my friend to go with me and we headed out. After getting a little lost we arrived and were greeted by a nice bike attendant he quickly put the bike away. As we walked into the restaurant a feeling of dread came over me. It was the kind of place which is just to uncomfortable. Hard to put into words, yet I knew I was not meant to be there, a place were the rich and famous go to eat. I guess the way I felt about the atmosphere was dead, like a library rather than a restaurant, really stuffy.

Looking at the menu I was hoping to see something that I had been missing about for a long time. Hendrik had reminded me of this every time he went to Hanoi – the kebab. Looking through the menu the closest thing I could see was gyro- not quite the same. It appears that there were more choices from European Mediterranean dishes than Mediterranean dishes. There seemed to be quite a lot of good choices on the menu yet the prices of some things seemed a little out of my league. Then looking at the drinks menu all the prices were in US dollars and I knew that I had come to the wrong place (no locally brewed beer should cost US$2 in VN).

My friend went to order and it became apparent that the waiter had no idea about what the dishes contained. Given that they are not common dishes in VN you would still expect the chef to give a run down of all the dishes. I thought great we can go to another restaurant one with more atmosphere and wallet friendly prices. However my friend wanted to stay and then I convinced her to tell the waiter exactly what she wanted and make them get it for you.

At this restaurant I felt that this should hardly be a problem since they had all the ingredients for spaghetti and meat sauce anyway. I proceeded to order the spaghetti with chicken in cream and mushroom sauce.

The order didn’t take long to arrive given how much time it took to get the wait staffs attention to order. It looked like the bolognaise slapped together quickly without much care for presentation. I thought the cream sauce was a little bland and needed something. The chicken though was melt in your mouth lush. I never tasted the bolognaise yet I know it was not the Vietnamese way.

As we left I felt a little disappointed. The bike service boy had the bike ready and was the one of the best things so far for the night at that restaurant. Overall, I didn’t like this dining experience. I put it down to two things. First the wait staff not knowing the menu enough to make my friend uncomfortable and second the lack of an atmosphere. I think if you are in HCMC and want to eat try something Vietnamese or if you really need Mediterranean food go to Arab Kebab next door or O’brien’s factory (to be updated).

Lang Toi

Lang Toi (my village) is a restaurant that I feel is in the upper end of the restaurant scales here in Long Xuyen. The tip off is the fact that is a Nha Hang. Most restaurants are Quans, and this gives an indication about the prices inside and supposedly the size. It is one of the restaurants that brew their own beer in two flavours dark and gold. In Vietnamese Bia Den refers to dark beer. As you enter through the parking ground you look to the left and you see the brewhouse.

When you look to the right you will see the seafood and other live specialties on offer. I generally find it is a mixture of fish, eels, prawns, and snakes. The black snakes in the picture are the best snakes for eating yet I didn’t find it enjoyable. The meat was really rubbery and you had to be careful not to eat the stomach or the backbone. And then there were the rib bones, I felt that if I was starving I might eat it again, yet most often I would give it a miss.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is quite pleasant. The owners and host are quite friendly and will often come and chat. Occasionally they may also give us some free fruit. I often find it awkward though as the ability to communicate is limited by language, however the new host appears to have a good grasp of English. They are nice good natured people who try to enhance our dining experiences. They also own another restaurant called Tre Xanh (young bamboo) which is similar to Lang Toi, although I am yet to see this for myself.

The restaurant has been through a number of renovations since I have been in Long Xuyen yet the decore is generally the same. It use the bamboo outdoor theme which makes feel like you are a prince dining in a private jungle. There are 3 levels ground, up a few stairs and upstairs. I find that downstairs is the most enjoyable yet dangerous as most people will pass you by, and occasionally be brave enough to try out their English skills. I feel upstairs seems to have the worst service as you are far from everything.

Now the bathroom here is the most interesting I have ever been too. I and the other volunteers here used to refer to it as the disco toilet as it was like walking through a nightclub. Loud music blaring with videos of fashion shows. Under the last renovation it got larger and seemed to lose the speakers. It also became more modern.

The day Eric, Hendrik, Tyler, and I came we were in the mood for spaghetti. This was the only place we knew at the time to sell it. We also ordered some garlic bread. I find the garlic bread too oily or too dry. I think it is because they don’t use butter and grill it on a bbq. The spaghetti is also strange, good in a way with really strong Asian flavour influence. There was one herb there that just does not belong, and it affects the taste of the rosemary. I don’t think the others agree with me about the taste description, yet they agree that it is strange.

Although the European food is not the best, their Vietnamese food is good. I have sampled many dishes here and found them to be good. I really liked the basa (catfish) served in a lemongrass and chilli sauce. They do good tofu as well if you are not into eating any meat. Lots of grilled dishes, rice, and of course the specials you see when you walk in.

This particular day we were interested to drink the brewed beer yet they had run out or something. This is the first time I recall that this has happened here. Never the less they do have a large selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The last time I went we sampled the dark and gold beers and found them to be quite good, if not better than before. I feel if you are in Long Xuyen and you are looking for something popular and swanky this should be considered highly on your list, just stick to Vietnamese food.

Hai Lua

Early in April I went to Hai Lua with some English teachers. This restaurant is an interesting place as the name means second brother or country bumpkin. This restaurant is good for two reasons, 1 the owner speaks English and really wants to make sure you have a great time there and two, if you like boats you can take one out in the middle of the canal, although I have heard reliability is a factor. I was the second person there and ordered a beer, Sai Gon Xanh, much to the dismay of the Coors Lite girl.

While waiting for the food and people to arrive I noticed that they had not cleaned up after a previous wedding. Here is a glimpse of the stage they use in such things. When I mentioned that the wedding decorations were still around I was filled with dread as I saw the eyes of my inquisitor flash and the wedding question asked. I am really irritated by this question and it seems like such an important issue for people in Viet Nam. I will let you guess this question.

Not long after the first dish arrived some kind of tofu. Now I use to think tofu was this horrible, nasty, crazy vegetarian food yet I have seen some amazing things done to here. This particular dish (made with egg and butter possibly) was great, you eat it with a mild chilli sauce and it just melts in your mouth. The taste was like a light brown omelette, ahh magnificent. This is my favourite tofu dish to date and I got to learn how to make this so I can make it in Australia.

The great tofu dish of unknown name half eaten

A few more members arrived and finished the tofu just as the second dish came grilled beef in fish sauce. Now this is one, if not, my favourite Vietnamese dishes. Essentially marinating the beef in fish sauce (sometimes with garlic) and quickly grilling it and eating. I could only imagine how great this would taste with good Australian beef. This dish didn’t disappoint. It was all that I expected and more with the red tomatoes, a rarity here I can promise you.

My favourite VN dish

Next up was the so (blood acra in English yet can not find the spelling anywhere and the dictionary translates them to baby oysters) drizzled in oil grilled and sprinkled with green onions. I usually have them salted or grilled till dry, however these I found were fantastic. The oil and green onions were the perfect mix to bring out the taste of the sea. When putting them with chilli salt and lime I thought it was utterly divine.

The so dish

Lastly we had chicken. We put away our fears of chicken flu (no cases reported for a while) and ordered a chicken. For $8 you can have a whole chicken butchered (vn style = with a cleaver and no precision) prepared and cooked for you. And when I mean a whole chicken I mean all, you can see the head. The head, the chicken and insides are cooked together. Luckily one part is missing. We ordered this with chilli and salt and it gave a nice crispy skin. The chicken arrives with some little pastries which are fried and I think really enjoyable. Some parts of the chicken where dry which was disappointing. On the plus side however I really loved how it made the beer taste good. Definitely would be interested in doing a beer and chicken night.

The chicken with the head at the top of the body

On the way out I saw this Heineken sign. I just had to take a photo of it for all to look.

Tell me when you will be mine (corny commercial)

Cho Moi & Tuc Dup

Thursday I was down because of the champion’s league final, however by Friday I was eagerly anticipating what Cho Moi town was going to be like. My students from the TC class had arranged for me to visit Cho Moi (Newmarket) with them. Not really knowing anything else I met up with them at about 9 in the morning. We headed out to the ferry to cross the Mekong and still no one would answer my questions.

Once across the river we proceeded along towards Cho Moi however it appeared that they were lost. I thought we knew exactly where we were, though I still didn’t know where we were going. We decide to turn off the main road and head down this dirt track and over the wooden bridges. These bridges always make me scared as they are poorly constructed and high with no or minimal railings. To make it worse the time we crossed was low tide amplifying my fear of heights. Happy to report no problems and after 3 more of these bridges we arrived at our destination, the monitor’s house.

We arrived at his sister’s engagement party and it looked like we were late. Not long after we arrived we tucked into some food and talked about marriage. My students kept asking me about when I would get married. No matter how much I tried to dodge the topic it always came back, like a boomerang. After eating the karaoke started and the guests started singing traditional Delta music. We thought it was time to escape and my students had planned something else to do. Once again I was ignorant as I didn’t hear clearly because of the loud music.

We hopped on the motorbikes again and headed towards Long Xuyen. I was surprised when it looked like we were heading towards Chau Doc (near the border with Cambodia). We came to this big intersection and turned left into Tri Ton district. I was amazed that we had to pay a toll to use this road, as they sure don’t use the money to repair the road. It was narrow and full of pot holes. Travelling on this road often made me afraid that I would fall off the bike.

When we arrived in Tri Ton we waited for our group to catch up. It was here I was enlightened, we were going to Tuc Dup Hill. This is a famous site in An Giang as a symbol of resistance and is locally known as two million dollar hill. It definitely had a very nationalistic feel to the site and a reasonable amount of propaganda. I tried to ignore it, and found that it is an amazing place. We started looking for the crocodiles that were advertised yet all we could find were ostriches and a horse. For some reason I felt overly excited about seeing the horse (or more likely it was a pony) as it is the first one I have seen in VN. I really missed it when I couldn’t see it on the way back, yet a little further on I saw that it was giving rides around the tourist park. I thought it was carrying too much wait with two grown adults on its back.

We started to climb the mountain and after about 75 metres or more (it was hot in the sun as the mountain was facing west and it was about 2 in the afternoon) we decided to follow the track into the mountain. We descended into the caves and it was claustrophobic. Lots of boulders just resting on each other, forming solid caves like the keystone principle in an arch. It was very cool in the caves a welcome relief to the heat outside. We trekked around snaking through the caves for about 30 mins. In some places I thought that I would not be able to pass because of my size. Once we came out we had a relaxing walk down the mountain. The photo can not do justice to the beauty of the view.

We finished the day with a few ice cold soft drinks and dwarf coconuts. No one told me that inside the fruit, which resembled lychees in look and texture, were filled with coconut water and managed to shower myself with it. As we left Tuc Dup hill we passed many Khmer style buildings which are very different from the more traditional VN style we usually see. We headed back home to Long Xuyen at about 4 in the afternoon with the threat of rain not far off.