Today, the sea where the tongkangs and
sampans had anchored is gone, replaced by a bus depot and the ferry terminal further out.
The Mekong River is "a long, sinuous shroud, boats and
sampans swaying on its surface like ornaments tentatively fastened to a tapestry." Army tarps hung from branches are like "the wings of giant bats at rest." The tips of rocket-propelled grenades are "half plunged into the earth like banana flower heads pitched from a great height by some immortal strength."
The A37 took out missile sites, artillery and supply sites, bunkers, trucks,
sampans, buildings, and support ground troops while under attack.
Ruth, who was also a well-known author, wrote afterwards: "It seemed hard to imagine the countryside with no cars and people blocking the roads, no curly eaved pagodas on the hills, no
sampans floating on the quiet waters of Llyn Dinas.
The river fills with ferries, sand dredgers and
sampans (Chinesestyle flat bottomed boats).
Choose from the Traders Restaurant, where the tasty breakfast is also dished out, and
Sampans Oriental, whose menu showcases dishes from seven Asian countries.
Hundreds of vessels, from wooden
sampans to enormous container ships, ply the shipping routes that criss - cross the territory, one of the world's busiest ports, every day.
Most boats using the river are local
sampans or other low clearance vessels.
Is it possible that the overseas Chinese in Australia were using traditional watercraft such as junks and
sampans? The Chinese built these vessels on the west coast of the United States for use in the fishing industry.
The engines were running and smoke throttled out in a cloud over the
sampans tied onto them at the back with towing ropes.
Sampans Oriental restaurant offers Thai/Chinese/Malaysian cuisine cooked by authentic chefs, while Callaghans Irish Bar offers ice cold Guinness on draught and a bar menu.
Seventy five cent lobsters & Pouilly-Fuisse & Saigon River
sampans rocking in moorings, reflections form their lanterns stirring the water like goofy carnival rides & across 50 kilometers-- to the edge or our world--arcs of tracers & popping of flares & muzzle flashes from 155's, & a few klicks south, a progression of fiery billows, precise as a garden row--750 pound night blossoms, planted from a B52, & two bites later, the grim rumbling-- a shaking of the earth.
Source: Obituary, "Australian Navy officer awarded the DSC after taking on Sukarno's
sampans during the Konfrontasi," DT M.27.5.2013: 27.* HMAS Teal, started life as HMS Jackton.
The Philippines may be the weakest military nation in the region, but when and if Chinese maritime patrols attack the small Philippine Navy and Coast Guard vessels, the Filipinos will not be sitting ducks; their ships can fire back and sink some vessels in the Chinese flotilla, including
sampans.
Tiny fishing
sampans bobbed in the wavelets and birds screeched in the riverbank trees.
