Following a friend’s recommendation
Some of the most enjoyable experiences from my second visit to Vietnam came from day trips recommended by friends.
One of those trips took us into the Mekong Delta.
For a long time, I could remember parts of the experience without remembering the names of the places.
I remembered the boat ride, the greenery and something involving wine.
Looking back at the photographs from 1 February 2011, I can now piece together much more of that day.
A pagoda and a journey along the river
The photographs appear to begin around the Mỹ Tho area.
One of the first places we seem to have visited was Vĩnh Tràng Pagoda.
A photograph shows a large laughing Buddha, which helps identify the location, although I no longer remember the details of the visit.
From there, the photographs move towards the river and the activities that followed.
There are signs for a tourist pier, boats and places that appear to be part of a familiar Mekong Delta day-trip route.
Bees, fruit and unusual wine
Some of the pictures show a bee farm and fruit tasting.
One photograph helped resolve a particularly vague memory.
I had remembered something about wine, but not exactly what it was.
The photograph shows bottles containing snakes and scorpions.
So that was the wine I remembered.
I don’t want to claim I tasted anything I cannot actually remember drinking, but it was certainly one of the more unusual things documented in the album.
It’s interesting how one photograph can bring back the identity of something whose name had almost disappeared from memory.
Through the palm-lined canals
The boat ride is another part of the day I remember.
My photographs show narrow sampans travelling along a canal, with thick nipa palms growing along the banks.
The boats move through waterways that are very different from the wide Saigon River we had seen earlier in the trip.
The photographs also contain a sign for Cù Lao Lân, helping place the excursion within the Mỹ Tho area.
This was one of the experiences I had remembered even when the specific locations were no longer clear.
Looking at the pictures today, I’m glad I photographed the waterways and the boats.
They help preserve the character of the trip without my having to pretend I remember every part of the day.
What the photographs brought back
When I first thought about this Vietnam journey again, I could remember a boat ride, some greenery, wine and a few recommended day trips.
I couldn’t remember most of the place names.
Now the photographs have helped reconnect those memories with Mỹ Tho, the Mekong Delta, the bee farm, the snake wine and the palm-lined canals.
That’s one of the reasons I wanted to revisit these older journeys.
Some memories remain clear. Others survive only as small fragments until a photograph helps put them back into context.