Another day another port: Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)
The trouble with large cruise ships is that they are often relegated to some seaport out in the boondocks. In this case it was the SP-SSA International Terminal at Vung Tau. Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) is around 80 km, or two hours away by bus.
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As we had previously spent several days in Saigon, Wendy and I chose different excursions.
You can read about our previous, much more in-depth, trip Here...
Wendy to the city and I chose an excursion to the Mekong Delta, an hour further on.
On the way, the bus passed many hectares of rice paddies. Our guide, on the bus, explained that Vietnam is one of the largest rice growing countries in the world and has the best rice. That's odd, because a similar guide in Siri Lanka firmly assured us that Siri Lankan rice, like their tea, is the best.
On returning to the ship I looked it up. There are a lot of rice varieties so taste is a factor. According to the judges at the 2023 International World Rice Conference, Vietnamese rice did indeed win the prize as the "World's Best Rice." Second and third places went to Cambodian and Indian rice, respectively. Alas, Siri Lanka didn't get a mention. I suppose that, after regular exposure to Agent Orange, Vietnamese rice is both more tasty and herbicide resistant?
In terms of rice production, China is by far the largest grower, with five times Vietnam's production. Vietnam is fifth largest, after Indonesia.
We no longer see teams of people, with plate-like hats, as Noël Coward observed, bending over in the paddy fields. As in all these advanced rice producing nations, hand planting and harvesting have long been replaced by machinery.
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The visit to the delta turned out to be a fabricated tourist experience. Given three hours on a bus to get there and the need to get back before the ship sailed, it was a brief visit, mainly to an island set up for tourists, with an inland river constructed for the use of local boat persons, with plate-like hats, ferrying patrons, à la Disneyland (without the submerged rail tracks); a coconut 'factory' and 'local' honey products, sans bees.
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But we did see some real local fishermen on the actual delta, a lot of countryside, and My Tho, a nicely appointed, modern town.
Leaving My Tho, it was an hour back to Saigon and the traffic.
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