Mekong Delta

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Caught an early morning bus south to the Mekong Delta. I was joined by a group of eight others as we boarded a small boat to cruise around the Delta. Our first stop was a floating candy factory where they made sweet puffed rice cakes as well as candies. We continued our journey around the Delta stopping at a small village. Then we boarded two-man boats (I was paired with a girl from South Africa) to visit a floating fishing village (the people's floating homes have fishfarms underneath). Then it was back to a larger boat (about 30 or so people) which took us upriver towards Cambodia. We docked near the border and stayed at a small hotel for the night. The next day, we once again borded the larger boat, went up river where we had to disembark shortly for the border crossing, and then re-embark to continue the journey towards Phnom Penh. The ride was especially nice as out of the large group, only four people were allowed to ride on the roof of the boat....and you know how much I love riding on roofs so I was joined by my South African friend as well as a French Couple I had met earlier in my journey in Nha Trang. We all listened to our MP3 players as the Vietnam and then Cambodian coast line of the Mekong River floated by. A wonderful two days of traveling.

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Photos

Fishing Boat
A small boat cruises the Mekong river as they use large nets to fish.

Sweetner for Rice Puff cakes
The candy shop boils mangos to create the sweetner for the rice cakes.

Popping rice
Mixing the rice in the vat so it pops to create puffed rice. And of course, notice the words on the guy's shirt.

Mixing it all up
These guys mix the puffed rice with the sweetner to make the puffed rice cakes.

Boat People
Our group of eight ride along in our small boat on the Mekong River.

Up river
Other boats travel up a tributary of the Mekong in the Delta.

Grain
A boat loaded with grain travels up a tributary in the Mekong Delta alongside our boat.

Ferry Landing
A ferry boat lands before we can pull up to the shore.

Drying Squid
Squid dry in the sun at this floating fish village on the Mekong.

Jumping Fish
Each floating home has a fish farm underneath it. Here, with a piece of the floor removed, the owner feeds the catfish which flounder over each other to grab a food pellet. With the Bird Flu scare here in SE Asia, the price of fish has gone up helping there farmers secure extra funds.

Morning Delivery
Three women sit on small boats and review the catch from the morning. The lady in red with her back to me is a cook who rows around in her boat and delivers soup and noodles to the various houses.

Row, Row, Row my boat
I pose with the lady who rows my little boat around the floating fishing village. I share my boat with a girl from South Africa (Mieke) who I plan to meet up with again in Cape Town (her home town) after the New Year. If you look at the right edge of the photo, you will see a woman with a child. This family of five (Husband, wife and three kids...8, 5 and 3) is traveling around the world for 10 months! Amazing.

Marbles
We stopped at a small village along the river and I found these tykes playing marbles.

Waist deep in it
A man from the village tries his luck fishing with his net.

Boat Building
We pass a small shipyard where they are constructing a new large boat.

Fishing Contraption
This device is used to cast the large net into the water and snag fish.

River Walking
A man walks along river as we float by on our way towards Phnom Penh