By Garrett Cooper
Matt was sick on the 21st and unable to paddle. We thought it was best to stay in town another day, though we were ready to move on. I was sick the next day, but after a late start and slow paddle we made it to Cai Be, the next town.
24 Jan 2013
We got a good early start in the morning and we noticed a significant change in water level. We decided it was caused by the dams up stream which were the cause of the rise and fall of the river earlier in the expedition. The first thing we did was paddle around the bustling floating market of Cai Be. Once we set out to go down river, I noticed we were paddling against the current. It wasn't making sense to us, so we took a small channel through an island to get to the other main channel on the other side to see what the current was doing over there. The paddle through the island was a beautiful example of the Mekong Delta I imagined while planning this expedition. On the other side of the island, the current seemed to be at a stand still. It didn't occur to us until that night that the the rise and fall of the water we had been noticing on this section was tidal. We were still what seemed too far from the ocean, yet it was already significant enough to reverse the flow of the river.
That night, we set up camp above the water which was a first for both of us. After paddling into the trees we had to stand up in the canoe and hang our Hennessy Hammocks as as high as we could reach since the water was rising. We couldn't get into the hammocks yet so we ate crackers, cookies, and fruit for dinner in the canoe while the tide raised us up to our hammocks. Once we laid down, my hammock sagged lower than Matt's since there was more space between my trees and I had to position the Pakboats canoe under me so that when the water was at its highest, I was half laying in my hammock, and half sitting on my canoe seat.
As the tide went out, I had to keep checking that the loaded canoe would rest in the mud where it wouldn't be damaged. There are also many roots that jut up from the mud like spikes and I didn't like the idea of the boat resting on these. Eventually, the boat was so far down I couldn't reach it. In fact, we were stranded in our hammocks because the jump down would have been into deep mud where we would have gotten stuck, or onto the root spikes which were defiantly more intimidating. Everything worked out well and we slept until the water was high enough to step into the canoe and take down the hammocks.
25 Jan 2014
In the morning we decided on a contingency plan which would have given us more good paddling in the Delta since we hadn't explored much of the smaller channels, and would have taken us through a bird sanctuary. We had also given up on teaching in Vietnam as classes are not well received as in Cambodia. They are not the same kind of rural river people as we had in Cambodia where classes went very well.
We started paddling against the current knowing it would change soon, but when the current was in our favor, the wind started blowing off the ocean slowing our progress significantly and creating the largest wind blown waves of the trip which would splash water into our boat if we weren't carful.
On a ferry dock a man called us over, motioning with his hands that something was going to eat us. It sounded interesting so we went over to him. Matt drew a picture of a crocodile and the man said yes and that we would flip over in the boat and it would eat us. He also said our boat was to small for the river and that the town was 30 kilometers away, which was to far. This was almost laughable since we were one day from the coast and had already gone over 900 kilometers. He was shocked to see us carry on.
In the evening, the tide was against us though the wind died down. Instead of paddling against the current the last few miles to town and arriving after dark, we decided it was best to camp and get to town early enough to make a day trip the rest of the way to the ocean. Since we got off the water before dark, we weren't in an area of concern, and people had already seen us, we didn't think it was necessary to do a stealth camp and we set up the Hennessy Hammocks bunk bed style between two coconut trees.
After dark there were hundreds of fireflies in the trees blinking like Christmas lights. On one side of camp were coconut trees and big palm leaves covered in the blinking bugs. On the other side, further away was a big leafy tree full of fireflies throughout all it's branches. I had never seen anything like it and it was magic. Seeing these fireflies was worth every bit of what came next.
As I laid in my hammock, watching the bugs flash in the dark, ten men came into our camp. They took a knife and machete Condor had given us and told me to stay seated in my hammock. A few of them I could identify as police based on their clothing and I later identified more as police but it's hard to say how many were actually police. Nobody could make a decision on what to do, so they called in someone else, who called in another, and another. Each new officer was higher ranking than the last. Three or four were called in which took a few hours and at one point there were at least 14 in our camp. They checked our passports multiple times as if something would change and searched the bag we had our Laerdal manikins in. They then searched Matts bag very thoroughly, clearly hoping to find something. They opened everything including the gifts he got for his family in Cambodia. They moved on to my camera bag and looked through the pictures on the iPad. I showed them the CPR video in Vietnamese and they stopped searching the bags.
They were very impressed with our Condor machete and would flick the blade to hear the steal ring, saying it was very good. They really wanted a reason to use it and cut us open a couple coconuts to drink. They then brought tea and invited us to go to the road and drink some. At first we declined but I'm not to sure how optional the offer was. We went and drank tea and they also gave us a crunchy flat bread snack. I tried to figure out what was going on a few times using translation apps and their tiny bit of English. They said things like we "must be sympathetic to the regulation" but were also told we broke no law by another officer. They also told us that it was dangerous for us and that we would need to rest at the police station, or that the weather was bad, or cold. They were trying to get us to go willingly but I told them they were wrong concerning weather and safety. They didn't even know what they were doing but they wouldn't let us go. I told them the currents were changing and we had to go but they wouldn't let us.
Eventually a boat came to take us and our canoe to some dirt road up one of the many channels. A vehicle was there waiting for us and we got in with 3 officers. The driver sped down the dirt road through the dark and our canoe was left behind. I tried to remember the route and how many bridges we crossed but my mind wasn't firing on all pistons since I hadn't slept much in a couple days and I lost track.
Eventually we came to the police station where some even higher ranking officials stared at our passports. Eventually we were told to hang our hammocks and rest. Hours ago I was laying in my hammock, looking up at the magic of the fireflies, but now I looked up at the Vietnamese flag flapping in the breeze. This didn't last long before another higher ranking officer arrived and we were told to go inside to see him. All the others stayed outside lined up against the window to see what would happen next. This officer also spoke the best English and in the end the explanation we were given for our arrest was that they thought we were strange. Everywhere I have traveled people think I am strange but they usually just smile or say hello, but in Vietnam they arrested us.
I asked if we could go back to they river and he said no. I wanted it to be clear that we were not allowed to paddle so close to our finish line. We were less than 10 miles away from the South China Sea and the police would not let us finish. Eventually we were brought to a government approved hotel and our knives were returned to us. I told them I wanted my boat at 7am and they agreed to take us there to break it down and bring back to the hotel.
After getting the boat, we spent the day resting and planning for the next day.
27 Jan 2014
We wanted to see the beach and touch the South China Sea, even if we couldn't paddle there so we hired two motorbikes to take us to it. The plan was discussed with a man who spoke some English and with the two drivers and we were ready to go.
It felt good to be at the beach even with the last few miles taken from us. We took a couple pictures and had hardly started walking on the beach to go touch the water when two uniformed men were yelling at us. They took us and our drivers to a nearby grass hut police station and of course they stared at our passports for a while. From there we walked to another police station and we started climbing the rank ladder through the Vietnamese police again.
There was a pot of tea on the table, and since they took the ocean from me I wanted to take what little I could from them. I helped myself to the tea and kept drinking. Every time we emptied it, the man who brought us in was made to refill it. I think our drivers caught on and I got a few chuckles out of them. Of course all this tea made me have to pee and a guard was sent with me to the toilet.
Eventually we had to go to another police station but we were allowed to ride there with our drivers and they only sent one officer with us. My driver was a speed demon, which I loved for the ride to the police station because it separated us and the officer could not have liked this. After some sitting around and the drivers in the office speaking to the police, my driver started looking really nervous. Not long after, another officer came and in less than a minute the driver was relieved, our passports were returned, and we we're let go. We were never given a reason for this arrest.
When we brought our bags down from our room at the hotel, a couple police from our first arrest showed up to see us off to the bus station.
We made it to government approved Ho Chi Minh City where I will spend my last few days in Vietnam trying to not get arrested. I have had several negative interactions with police through Latin America and it was always from corruption. Corrupt police are a disgusting tragedy and I would like to end this post on a positive note by saying that I never saw any sign of corruption in the Vietnamese police, even when they had the opportunity. I don't believe the police that arrested us were corrupt, and in fact offering a bribe would have probably got us into real trouble. As far as being detained goes, they treated us well and I think this whole thing was a product of an oppressive system. In fact, after having the rights we often take for granted back home, even with all it's flaws, I could never live under this kind of government.