Saigon's harbour against the setting sun

  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...