Mekong Delta = amazing!

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After our heavy negotiating and our too good to be true price we figured that today would be a bit of a let down. How wrong can two people be?!?
We were picked up from our hotel in a brand new saloon car with a climate akin to Siberia in January and whisked into the Saigon rush hour. The ride was smooth and we had a little snooze as we drove through the suburbs and south towards the Mekong delta. We drove for around two hours before pulling up next to a bus full of tourists at a dock where various boats were moored. I don't mind telling you my heart sunk a little when we saw some of the same people we toured the cu chi tunnels with yesterday clamber off the bus. We waited a little while before a lady came over to us and said she would be our guide and escorted us to our own private boat. Her English was excellent and she was so very knowledgable about everything. First stop was (randomly) a brick factory. We wandered around a traditional family business and our guide explained everything as we wandered. Back on the boat the theme for our next hour or so was the coconut. We saw families making coconut oil, candy, milk, husk mats, everything!! We tasted lots and once back on the boat we were handed a fresh coconut with a straw. Yum! We stopped in a village, picked up some bikes and went rising through the tiny roads and streets the ran along canals and swamp. We were in a totally different world. After about 30 minutes of meandering past houses and over bamboo bridges we ended up at a restaurant and were served local delicious food... So much that we felt awful when we could nowhere near finish.Then a rowboat in the pouring rain back to our car. It was an awesome day! So worth the money!! The ride to Chau Doc was long and we snoozed through most of it. Our hotel was all booked and was fine. The town is very much like Folkestone or Calais. Just somewhere people transit through. There might have been more to it than that but we never found it. Fast boat to Cambodia tomorrow. I'm ready for the change but have enjoyed Vietnam. Sometimes things didn't go to plan but that's all part of the adventure! Lets see what Cambodia brings!!

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