Day 5 - Mekong Delta

Today I looked fear in the face and ran away screaming like a girl.... oh yeah.. I am a girl..lol..oh well.. it wasn't pretty anyway... I was absolutely terrified and when you see the pictures you will know why... but more of that when I get to it chronologically...

Usual morning.. blah blah.. breakfast etc.. watched the last half of the football replay over breakfast... congratulations to Spain and her supporters and commisserations to Germany and hers.... Our guide met us in the lobby of the hotel and went to find the driver, he seemed to take forever... apparently the driver was at the wrong hotel.. Equatorial Hotel doesn't have a Vietnamese name so he didn't have a clue.. regardless of the fact that it has been here for 16 years or so...lol... but eventually we were off.... I must be getting complacent being driven in Asia now.. even though it is a mind boggling experience... cars and bikes everywhere... but lately I have just been shutting my eyes and before you know it I am asleep.... today same thing.. put on my iPod and those wonderful noise cancelling headphones and I didn't hear a single horn being beeped... I slept pretty much the whole way there.. you might think that I am missing all the wonderful sights on the way.. but I have already seen the pictures.. the boys clicked pictures the entire way there and I didn't miss a thing.....

We boarded our boat to take us to the Island where we would start our tour of the Delta.. the weather today was overcast but with a delightful cooling breeze... nothing to complain about at all... THe boat ride was lovely...We landed on the other side of the river and aleked the short distance to the Coconut Candy factory and saw how the candy was made and sampled the product... the boys also sampled the banana wine and rice wine...lol... Back on the boat and another ride to another island where we would have lunch...

Just up from where the boat docked were a few cages that housed a giant python and a pair of gibbons... one of the gibbons was really friendly and loved having his hand/paw held... and enjoyed a back scratch... the other was a bit of a psycho and grabbed my pants as I walked past. The python was MASSIVE... wow... but safely locked up...

Lunch was a shared affair.... elephant fish ... a truly ugly fish, but yummy; rice; soup; giant yabbies and some kind of sticky rice dessert... all very very nice... We then walked through the gardens.. this is where I had to face my fear. On the walk is a lady and her friendly giant python.. for a small donation you can have your photo taken with it... No way... No way was I going to have any snake sitting around my neck.. but of course I was teased mercilessly and subsequently I gave in.... but those moments it was around my neck were the most terrifying moments of my life (or at least that I could think of in the really short time I considered it).... when it was just hanging there it was fine (ish) but then it started to move... and that was when I got absolutely terrified and had to have to taken off me... I was so freaked out...lol.. but hey.. at least I can say I did it and have the pics to prove it.. unlike Kev and Kerry... the pair of wusses....

The rest of the gardens were mainly filled with stalls all selling the same thing.. so we ran the gauntlet and boarded another boat.. this one hand propelled so a very peaceful trip back to the big boat.

The return to port was uneventful....

Tonight we went to the night markets to shop and to have dinner... Dinner is getting cheaper, tonight less than $5 a head.. with drinks... and again 'I' won a Tiger Beer keyring ... three in three nights now and all from the first round of drinks each night....Bit of tshirt shopping later and we headed home.. I am so tired tonight.. no idea why given I slept on the mini bus...

So.. a short one tonight.. Tomorrow is Cu Chi Tunnels...

Will just add the pics... then good night xxxxxx

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