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Published: November 11th 2005
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Lindsay - On Tuesday morning we checked out of our new hotel to begin a 3 day tour of the Mekong Delta. The tour was by bus and boat around Cai Be, Cantho, and to Chau Doc before crossing the corder to Cambodia by boat and continuing up the Mekong river until we transferred to Phnom Phen by bus.
Unfortunately we were far too polite when trying to get a seat on the bus, so ended up last on the pull down seats which filled the bus aisle, however we continued on to Cai Be and on to a boat to the floating market. The market wasn't floating as such, but was in this case on the river bank, and our guide showed us round the local people making the things to sell on the market. Such as coconut candy, which was very nice, and snake wine (which we saw in Chu Chi the day before - Russ thought that is was pickled snakes purely for decoration. But no they actually drink it). The men all got a taste of the snake wine, and the women piled in and got some anyway. Except me because I didn't fancy it
because there were loads of dead snakes curled up in the bottle. Russ went for some though - he can add his thought to his beer reviews. We also saw making some kind of sweet, wafer type stuff - and yes that's it's proper name. Our guide asked for a volunteer from
one of the ladies
to make the next one, and as no one else seemed forthcoming I stepped up to give it a try. And all I can say is that there is a reason why Russ does all the cooking. I think the guide was frankly appalled that any woman could handle cooking so awkwardly. Still, it tasted OK no matter what it looked like. Russell ate it after all. And bought some more, made by someone else. We also saw honey being made, though we all declined to have our photos taken holding a honeycomb crawling with bees. But we did all taste the honey tea, which we thought Russ's dad would enjoy. And we also saw people popping rice. The rice gets popped in a big wok-type pan, the husks are mixed with black sand and heated until they all pop like mad, then the sand is sieved out,
then the husks are sieved out. Then they make rice crispie squares with it!
The morning weather was quite nice, but in the afternoon the heavens opened and when we had to get back onto the boat the ground was flooded. Russ had to take his shoes and socks off and wade through it barefoot. I just kept mine on, and was fine. However we made it in the rain to Cantho in the evening where we stayed the night. We met some of the other tourists for dinner at a restaurant that one of the guides took us to. Someone did try the snake on the menu, and we were all given some more snake wine to drink (I lost mine) and then all the men
not the ladies
(ha ha) were given another one. Even Russ 'lost' his second one. And then moved on to his quest to try as many different beers as possible. After dinner a few of us went to a bar for a few more drinks and we met a Canadian graduate, a Danish guy, two girls from Switzerland and a couple from Spain who were very nice.
Russ - Next day we were
up early for more of the Mekong. We got back on the boat and went to a proper floating market where all the stalls are boats and you move between them buying your groceries. One boat was selling pineapples so I used my expert negociation skills to aquire one (How much? just 3000 dong bargain I'll have one). Why did I need a pineapple well I just did. Next we went to a noodle factory and a rice polishing factory. Now I say factory but in both cases we are talking a shed made of bamboo next to the river where people do everything the hard way. To make noodles you take rice and make it into a paste which is cooked in 1/2m circles. These are then dried in the sun for 4 hours (which makes the dry season the best time of year to make them) before they are cut into strips. Believe me this is a hard life and whith noodles making only 1000 dong per kg (less than 5p) you need to make a lot of noodles to survive. Next we went to the local market where they were selling all kinds of food. The fish
was especially fresh. So fresh in fact two of then made a bid for freedom by leaping out of the bowl and dry swimming across the market. They managed to splash Lins in the process which she wasn't amused at. The meat didn't look all that appetising either as most of it still had eyes to look at you while you shopped. Lins was getting a bit paranoid at the market because the locals seemed to be staring at her and pointing. One even tried to ask me about her but unfortunately my Vietnamese wasn't good enough. Our guide explained that they thought she was so beautiful they couldnt keep their eyes off her. Apparently a long nose and very white skin is much prized in Vietnam as it brings good luck. No really that is what the guide said I'm not being rude. One woman even asked what kind of bleach Lins used on her skin.
Then we took a nice boat on a cruise up the Mekong to the border with Cambodia and stayed the night in Chau Doc. Well I say in Chau Doc we were 4km outside the town in a resort owned by the tour company where they had the only restaurant. They also had a lot of insects and as we did not want to pay $5 for air con we put up our Mossy net for the first time. The novelty has worn out as it was the hottest night I have ever spent! Of course I had to keep waking Linds up to tell her how hot it was as I don't think she quite appreciated it.
Final day started with a row boat cruise through the floating village near Chau Doc. Of course we had to get the crazy man to row us who kept singing and spitting in Vietmanese. All the other rowers thought it was most amusing. He did let Lins row the boat a bit though. Well I say row the boat - she stood in front of him and held on to the oars as he moved them about. We saw some fish farms where more fish got an opportunity to splash Lins though she was quicker this time. There is a big demand for fish at the moment as all the chickens are being killed due to the bird flu or chicken flu as it is known here. Our final stop was with the Cham people who are ethnic muslims living in the Mekong. They weave silk and Lins bought a head scarf from them. they tried to sell me a hat but it really wasn't a good look. I did manage to buy a Cham flute for just 2000 dong for Playtime Music (That's less than 10p a unit bargain). Then we had the long cruise up the river to passport control to get into Cambodia. But that's a new country and a new entry.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Ecellent Linds but at ten pence a flute you should have got me 50