29 November 2022, Tuesday

After a good night’s sleep, we started the day fresh and bright, with breakfast being served at 6am. The buffet spread was very good, comprising a wide selection of Western and traditional Vietnamese food. I was especially pleased with the variety of fresh fruits on offer – papaya, watermelon, pineapple and jackfruit. After filling our tummies nicely, we checked out of our rooms and left the hotel at 7:12am.

Following a very short ride on the bus, we arrived at Ninh Kieu Wharf just minutes later and alighted. A small ferry was waiting for us at the pier. We boarded the slim and narrow wooden boat, taking up pretty much the entire vessel. We departed the pier at 7:21am and made our way towards the floating market, Chợ nổi Cái Răng (Chợ means “market” and nổi means “floating”).

Along the way, Linh explained that during the old days when Vietnam was occupied by the French, there was a lack of roads so boats were the main mode of transport. The local farmers took their produce from the villages and brought them to the river to sell on boats. But with transport links greatly improved ever since, markets on land are more common nowadays, resulting in much fewer vendors plying their trade on the river today.

When we arrived at Chợ nổi Cái Răng half an hour later, I was surprised by what I saw. My impression of a floating market was that it would be touristy and commercial, like those found in Bangkok or Pattaya. I expected a narrow river channel packed with multiple vendors selling souvenirs or market produce. What I didn’t expect was for the floating market to be on such a big river. In fact, this was the largest floating market in North Vietnam.

Chợ nổi Cái Răng is primarily a wholesale market specialising in vegetables and fruits, but breakfast and other foodstuff like coffee are also sold here. Some vendors even allow tourists to go up to their boats to have a meal. To inform potential customers what is for sale on the boat, the vendor will hang a sample of the item on a long pole so that it can be seen from far away. The produce will already be pre-packed in bundles of 5kg, for example, so that the customer can just make a quick purchase and go.

Linh told us that the number plate on the boat indicates which province it is from. He pointed out a boat with a prefix of “TV”, which means Trà Vinh, the province we stayed at two nights ago. By land, Trà Vinh is about 80km away, but by water, the distance is much longer as the boat will need to circumvent the land mass to get here. Hence, some boats need to travel as far as 100km or more, a journey which can easily take a day, or even longer. Hence, some of these vendors live on their boats and stay out here for a week to sell off all their produce before making the return trip home.

As we toured the floating market, a smaller boat approached ours. It sold beverages, including fresh coconut, bottled drinks and even hot/iced coffee. Another small boat hovered nearby, selling fresh fruits like mango, rambutan and even durian. We were not their main target audience; these small boats catered primarily to the locals and those who were here on week-long stints.

At 8am, we got off our boat and visited a floating shop that sold vermicelli, snacks and dried foodstuff. We witnessed a demonstration of how the vermicelli is made and sampled some of the snacks. Of course, the purpose is to get us to buy their products.

I came across a stall selling drinks. The attap chee drink caught my eye so I bought a cup for 25K dong (S$1.45) to try. For Singaporeans, we are very familiar with attap chee, as it is commonly found in many of our cold, shaved ice desserts. However, not many people know that attap chee is the immature seed of the Nipah palm tree. “Chee” means “seed” in Hokkien (a Chinese dialect), while “attap” refers to the palm tree leaves that were used to make thatched roofs of village houses in the past. The Vietnamese name of the Nipah palm is Dừa Nước. The attap chee comes with a jellylike sweet meat and it is actually not very sweet in itself. But it tastes much sweeter when used in our desserts in Singapore because it is boiled in sugar syrup. As kids, we would always go for the attap chee first as it was considered a prize find.

At 8:25am, we left the shop and hopped back onto our boat to resume our journey. Shortly after, at 8:37am, we reached a pier and alighted, somewhere at An Binh ward. That was the end of the floating market tour, and it was time to start cycling, finally!

After a toilet break at an abandoned, scary-looking toilet, we set up our bikes and prepared to ride. By this time, we have gotten the routine down pat – set up the accessories (GoPro, Strava), gear up (gloves, helmet, water bottle, sunglasses), do warm-up stretching, and lastly, perform a prayer chant. At 9:02am, we were off!

After sitting on the boat for about an hour in total, it felt good to hit the pedals again. The knowledge that I was moving by virtue of using my own body’s power, coupled with the sensation of the morning sun and light breeze hitting my face, that was just so satisfying.

While the landscape yesterday was more expansive and rural as we cycled past vast rice fields and plantations, the scenery in the morning today comprised of river views as well as cycling past many houses and local communities. As always, it was nice to see schoolchildren riding their bicycles or riding pillion on their mothers’ motorbikes (sometimes even with three kids in tow), making their way home after morning class. We got a good glimpse of how the locals went about their day-to-day lives.

At 10:30am, we stopped for a break at a local temple. This time round, we had watermelon and pomelo for fresh fruits, and they were really sweet and juicy. We resumed cycling 35 minutes later, but stopped again briefly shortly after, as someone had a flat tyre so we waited for it to be fixed.

The most fun thing we did today was to take a barge across a small river. The barge could only hold about 10 or 11 people at a time (including our bicycles) so we had to cross in two batches. Once we were on the other side of the river, the scenery changed and became more like yesterday morning’s, with large rice fields and a more countryside landscape. The more rural it got, the fewer buildings there were, the more I loved it, because coming from a dense and urban city with tall buildings everywhere, this was as far removed from Singapore as possible.

I didn’t mind taking it slow when the scenery was good and there was shade, so that I could fully soak up the views and enjoy the experience. But as we approached mid-day, the heat got more and more intense and there was virtually no more shade as the roadside became stripped of vegetation. At that point, I just wanted to cycle fast and reach the next rest stop as soon as possible.

We took a second break at 12:40pm, a shorter one of 25 minutes. But we didn’t cycle for much longer before we reached our lunch stop at Cờ Đỏ at 1:23pm, and that brought an abrupt end to our cycling for the day. Including the breaks, we cycled for only around 4 hours 20 minutes, covering a total distance of about 47km.

I must admit I felt rather underwhelmed because today’s ride was much shorter (in both distance and duration) than what we accomplished yesterday, when we had an almost full day of cycling, covering 80km in total. Today’s route was also not as scenic as a large part involved cycling through the town area beside busy roads, which were sometimes dusty. It was also very hot and everyone felt sunburnt and tired from the heat. Perhaps it was also the accumulation of fatigue from three days of cycling, and not having enough sleep. But even though it was hot, I would have loved to cycle more because I knew we had already gone through the worst of the heat and it would start to get cooler from 3pm onwards.

Our lunch was at a simple and unremarkable roadside restaurant. It comprised of fried rice with a piece of fried chicken leg. The chicken skin was nice and crispy but my serving of chicken leg was quite small and skinny so there wasn’t much meat on it. After a quick lunch, I bought a cup of Cà Phê Sữa Da (Vietnamese iced coffee) from the café next door to make myself feel better. I instantly perked up upon consuming the shot of caffeine and ice.

Since we were not going to cycle anymore, I changed out of my cycling attire and put on more comfortable clothes – T-shirt and bermudas. At 2:18pm, we departed from our lunch venue and bade farewell to our three Vietnamese support team members – Tom, who covered our rear during cycling, and two others who drove the truck and support van. Thanks for taking care of us and pampering us with fresh fruits and drinks for the past three days!

Our next destination was the Killing Fields of Vietnam at Ba Chúc. Linh said it wasn’t very far away, but it turned out to be a very long bus ride. As we drove towards Ba Chúc, we got to see more of the local scenery, river communities, rice fields and small towns, all in air-conditioned comfort. I felt a bit guilty because it felt like “cheating”.

Nevertheless, the long ride gave me plenty of time to reflect about the trip and think about life in general. In Singapore, we always lament about the loss of old buildings and how things are changing too much, too quickly. Here in the Vietnam countryside, old buildings were a dime a dozen. Most of the shops were still predominantly single-storey, zinc-roofed and with iron grill shutters. Overhead electricity cables were everywhere. There were dogs, chickens, ducks and even cows running freely around. These would be common scenes in Singapore in the 1960s and 70s. As these scenes flashed before my eyes, I wondered: would Singaporeans truly be happier if we had remained as we were 50, 60 years ago?

It was also not hard to notice that rubbish was strewn everywhere. I guess when a country is so big and the wealth is unevenly spread out, environmental issues naturally take a backseat, especially in the rural areas. You can’t really blame the people here for not taking care of the environment because they have much more pressing issues to worry about, such as the weather affecting their next harvest, whether there is enough food on the table, or deciding between sending their kids to school and working on the farms. All legitimate concerns.

At 4:23pm, we stopped at a roadside stall for a break. There was no proper toilet so the guys went to the bushes to pee. A few of us also bought fresh coconuts for 15K dong (S$0.87) each. However, these were big, old coconuts, and they weren’t very sweet. The stall owner also had a karaoke system so some of the guys took the mic and began an impromptu karaoke session. The singing was good, but the music was waaaay too loud.

We resumed our journey at 4:50pm. At the time, I thought we would reach the killing fields soon but in fact, we were nowhere close. At 5:30pm, the sky was starting to turn dark, and I wondered if we could even see anything when we arrived at the killing fields. We eventually reached Ba Chúc at 5:50pm, 3½ hours after we started the journey by bus.

Upon arrival, we found out that the place had already closed. Linh made a few phone calls to seek permission for the place to be opened for us. After waiting for about eight minutes, the groundskeeper came and opened the gates. As we entered the premises just before 6pm, the last of the evening light was rapidly fading.

I thought we were going to see the actual killing fields, something like the mass graves at Choeung Ek in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. But I knew that with the sky turning dark so quickly, we wouldn’t have been able to see anything anyway. However, instead of visiting an outdoor garden, we were led to Ba Chúc Tomb, an ossuary housing the skulls and bones of the victims. The ossuary was shaped like a lotus flower and painted white, perhaps signifying the innocence and purity of the departed souls within.   

Ba Chúc Tomb isn’t as well known as the Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre or Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. The Ba Chúc massacre is also not as well-documented as the genocide that happened in Cambodia, where more than one million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979. Given the scale of the mass murders that happened in Cambodia, it is understandably worthy of worldwide attention. But the Ba Chúc massacre was no trivial matter either.

From 18 to 30 April 1978, the Khmer Rouge army invaded Vietnam and killed over 3,000 civilians in Ba Chúc, a small town located just 6.4km from the border with Cambodia. Over 12 days, the soldiers took local villagers to temples and schools to torture and kill them. Those who fled to the nearby mountains were mercilessly hunted down and shot, stabbed or beheaded. The Ba Chúc massacre was considered to be the catalyst for Vietnam to invade Cambodia later that year, which eventually resulted in the overthrow of both the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot in 1979.

Within Ba Chúc Tomb, the skulls and bones of the massacre victims were sorted and divided by age group and gender. It was heartbreaking to see the remains of the 29 victims who were under two years old. The collection here resembled the display at the Choeung Ek memorial stupa, which I had visited a decade ago, in 2012. Hence, it was not completely new or shocking to me, but still sad nonetheless.

The group decided to conduct a prayer session for the victims, led by UJ and GJ. The members sat on the floor to meditate and chant. Their voices reverberated under the glass oculus, providing a soothing chorus befitting the solemn yet dignified atmosphere.

Following the short prayer session, we adjourned to the memorial room located nearby in a standalone building. It was also closed but the groundskeeper unlocked it for us to have a look. Displayed on the walls were many black-and-white photographs of the scene and victims. Some of the most graphic photos showed the victims being tortured to death, including having their private parts staked. It was a brutal reminder of the atrocities committed during the massacre.

We didn’t linger for long as it was too depressing, and also because we were hungry and eager to go to our hotel. We left the memorial at 6:18pm, by which time, the sky had completely turned dark. Alas, our hotel at Châu Đốc was still quite a distance away. It was a sombre end to a long day. We initially sat in silence on the bus, but after a while, a few members of the group started to sing and more joined in. RK then pulled out his harmonica to provide accompaniment. It was a spontaneous singalong session, and I loved it.

As I listened to their renditions of the beloved folk songs, I imagined it must bring a lot of joy to reminisce about the good old days through music. It probably also reminded them of their childhood or younger days. At that point, I thought about how wonderful it would be if I could do something like that with my childhood friends in the future. I would love to go on a cycling trip like this with my closest friends, and their wives and families, and have moments like these where we sing and laugh together.

I know it is quite idealistic because as we get older, circumstances and people change. It takes a lot of effort to maintain friendships and coordinate schedules to travel together. But if there’s a will, there’s a way. Maybe one day, it will happen. But for now, I am just so happy to be on this trip in Vietnam, making new friends and creating memorable experiences together.

As our bus wove through the dark streets, I could still see hawkers sitting by their empty roadside stalls, illuminated by small light bulbs, waiting for customers to come and buy their food. I wondered what time they closed for the day. Earlier today, while our bus stopped at a traffic light, I saw an old man walking by the roadside, waving lottery tickets at the people on motorbikes, hoping to make a sale. I thought no one would buy from the old man, but to my great surprise, two people actually did. These small interactions and moments provide a precious glimpse of what life is really like in other countries. And that is why we travel.

After what seemed like an interminable ride, we finally arrived at our Châu Phố Hotel in Châu Đốc city, An Giang province at 7:35pm. As we alighted from our bus, I saw a young boy, maybe around 10 years old, selling lottery tickets in front of the hotel. The hotel’s staff bought some from him. I pitied him a little, having to hustle at such a young age. We headed straight for dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. The food was not bad and I gobbled everything down because I was famished. I also ordered a bottle of Tiger Crystal beer to reward myself after a long day.

The room was decent, though not as good as the one at Ninh Kieu last night. After taking my shower, I headed down to the lobby to do some work and edit the highlights reel because the wi-fi in the room was very weak. I only went to bed after 1am, having turned in a piece of “homework” that I felt was of decent standard. And that wraps up Day 5 of the trip!

Overall, the day felt a bit underwhelming because most of the time was taken up by non-cycling activities. The visit to Cái Răng floating market was interesting enough, though not what I expected. I liked that it was targeted at locals rather than tourists, which made it all the more authentic. However, spending almost five hours on the bus was definitely not ideal. I am not complaining about the long journey because I have taken much longer bus rides so this was nothing. I think it is because this was meant to be a cycling trip so my expectation was that we would be cycling most of the time, with bus transfers kept minimal. Anything more than two hours on the bus is too long.

As for the visit to Ba Chúc Tomb/killing fields, I think I would have gleaned more out of it if we had the opportunity to see the Phi Lai Tu Temple behind the memorial room, where more than 300 villages were slaughtered inside and where the walls are still stained with the blood of the victims. With the visit coming at the end of a long day, we were hungry and tired by that time, so it ended up being a perfunctory visit. Nevertheless, there were plenty of tender and unscripted moments throughout the day that brought humanity and humility, and that made the day special.

Finally, to end off this post, here’s the extended highlights reel for Day 3 of cycling, enjoy!