Blogs from Chau Doc, An Giang, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 7

Safely in Vietnam having not had to pay any unofficial extra charges to any officials!! We began the process of bargaining for a lift on the moto to the Chau Doc. As usual the price started ridiculusly high and we were followed for several metres by a large group of bikers until they finally agreed a reasonable price. Chau Doc is about 25mins drive from the border crossing and somehow i ended up with a man who was at least 70 driving my bike! He had to get someone else to lift my backpack on to the front between him and the steering wheel and then nearly fell off the bike - really filling me with confidence!! However, we made it in one piece and i only had to shut my eyes on two occasions when ... read more

Arriving in Vietnam in the late afternoon was a blessing. We had to race to fit something into our day after devoting most of it to border crossing from Cambodia. Our guide skillfully shuffled us along on a riverboat tour and organized a motorbike ride while we were lazily drifting down the river. When time is of the essence, it's kind of nice to be told what to do and where to go. We had less than 24 hours in the Mekong Delta to make time for Saigon up ahead. As soon as I got back to the hotel, a young man appeared and was putting my helmet on. The drivers swarmed around us, each of them getting dibs on a Westerner and motioning us onto the bikes. They had more of a sense of ... read more

After a long travel day yesterday, we board a motorboat on the Mekong to travel into Cambodia today. Saw frogs and rats (yes, to eat) in the market last night. ... read more

We traveled from Chau Doc to a village by the name of Hoa Lac, where our school is located. A 7 mile drive took two hours! To say "the road was bumpy" is an understatement. You can ask my cousin Helen who got carsick twice! We began to hand out candy, suckers, balloons and other goodies to the kids along the road through our windows. At one point, the narrow dirt road traveled through a small rice business... one of our buses was too big to fit through all the bags of rice. Everyone had to get out of the bus and rearrange the 225 pound bags of rice so it could fit through. Because the rest of our vans were at a dead stop during the rice rearranging, we were able to get out ... read more

golf cart/speed boat/bus/bus/plane/bus/canal boat/ferry/bus/ferry/bus................we're finally here!!!!!! We arrived in Chau Doc at 8 pm after a long hard day on the road. Along the way we ventured into the Mekong Delta. (See attached pics) As if the final six hour bus ride wasn't uncomfortable enough, the poor living conditions we saw out the window made us all even more uncomfortable. I've heard stories and seen pictures of the living conditions in third world countries but seeing it up close is overwhelming. On the other hand, it really gave us all some perspective on what we value in life. When I saw people bathing in the river, I realized my twenty minute shower might be a bit excessive. And when I saw a multi-generational family crowded into a small open-air hut, it sure made me feel guilty ... read more