On the second last evening of our tour, we were treated to a boat
cruise down Saigon river. The Saigon tourist boat was not what you would call a cruise
ship, but it was large enough to accommodate all of us. As we "set sail", the
sun was already setting, and the ships against the setting Vietnam sun made a beautiful
photograph for the album. The river water was murky and a dirty brown in colour, not
exactly what you would term as "clean." Water hyacinth plants bobbed along the
river at quite a quick pace, showing how strong the river current was. Huge tankers were
anchored along the river and "house boats", here and there. Although almost
night, we could still see quite a number of local kids playing and splashing about on both
the river banks. We could even hear their childish laughter where we were. Fishing boats
were headed in both directions, probably going home after a hard day of fishing. We could
also see quite a number of people, namely men on the decks of their boats scooping water
from the river and dousing themselves with the muddy water. How are they ever going to get
clean, we thought. Seeing this, we were thankful that back here in Singapore, we had clean
piped water right up to our houses, water that was so
clean that we could even drink it straight from the tap without getting an upset stomach.
We could also see a couple of fishermen frantically rowing their sampans against the
strong currents, their little boats almost sinking from their catch of the day. The river
was bustling with life indeed and it was an enjoyable and relaxing ride downstream...
On the second last evening of our tour, we were treated to a boat
cruise down Saigon river. The Saigon tourist boat was not what you would call a cruise
ship, but it was large enough to accommodate all of us. As we "set sail", the
sun was already setting, and the ships against the setting Vietnam sun made a beautiful
photograph for the album. The river water was murky and a dirty brown in colour, not
exactly what you would term as "clean." Water hyacinth plants bobbed along the
river at quite a quick pace, showing how strong the river current was. Huge tankers were
anchored along the river and "house boats", here and there. Although almost
night, we could still see quite a number of local kids playing and splashing about on both
the river banks. We could even hear their childish laughter where we were. Fishing boats
were headed in both directions, probably going home after a hard day of fishing. We could
also see quite a number of people, namely men on the decks of their boats scooping water
from the river and dousing themselves with the muddy water. How are they ever going to get
clean, we thought. Seeing this, we were thankful that back here in Singapore, we had clean
piped water
right up to our houses, water that was so
clean that we could even drink it straight from the tap without getting an upset stomach.
We could also see a couple of fishermen frantically rowing their sampans against the
strong currents, their little boats almost sinking from their catch of the day. The river
was bustling with life indeed and it was an enjoyable and relaxing ride downstream...
