Tien Giang- Mekong Delta's Projected International Jewel

Have you ever been to Mekong Delta in Vietnam? Mekong Delta comprises of several provinces and cities but I’ll narrow down my story to Tien Giang or My Tho City.

My Tho is the most sellable destination among independent travelers joining an organized one day Mekong Delta tour, the fact that it is quite near Saigon. With the newly opened express highway the travel from Saigon to My Tho City is now just an hour and a half or a maximum of two hours.

This city was projected to be the venue of Ms. World but by the twist of fate the Ms World project in that area has folded. I’m one of those expats supposedly in the frontline of promoting the project to the international market which could have a good impact to Vietnam’s tourism industry but a lightning from the media society struck its main player that sent all expats packing and I’m the last one on the line.

Now as I am packing my bags getting ready to move to my next destination in the tourism and hospitality industry, I’ll share the place to all of you who have never been there. In fairness, Tien Giang deserves this note as it is quite a rich area with or without the Ms. World project.

The province Tien Giang itself is the fruit basket of Vietnam that mainly supply the countrywide demands for mango, durian, rambutan, mangosteen , longan and other tropical fruits. And that alone is an attraction for travelers who want to explore the countryside where they can see fruit plantations.

How to get there? If you are not going to book a tour to travel agents or get a private car in Saigon then you have choices of public buses from Mailinh, Phuong Trang , Phu Vinh Long or those that park Miendong bus station.

But if you want a comfortable travel through public transport then I suggest you get on Phu Vinh Long in District 10 or call Mailinh, they’ll pick you up at your hotel but of course the fare is a bit expensive than those at Miendong bus station.

In the course of promoting Tien Giang as Ms. World venue in China, I remember someone from a corporate world in Russia asked me what to do in My Tho should she bring 100 guests. Of course at that time I was braced with information on the project I can talk a lot, convincing her that the guests have to stay at least one week to explore the place.

Indeed, with the Ms World concept you need to explore My Tho for at least one week but in the absence of that, I can only recommend a maximum of two days stay in the area.

For two days, you can explore the rich river of Tien Giang- traversing it will give you a view of the different islands- see the stilt houses, the fishing village, learn the culture of Vietnamese in the countryside, its lifestyle and means of living. You can go around see the real beauty of the countryside, its fruit plantations and the rice fields – an abundant green background that sooths your eyes.

One of the attractions in the area is the visit to the family run factories of coconut candies, rice paper, bee products, and those small shops that sell coconut product souvenirs.

There is also that supposed to be venue of the Ms. World which has been developed partially, the Thoi Son RAAS where you can go around and explore the fruit garden. In Thoi Son you can take the famous sampan rowing of Mekong Delta with that conical hat while traversing along the small canals leading to the river.

If you want fishing either in the canal or in a developed pond where you can cook the fish you caught, Tien Giang is just a perfect place for that. What is more exciting in staying at Tien Giang for two a night is the fact that you can go in its nearby province where you can watch fireflies glittering at night as well as learn the culture that the coconut religion has adopted before its monk died in 1990.

What I love most in staying there night time was the experience I had with the fireflies watch, which is a combination of fear (traversing in a foreign canals at night with just fireflies as light) and the fairyland feeling while locals paddled the sampan along the tiny canals with nothing but fireflies to light the waterways.

Night Walks - Saigon

My prolonged absence here manifests how lazy I become nowadays. It's just today that I finally got the desire to scribble down few notes of my night walks. Saigon is not the city I really took fancy of but since I live here I might as well share my experience. Writing about Saigon and my experience here is quite complex though, so let’s narrow it down to my night walks. The thing is no matter what colour is your skin it is quite safe to walk around the city at night.

If you want to capture colourful images then go around the city’s main area for tourists. Use your imagination and join me as I came out from the office at Saigon Trade Center walking towards the direction of Le Duan Street.

An expensive pizza at Hard Rock Café would be a good start to get ready for a long walk around the city. Hard Rock Café is located at the ground floor of Kumho Asiana building. I was walking along Le Duan Street and when I saw the newly opened Kumho Asiana building I remember Tim Scott, a good friend I met in Hanoi. He is working at Hard Rock Café, so I thought it would be nice to say hi. I went down but Tim was not there and my pride told me I shouldn’t go out not buying anything, so I ended up having an expensive pizza. Had it not been good I’m sure I’ll never stop complaining about it but because it was the best pizza I ever had in Saigon, I came out smiling. It’s not that it’s very expensive though but my point is I can get a pizza buffet in Pham Ngu Lao for the ones I paid at Hard Rock Café.

Lost on what else I want to do after that pizza stop, I sit down in one of the benches in front of Notra Dame Church where beggars and persons with disability were hanging around. Looking at them made me feel so privileged in life. Besides the lights from Diamond Plaze and the old post office across plus the elegant beauty of HSBC building behind me were nice backgrounds to the activities of the people around me. It made me think about life, how cruel and sweet life could be for various individuals.

A lottery ticket offer from one of the vendors though sent me off from my chair. Vendors can be very annoying they won’t leave you alone, so I left and walked towards Dong Khoi Street. In Dong Khoi, there’s the new Vincom building with expensive shops and spacious park outside. When it comes to shopping I am quite cheap, I don’t go for expensive one but I went inside Vincom building just for the sake of entertaining my eyes to that expensive display. Ten minutes staring at 240usd-worth of dress was enough for me to get bored and left heading towards City Opera. Few snap shots of the significant buildings around kept me busy. Then I decided to stop by few bars otherwise I can’t help spending money collecting fancy handicraft bracelets, my weakness.

In Dong Khoi Street, there’s Ice Blue Bar where I can describe as bar for old expat executives, the boring type. Few meters from Ice Blue there’s Hi Fi disco, 2nd level of the Russian market building. Then there’s also Jaspas worth spending the entire night with its cozy atmosphere. However, my trip for the night was to go around check places, so I just had one glass of lemonade at JASPAS then go around Ton That Tiep Street.

At Ton That Tiep I passed by Phatty’s Bar where most of the native English teachers working in prestigious language centers are hanging around. Spending 4usd for a drink was not my cup of tea, so one drink at Phatty’s then I had enough. Like I said I go for cheap prices except perhaps when I’m buying fancy handicraft bracelets.

From Phatty’s I went straight to Pham Ngu Lao where I spend the rest of the night sitting and chatting with friends at AK Hideaway Bar owned by an English young lad, Mat.

Hideaway has cheap drinks but the atmosphere is ok, maybe not cozy but for a bar yeah I’ll go for hideaway. If you’ve been to Hanoi’s Red Mau’s, Hideaway has the same aura, cheap drinks and nice people to talk to. I remember a statement from Mathias Baumgartner, a friend of mine in Hanoi. He told me once he doesn’t like hanging around at Red Mau’s because it’s full of backpackers and native English teachers who earned only few dollars for themselves. I hanged around with him to expensive places like Sofitel where one drink would cost at least 10usd. We used to visit 17 saloon to listen to Filipino band where a beer would cost me 4usd. If Mathias is reading this blog now I’m sure he’ll say you never change MicMic. Of course, I will only spend 1usd for a drink of vodka and orange not 20usd. Why would I spend much when I can have the same fun for 1usd? What do you think?