Ho Chi Minh City to Mekong Delta (Day 15)

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We left our luggage in storage at the hotel and packed an overnight bag for our excursion to the Mekong Delta (otherwise known as Saigon)! Took a bus to a boat, then a boat ride to some local markets. Saw how they made rice paper & toffee & got to sample treats. We all bought ourselves the Rice hats to block the sun off us. We then all paddled in a boat up a river to our guesthouse where we were staying the night. On the boat, they gave us fresh coconuts to drink from. I was starting to freak out again because Emmo warned me the family has a huge pet snake that they were going to bring out. Soon as we got there, sure enough, there was a gigantic python brought out and passed around for photo ops. I sat from afar in a hammock watching them. I was much more content then my last experience as I had control over running away this time. Plus it was so huge, nobody would be able to move quickly with the thing. Everyone then did shots of snake whiskey. We checked into our rooms and the guesthouse was not what I expected. We were all in 1 building – no toilets or showers in our room, no A/C, bug nets over the beds and the windows open. I felt like I was staying in the rainforest so it was totally out of my comfort zone. I did like how chilled this place was though. No power, no wifi, etc so you had to keep yourself entertained. Everyone was playing card games, reading, etc. Another snake adventure came up when they asked who wanted to kill a snake so Z chopped its head off and they served snake soup for dinner. The family there put on a little show for us for dinner and then we got into drinking games. Emmo & Ken (our wicked local guide) got a large bucket and filled it with vodka, red bull & OJ and called it Jungle Juice. Everyone got smashed very quickly as they played a game of Kings which I sat out on. Eventually I got in on other games like I have never, or finger master. Stayed up until 1:30am. Ended up in the boys room finishing off the jungle juice – so hot and humid that we all showered before bed at 2am. Couldn’t sleep. It was too hot, no air moving, the fans in the room hardly work and I felt no air on me. Worst night sleep ever.

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