Ulla kirjutab maast ja ilmast: Saigon & Mekongi delta // Saigon & the Mekong Delta

Me j6udsime Vietnamisse, Ho Chi Minh Citysse 6htul hilja, ja p2rast pundi teiste turistidega viisaj2rjekorras ootamist (me saime oma reisi esimesed p2ris viisad passidesse! K6ik muud riigid on seni viisavabad olnud ja meile ainult templeid pannud) hyppasime me bussi peale kesklinna suunas.

Ho Chi Minh City, mis on ehk paremini tuntud kui Saigon (s6jaeelne nimi) on 8 miljoni elanikuga linn ning, nagu oodata v6ib, on tegemist p2ris kaootilise kohaga. Nagu muudes Kagu-Aasia suurlinnades, on siingi peamiseks transpordivahendiks motikas, ning motikas6itjad on absoluutselt k6ikjal. Yle tee minemine on alati ylimalt keeruline ning jalak2ija olla on v6rdv22rne enesetapuihaga. Sellegipoolest on linnal oma sharm ning prantsuse m6jutused on ta l2bi keskuse ulatuvates pikkades laiades bulevardides h2sti tunda. Vietnam oli 1800. aastate keskpaigast saati yle sajandi osana Indohiinast Prantsuse koloniaalv6imu all. Euroopa m6jutusi on n2ha arhitektuuris, s88gis (Vietnami baguette'id!) ning selles, kuidas osa vanemast generatsioonist siin prantsuse keelt k6neleda oskab (ehkki enamus kohalikest ei r22gi yhtki v66rkeelt).

J2rgmisel hommikul s6itsime me taksoga natuke kesklinnast v2lja, et silm peale heita yhele jalgrattapoele millest Paolo lugenud oli. Poe omanik on New Yorgist p2rit ameeriklane, kes ehitab lahedaid bambusest jalgrattaid. Seej2rel jalutasime me terve tee tagasi kesklinna. V6i v2hemalt oli see meil plaanis, paraku pidime me yle j6e minemiseks siiski takso v6tma, kuna ainus l2heduses leiduv sild oli jalak2ijatele sobimatu (mitte keegi siin ei k6nni, v2lja arvatud niipalju kui on vaja, et oma motikani j6uda). Tagasiteel peatusime me yhes tee22rses kohvikus et v2rskendavat j22kohvi juua. Ma olin eelnevalt proovinud ainult vietnamip2rast piimakohvi (mis on tegelikult kange must kohv mis valatakse otse kondenspiima peale ja sinna k6rvale pakutakse lisaks kuuma vett, mida saab maitse j2rgi lisada, et kangust reguleerida), seega otsustasin ma koos Paologa proovida siinset musta j22kohvi. Ossaraisk kui kirves see oli! Maitsev, aga absurdselt kange, ja joogi j2isus peitis selle tugevust. Nii kui me kohvikust lahkusime, hakkas kofeiin t88le ja ma olin j2rgmised paar tundi hyperaktiivne, v2risevate k2tega ja puha! :D Ma ei tea, kuidas kohalikud kannatavad sellist kohvi iga p2ev juua, aga see aitab seletada kuidas vietnamlased jaksavad aina t88d vihtuda ja koguaeg aktiivsed olla (erinevalt Sri Lankast ei veeda siinsed inimesed aega niisama lebotades ja mitte midagi tehes).

J2rgmiseks p2evaks olin ma endale juuksurisse aja kinni pannud. Viimasest juuksuri juures k2imisest oli juba peaaegu aasta m88das, seega oli viimane aeg juukseotsi trimmida ning Saigon tundus selleks hea paigana. Salong oli kena ja juuksur tegi hea t88, ja k6ik maksis muidugi imev2he Euroopa standardite j2rgi. P2rast juuksurit sain ma j2lle Paologa kokku (kes oli seni m88da kesklinna uidelnud, ja juhuslikult sattunud t2navale mis on pungil t2is jalgrattapoode – nagu saatuse poolt m22ratud!) ning suundusime koos S6jamuusemisse, et vietnamlaste koledast l2hiajaloost rohkem teda saada.

Lyhidalt kokku v6ttes – 1945. aastal kuulutasid Ho Chi Minhi juhtimisel vietnamlased end iseseisvaks, kasutades 2ra olukorda, kus Prantsuse koloniaalv6im oli p2rast Teist Maailmas6da oluliselt n6rgendatud. Muidugi ei meeldinud see prantslastele kohe yldse mitte ja nad t6id oma militaarv6imu kohale et tagasi v6ita maa, mida nad Prantsusmaa osana n2gid. Vietnamlased ei olnud aga sellega n6us (nende kuulus hyydlause sellest ajast oli 'Iseseisvus v6i Surm!) ning v6itlesid prantslastele kogu hingest vastu. S6da venis kuni 1950. aastateni ning selleks ajaks oli ka USA s6jas osaleja, andes Prantsusmaale uskumatutes kogustes s6jalist abi. Nende osaluse p6hjuseks oli v2idetavalt fakt, et Vietnam, l2bi Prantsusmaa, oli USA peamine tina ja volframi allikas ning ameeriklased ei tahtnud harjumusp2rasest korraldusest lahti 8elda. Kui prantslased viimaks m6istsid, et nad patriootlikele vietnamlastele vastu ei saa, tunnistasid nad 1954. aastal oma kaotust ning viisid v2ed riigist v2lja. Genfi konventsioonil tunnistati Vietnamit kui iseseisvat riiki ning m22rati, et uue riigi valitsus tuleb selgitada demokraatlike valmistega. Vietnamlased oli 6nnelikud, et nad l6puks kaualoodetud iseseisvuse olid saavutanud ning tulevik n2is roosiline. USA aga ei olnud olukorraga rahul, v2idetavalt kuna nad kartsid, et kommunistlik Vietnam tekitaks Kagu-Aasias doominoefekti, muutes ka teised piironna riigid kommunistlikeks. Seega panid ameeriklased kogu oma j6u Vietnami antikommunistliku juhtkonna taha ning alustasid oma s6jaj6udude riiki toomisega. Kui olukord kommunistliku Vietnami pooldajate ja antikommunistlike osapoolte vahel pingeliseks muutus, sai selgeks, et esimesed on tugevamad ning ameeriklased hakkasid paanitsema. Nad l6id Tonkini lahe intsidendist eesk22nde, et Viet Congidele (kommunistlikele vietnamlastele) 1964. aastal s6da kuulutada. Sellele j2rgnes pea kymme aastat absoluutselt m6ttetut h2vingut ja kaost, millest vietnamlased vaatamata raskustele l6puks v6itjatena v2ljusid. V6idu hind aga oli suur. USA k2itus Vietnami s6ja (v6i Ameerika s6ja, nagu seda siin ehk sobivamalt nimetatakse) jooksul uskumatult julmalt ning rahvusvahelise seaduse vastaselt, sh lubades oma v2gedel tsiviilelanike piinamist, tahtlikku vigastamist ning massilist m6rvamist (sh My Lai veresaun), eriliselt julmade pommide kasutamist (sh naelpommid) ning laiaulatuslikku keemiarelvade kasutamist, et h2vitada suuri metsaalasid. Tuntuim keemiarelv kandis nime Oranzh Agent. K6ik eelpoolnimetatu j2ttis vietnamlastele pysivad j2ljed, sh sygavad pshyhholoogilised traumad, otsesed fyysilised traumad s6jast endast ning detoneerimata pommidest j2rgnenud aastakymnenditel (nii paljud on s6jaj2rgselt kaotanud miinide t6ttu elu v6i j2semeid). Ent keemiarelvad on j2tnud ehk k6ige j22vama ning shokeerivama j2lje. K6ik kemikaalid mida USA s6ja jooksul kasutas sisaldasid dioksiini (vaid 85g oleks piisav, et 8 miljoni elanikuga linn h2vitada), ent Oranzhi Agenti kasutati k6ige enam. Paljudel, kes selle kemikaaliga otseselt v6i kaudselt kokku puutusid, tekkisid s6jaj2rgselt kas terviseprobleemid, v6i j2id nad steriilseks, v6i, veel traagilisemalt, on neile syndinud sygavate fyysiliste ja/v6i vaimsete puuetega lapsed. Need Oranzhi Agendi lapsed on syndinud k6igil s6jaj2rgsetel aastakymnetel, ning neid synnib aina juurde. Uuringud on n2idanud, et kemikaal on m6jutanud ohvrite DNAd selliselt, et m6jud antakse geneetiliselt edasi ning seega saab selle m6jusid veel aastaid n2ha. K6igele lisaks tegi Oranzh Agent ka p88rdumatut kahju suurele hulgale Vietnami 8kosysteemidele, mille l6plikku m6ju ei tea veel keegi. See on k6ik sygavalt kohutav ent samaaegselt, olles Vietnami 6udsast l2hiajaloost rohkem teada saanud, on meile n2idanud kui j2rjepidevad ja tugevad vietnamlased on, ehitades innukalt oma riiki yles p2rast sellist kohutavat peatykki. T2nap2evane Vietnam on Kagu-Aasia yks suurimatest edulugudest ja ma loodan, et neil on ees pikad rahu- ja rikkuseaastad (no tegelikult loodan ma seda tervele maailmale, aga nemad siin v22rivad seda veel eriti).

J2rgmiseks kaheks p2evaks olime me endale kohad kinni pannud kahep2evasele Mekongi delta tuurile. Mekong, yks maailma suurimaid j6gesid, saab alguse Tiibetist ja voolab enne Vietnami j6udmist l2bi Hiina, Myanmari, Tai, Laose ja Kambodzha enne kui ta siin L6una-Hiina merre suubub. J6gi on yle 4500km pikk ja selle delta on hiigelsuurel alal, mis on t2is riisip6ldusid ning lugematul hulgal v2ikeseid k6rvalj6gesid, ojasid ja kanaleid, v6ttes enda alla peaaegu kogu Vietnami l6unaosa. J6gi on delta elanikele ylimalt oluline ning siinne ala on tuntud oma rikka looduse ja kultuuri poolest.

Me alustasime tuuri kiire budistliku templi kylastamisega, kus leidusid kolm hiigelsuurt ja eri poosides Buddha kuju. Seej2rel pandi meid paadi peale ja alustasime s6itu Mekongil. Esimene peatus oli kookosekommide vabrikus, kus saime maitsta erimaitselisi kookosekomme, ent ka kookoseveini (m6nus, maitses nagu sake), kookosej22tist (rohkem nagu sorbee, aga v2ga maitsev), ja spetsiaalselt saime mekkida ka maoveini – mis kujutab endast hiigelsuurt purki alkoholi (ilmselt seesama kookosevein) kus sees hulpisid v2hemalt viis surnud madu. Jook oli roomajate karkassidest v6tnud endale oranzhi tooni, ja maitse oli tal nagu alkoholil ikka, ent kummalise hallituse moodi j2relmaitsega. Maovein pidavat eluj6ule hea olema. Ma oleks parema meelega n2inud, et need maod oleks v6inud madudena edasi elada. Loomapiinamine oli paraku tuuri jooksul ysna tavap2rane. Kohas, kus me l6unatasime, oli pisikeses basseinis hunnik krokodille, keda turistid v6isid 'kalastada' – st nende nina ees tykki liha k6lgutada, mille nad n88ri otsast 2ra ampsasid. Enamus turiste v6tsid oma rahast viimast ja 6rritasid vaeseid elukaid pikki minuteid enne kui neile liha l6puks k2tte andsid. Samas kohas oli ka pisikeses betoonpuuris suur anakonda. Sellele lisaks veel lugematul hulgal puuris lindusid ning n2rilisi – sellised olid enamike turistikohtade atraktsioonid.

Kookosekommi vabrikule j2rgnes lahe kanuuretk m88da v2ikest j6ge, mille kaldad olid paksult t2is palmipuid ja muid troopilisi taimi. See kestis vaid kymme minutit ent oli v2ga lahe kogemus. Meile pandi p2he isegi traditsioonised vietnami kybarad! Nad on muuseas ylimalt mugavad ning v2ga efektiivsed p2ikese silmadest 2rahoidmisel.

P2rast seda s6itsime me Mekongi delta ala suurimasse linna, Can Thosse, kus me ka 88bisime. J2rgmisel hommikul l2ksime me kohe kuulsale Can Tho hulpivale turule. Vietnamis on mitmeid hulpivaid turge ent Can Tho oma on riigi suurim. Turg l2heb lahti koiduga mil k6ik myyjad v2ikeste ja suurte paatidega Mekongile kohale tulevad, end ankrusse viskavad ja ostjaid ootama j22vad. J6el on sadu paate ja nad myyvad k6iksuguseid juur- ja puuvilju ja ka k6iksugust mittes88davat. Meie tegime oma suurema turistipaadiga turule paar tiiru ymber, mille jooksul l2henes meile mitmeid v2ikeseid paate, kes ennast meie paadi kylge sidusid ja meile k6iksugust head ja paremat myysid. Saadaval oli kuumasid ja kylmasid jooke, maiustusi, grill-liha, nuudlisuppi jpm. Eriti lahe!

J2ttes hulpiva turu seljataha, l2ksime me edasi riisinuudli tehasesse, kus me saime teada, et riisinuudleid tehakse j2rgnevalt – k6igepealt keedetakse riisi, et riisi 'piim' tast v2lja saada, seej2rel segatakse see tapiokaga, ning seej2rel pannakse see vedel m8ks pliidi peale, mille tulemuseks on suur, ymmargune ja ime6huke riisipannkook. Need pannakse seej2rel p2ikese k2tte kuivama ja l6puks topitakse nad suurde purustajasse, ja voilà – ongi riisinuudlid!

Tuur oli v2ga turistikas, aga samas saime me n2ha paljusid kohtasid mida omaette oleks olnud keeruline kylastada, seega olime me l6puks v2ga rahul. Yhtlasi, me maksime kogu kahep2evase tuuri eest ainult 18 eurot, sh transport, majutus ja k6ik muu! Praegu oleme me bussis tagasiteel Saigonisse, kus me veedame oma viimase 88 enne p6hjapoole suundumist. Esimene peatus meie teel p6hja – Mui Ne rannalinn ja sealsed kuulsad liivaluited.

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We arrived to Vietnam, in Ho Chi Minh City late in the evening, and after waiting with a bunch of other tourists to get our visas (first time on our trip we get an actual real visa in our passports! All other countries have been visa-free and have only given us entry/exit stamps), we hopped on a bus to the city centre.

Ho Chi Minh City, which is perhaps better known by it's pre-war name Saigon, is a city of some 8 million people, and as expected, it's pretty chaotic. Like in other South-East Asian big cities, the main mode of transport is the scooter, and there are riders everywhere. Crossing the road is an everyday challenge, and being a pedestrian is alike to having a death wish. Nonetheless, the city has its charm, and the French influence is apparent in the long, wide boulevards that criss-cross the city centre. Vietnam used to be under the French colonialist Indo-China region for over a century, beginning in the mid-1800s. The European influence is apparent in architecture, food (Vietnamese baguettes!), and how some older Vietnamese speak French (although most locals don't speak any foreign languages at all).

The next morning we took a taxi to an area just outside the city centre, to check out a bike shop that Paolo had read about. It's owned by an Amercan from New York, and they make cool bamboo bikes. We then proceeded to walk all the way back from there to the centre. Or at least that was the plan, we did have to take a taxi to get over the river, since the only bridge in the vicinity was not suitable for pedestrians (nobody really walks here, except to get to their scooters). We stopped on the way at a streetside cafe for some iced coffee. I had previously only had Vietnamese milk coffee (in effect strong black coffee with condensed milk, plus additional hot water to add to taste, to make it less strong), so I thought to join Paolo in trying out their black iced coffee. It was a motherfucker! Tasty, but ludicrously strong, but its iciness hid just how strong it was. As we left the cafe to continue our walk, the caffeine kicked in and I was hyper for the next few hours :D Hands shaking and everything. I have no idea how locals can keep drinking coffee as strong as this all day, every day, but it does go some way in explaining how the locals can keep being so hardworking and active all the time (unlike Sri Lankans for example, the Vietnamese do very little lounging about, doing nothing).

The next day, I had booked an appointment to have my hair cut in a local salon. It's been nearly a year since my last time, so it was about time, and Saigon seemed as good as place as any. The salon was nice and the hairdresser did a fantastic job, and it all cost peanuts of course in comparison to Europe. Meeting up with Paolo, who had been wandering around town (and stumbled upon a street packed with bicycle shops – it must be fate!), we headed to the War Remnants Museum, to learn more about the horrible recent past of the Vietnamese.

Long story short - the Vietnamese, under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh, declared their country's independence in 1945, after the French colonialist hold on Vietnam had weakened after World War Two. Obviously the French were not pleased about this, and came here with their military might to get back what they perceived as part of France. The Vietnamese were having none of it though (their famous slogan at the time was 'Independence or Death!'), and gave the French a hard time. The war dragged on well into the 1950s, during which time the USA became involved as well, giving France increasingly generous amounts of military aid. The reason for their involvement was apparently that Vietnam, via France, was a huge source of tin and tungsten for the Americans, and they were not keen to jeopardise that arrangement. When the French finally realised that there is no messing about with the patriotic Vietnamese, they admitted their defeat and pulled out their troops in 1954. A Geneva convention declared the sovereignty of Vietnam and stipulated that the government of the newly founded country would be determined by way of a democratic election. The Vietnamese people were jubilant to finally have their hard-fought independence and were looking forward to building up their sovereign nation. The USA, however, was not happy about this turn of events, ostensibly because they feared that a communist Vietnam would set off a domino-effect neighbouring countries, pushing these toward communism as well. So, the Americans put all their might behind an anti-communist Vietnamese leadership, and began depositing troops in the country. As tensions rose between those supporting a communist Vietnam and those collaborating with Americans, the former was beginning to emerge as the clear frontronner, and the US began to shit its pants. They made up an excuse in the form of the Tonkin Gulf incident, and declared war against the Viet Cong (the communist Vietnamese) in 1964. What followed was nearly ten years of absolutely pointless destruction and mayhem, from which the Vietnamese finally, and against incredible odds, emerged victorious, but severely crippled. The USA did horrific things that went completely against international laws during the Vietnamese war (or the American war, as it is more aptly called here), including torture, mutilation and mass murder of civilians (most notably the My Lai massacre), abundant use of extremely cruel explosives, designed to kill or maim anyone in a large radius (e.g. nail bombs) and extensive use of chemicals to clear vast areas of cover vegetation, most notably Agent Orange. All of the above have had lasting influence on the Vietnamese people, including deep-rooted psychological trauma, very real physical trauma from the war itself and from un-detonated explosives for decades afterward (so many people have lost their lives or limbs to land mines following the war). But the chemical warfare has perhaps had the most shocking and lasting effects. All of the chemicals that the US forces used included the extremely deadly dioxin (of which you would only need 85g to kill a city of 8 million), but Agent Orange was the one that was most used. Many people who came in direct contact with the chemical, or lived in areas that were affected by it, have since suffered severe health problems themselves, have become sterile, or, perhaps most tragically, have had offspring with severe mental or physical disabilities. These Agent Orange children have been born at all times after the war, and new babies keep on coming. Studies show that the chemical has the ability to alter DNA, making the effects hereditary, and visible for many years still to come. On top of that, Agent Orange also did irreparable damage to complex ecosystems around Vietnam, the effects of which are probably still not understood. It is all truly horrific, but at the same time, learning all this about the Vietnamese has shown us just what a resilient and proud people they are, persevering in the face of extreme horrors, and building up their nation from the ground up. Vietnam today is a South-East Asian success story, and I hope that they have many years of peace and prosperity in front of them (well, I hope that for all the world, but these guys really deserve it, hey).

For the following two days, we had booked ourselves on a two-day tour of the Mekong delta. The Mekong, one of the world's largest rivers, begins in Tibet and flows through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia before reaching Vietnam where if flows into the South China Sea. The river is over 4500km long, and its delta is an absolutely massive area of mudflats, rice fields and thousands of small tributary rivers, streams and canals, taking up most of the southern part of Vietnam. It is an river of massive importance to the inhabitants of the delta, and the area is well known for its natural and cultural beauty.

We began the tour with a visit to a Buddhist temple, complete with three humongous statues of Buddha in various poses, before hopping on a boat and riding along the Mekong. Our first stop was at a coconut candy factory, where we got to taste some coconut candy, of course, but also coconut wine (nice, kind of like sake), coconut ice cream (well, really a sorbet I guess, but also very tasty), and a special taster of snake wine – which was a huge jar of what I suppose was coconut wine, together with at least five dead snakes. The spirit had taken on a nice orange tinge from the reptilian carcasses within, and it tasted like the aforementioned coconut wine, but with a strange, slightly mouldy aftertaste. Supposed to be good for your virility. I would have rather have had the snakes keep on being snakes though. Animal abuse was unfortunately a constant theme in the places we visited. The spot we stopped for lunch had a bunch of captive crocodiles who tourists could 'fish' – i.e. dangle a piece of rotten meat in front of their noses, which they would snap off for a snack. Most tourists took their money's worth and teased the poor creatures for a good many minutes before parting with their 'bait'. The place also had a huge anaconda in a minuscule concrete cage. Add to that countless caged birds and rodents and there you have the traditional attractions in any tourist spot.

Coconut candy factory was followed by a cool canoe trip down a small river, fringed with drooping palm trees and other tropic vegetation. It only lasted about ten minutes, but was definitely a highlight. We were even given the traditional Vietnamese pointy straw hats to wear! They are incredibly comfortable, by the way, not to mention effective in keeping the sun out of the eyes.

After this, we were off to the main city of the Mekong delta area, Can Tho, where we spent the night. The next morning we were off to the famous Can Tho floating market. There are numerous floating markets in Vietnam, but this was the biggest one of them all. The market starts at the crack of dawn, when all the merchants come to a spot on the Mekong in their boats of all sizes and shapes and set anchor to wait for their customers. There are hundreds of boats on the river, and they sell all kinds of fruit, vegetables and non-edibles. As we circled the market in our larger tourist boat, we were approached by numerous small boats, who attached themselves to our vessel like barnacles and proceeded to offer us nourishment and refreshment. They were selling hot drinks, cold drinks, sweets, barbecued meat, hot noodle soup etc etc. It was really cool!

Leaving the floating market behind us, we went to see a rice noodle factory, where we learnt that the noodles are made by cooking the rice to extract the rice 'milk', adding some tapioca to the mix, and then spreading this liquid mix onto a hot pan, which turns the mix into a large, thin, circular rice pancake. These are put in the sun to harden, and then fed straight into a shredder machine, and voilà – noodles!

The tour was very touristic, but we got to see a lot of stuff that would have been tricky to do on our own, so we were very happy with how it turned out in the end. Also, we only paid 20 USD each for the two-day trip, hotel, transport and all! Right now we are on the bus back to Saigon, where we will spend our last night before starting our slow trip north. First stop on our way – the beach town Mui Ne and its famous sand dunes.

Vietnami tyypilised elektriliinid // Typical electrical lines in Vietnam

Prantsuse arhitektuur // French architecture

Bui Vieni t2nav 6htul // Bui Vien street at night

Kummaline sotsialistlik arhitektuur // Strange socialist architecture

S6jamuuseumis oli sektor rahvusvahelise toetuse kohta - see on Vietnami s6ja vastane plakat Ungarist // There was a section for international support at the War Remnants Museum - this is an anti-Vietnam war poster from Hungary