Cần Giờ

Oh man. This post is so long and image heavy. I went to Cần Giờ last weekend, a protected mangrove forest, to cap a conservation seminar at the hotel, except I got to skip out on the lectures and only tag along for the fun field trip. I planted trees, took a boat tour, and went to a temple to witness a 13ft whale skeleton, and none of the trip was in a language I understand.

First things first: breakfast from the bakery down the street. Bánh chuối (banana cake, say it "bun choy" inflecting like a question) and a vietnamese take on dan tat (chinese egg custard tart), which was no dan tat. Poor thing was chewy and weird, but the banana cake was palatable enough.

Ferry ride across the (Saigon?) river

The architecture of the education facility is wild. Multiple buildings connected by raised cement pathways over mud and crabs.

The fun parts of this adventure were the seemingly random events. Nobody told me there was going to be a ferry ride; the tour bus just stopped and I was handed a ticket and herded into a corral, literally, with motorbikes and other pedestrians to wait for public transportation across the river. There was also no explanation for the following rooms and displays in the education center:

Observation without explanation is pretty much my life right now

Yes, these are aquariums of dead fish.

Shelvvves of them

We had a short lecture on conservation efforts, I'm guessing from the charts and graphs, and then went for a boat ride through the forest to the tree planting site.

I was so excited I couldn't hold the camera still

Monkeys!!! There were six or seven monkeys at the tree line and they screeched a little at the intrusion, but hung around to watch us walk by. Nobody else was interested in the monkeys, what! This isn't India; there aren't monkeys hanging out in the parks like squirrels! Also, monkeys are cool anytime, so I was a little taken aback by the disinterest.

I had a bag full of these stick-like things with a small bud on the skinny end. These are the trees we planted; don't know what kind. No idea how they root.

There were some small settlements on the bank and many houseboats along the river. I was kind of surprised because I was under the impression that this was the equivalent of a national park, but I guess people live in Yosemite...also these folks aren't exactly leaving a heavy footprint, as you'll see.

This boat skirted around us, delivering fuel or gatorade (I can only guess what's in those jugs) to various other boats in the area.

Where we docked

Drying shrimp. Omg, the smell.

Abandoned outboard motor

That's not trash, though there was plenty; those are buoys holding nets in place.

Can you see two?

Crablets everywhere, from bigger than my thumb to smaller than my thumbnail.

These guys were fast and usually just a slither in the corner of your eye. I watched one of them chase a crab down a hole.

Ground changed between muddy and dry pretty abruptly, so they gave us boots that rubbed holes into my ankles.

Have you noticed the clothing? It's a different attitude to sun exposure and heat, people cover up to block the sun and the air, which is filthy, and also why they wear those masks.

Squelch

Chomp

We had lunch provided at a large open-air restaurant...

...with a lovely view of a tourist beach in the distance...

...and the filthiest beach on the near shore.

hey there!

I like this contrast. It looks like something nuclear happened on the left side of the path.

We had to wear these heinous polyester polos, which was ultimately a good thing, because they meant I didn't get lost and I didn't get burnt. I would have fried in the tank top I had chosen and the synthetic fibers dried quickly even if they weren't breathable.

I didn't get a picture, but there were roadside stalls with hammocks along the remote highway to the forest. Maybe you can pull over and take a nap.

We crashed our big bus through this tiny town to breeze through a temple, and I mean breeze. I don't think we were there 5 minutes.

Whale skeleton presented without comment.

One of the convenience stores I've been talking about, but this one is huge. In HCMC, they're usually half to a third that size.

Small market next to the temple. Some people stopped to buy dried shrimps and I got my first nước mía (say it "nook" like you're southern and adding syllables) for about 25 cents.

She ran the sugarcane through the crusher until it was mush and the liquid ran off into a bowl to her left. Pressed to order. These carts are everywhere. Sidewalk drink "cafes" are as prevalent as the "restaurants". Depending on popularity, it can be anything from a woman with a small plastic table who squeezes your juice while you sit in a lone chair and chat, to restaurants that arrive in vans with loads of chairs and tables to set up every morning.

Delicious

Colonial influence is everywhere, though Saigon is more American and Hanoi more French.

Our bus backed down this narrow street just barely missing these women and their dried fish.

Curbside restaurant

Soup noodle cart

Bun, pho, and hu tiu are all types of noodles. Some stalls will customize what kind of noodles and proteins you want, others are serving one thing that day.

Escaping crabs

I had a great time. I've been dying to get out of the city and see the natural environment, and the boat tour was serene and blessedly unguided. Two hours of relative silence and scenery broken up with short hikes. Absolutely perfect. I'm planning on setting up a Mekong tour this weekend so look forward to more rivers and mangroves!