Blogs from Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia

Day 12 - Today we left the dazzling lights and bars of Saigon and headed for the more sedate and tranquil Mekong Delta known as "the rice bowl" of Vietnam. To reach our homestay in Cai Be we hopped on board our river boat and stopped along the way to see some small cottage industries including the making of rice paper and coconut candy and of course got to sample some of the local produce. The woman making the rice paper had three pans on the go and had to have excellent hand eye coordination and timing as it took 15 seconds to make each one. A real skill and one that she got paid per sheet, producing over 3000 a day! Back breaking, exhausting work. The highlight of the day was a canoe boat ride. ... read more

Downwards and downwards we circled like a tiny drunken fly. Our 40 seater turbo prop plane from Saigon seemed happier in the air and seemed to want to stay aloft little longer but as we twisted and turned - in a loose figure-of-eight pattern - we saw the tiny jungly island which is Phu Quoc. Covered with rich, dark green vegetation it rose up us from below us. Finally we landed at ‘Phu Quoc International Airport’, a small but well constructed terminal which announces proudly ‘We have money here!’ The airport constitutes one of the few scars on the landscape but as you get to know the island you can see that ‘development’ is the name of the current game. At the moment this is a prime holiday destination for the Vietnamese but very soon all ... read more

I had heard about it but I didn't want to think about it. I read blog after blog about the horrors but didn't want to believe them. But then I had no choice. I was traveling on a budget and a $50 bus ride was a hell of a lot cheaper than $200 plane. My last day I booked it, my thirty hour bus trip that would start at 5pm and arrive whenever it felt like doing so. I spent the day chilling with Kevin, mentally preparing myself for such a journey. I wasn't to sure what to expect. I had heard horror stories about all the busing in Vietnam and thus far I felt they were untrue. Perhaps this journey wouldn't be nearly as bad as I had heard? In fact I was quite positive ... read more

Miniblog today, for several reasons - not too much to say and thinking about people at home - much love, wish I was with you all right now! Last day here yesterday, self-indulgent reading, and have discovered 2 more advantages of a kindle: you can be reading any old rubbish and no-one can tell what and judge you for being a literary lightweight, and nationality-wise you are completely anonymous and therefore in some useful cases immune from being forced into a conversation you don't really, at that particular moment want. I was very near a yuppie supermummy on the beach, cross between Joyce Grenfell (showing my age....) and Miriam Stoppard, cute toddler but v v peace-shattering positive affirmation and nursery rhymes constantly until at last the poor child was worn out and needed a nap. Now ... read more

Allo, Premierement, je vous annonce que je me suis fait voler mon laptop cette nuit dans l'autobus (Loulou, heureusement que je n'ai pas pris ton IPAD!). Je serai donc obligé d'utiliser les ordinateurs publics avec tout ce que ca implique... Soyez donc indulgent avec mes erreurs de ponctuation... J'étais vraiment fru quand je m'en suis rendu compte en arrivant a l'hotel ce matin! Avec le personnel de l'hotel, on a réussi a contacter la compagnie d'autobus mais ils ne peuvent rien faire... Je suis responsable de mes choses. Aussi, mon document préparé par mon agence de voyage était la dedans aussi... Ca fait vraiment chier. Heureusement que je m'étais scanné une copie avant de partir!!! Donc reprenons le récit. Dernièrement, on a été faire une croisière de 2 jours sur le Mékong. En fait c'est beaucoup ... read more

I visited the Mekong Delta again yesterday, but this time on a tour. I thought maybe it would be good to do a tour so I can actually see the Mekong River and all the islands that the formed from decades of silts being deposited at the mouth of the river. (My geography teacher is probably really disappointed with me right now for not knowing the actual name for those islands!). The tour was worth the price of $55! It included a 4 hour boat ride that showed us the local floating maket, a candy workshop that made coconut candy (which is absolutly delicious), poprice, yes...I said poprice. What is poprice? Well, it is like popcorn but with rice! It is like rice crispy but much bigger kernals and healthier I think. They use hot sand ... read more

On the advice of our friends from the Halong Bay trip, we kicked off our second week in Vietnam in Nha Trang. It is a city just over halfway down the coast of Vietnam with a party reputation and a huge host of sights and activities to fill your time. Sometimes cities tend to embody the same vibe and while there are countless restaurants, bars, cafes and shops to choose from, when you don't fancy lounging in your hotel or guesthouse it is difficult to find places where you can fully chill out for the day without constantly ordering food and drink. As the long stretch of beach along Nha Trang was the first we had seen since our stint on the Southern islands of Thailand, we relished the idea of spending a few days laying ... read more