Mekong Delta & Day One of New Orphanage

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Well I know you have all been missing yesterday's blog. So lots to get you up to speed with. We got to the place where we booked the two day trip for 7.45 as the bus was supposed to be going at 8am. As you know and so do we that Vietnamese time is when it turns up. So around 8.30 the bus turned up and the guide apologised for the lateness - which shook us but was a real nice touch. then he introduces himself "Joseph" was his English name and then starts to tell us about the trip we are going on to the Cu Chi tunnels to which a load of English shouted we are not going there we are going to the Mekon Delta on a 2 day trip. Well Joseph states "No, this bus is going to the Cu Chi tunnels and I cannot stop now". We all start to jump up and down and then the little blighter says it was a joke and gives us a real brilliant grin. So we now know Joseph is a bit of a joker (note to oneself, keep an eye on this one, ha ha). Well an hour into the journey we stopped to go to the happy room (restroom, to you and me) and about 10 minutes later we were on a boat going down the Mekong River. We then went to the four islands, Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Turtle. We were then taken on little boats which was quite cool. The only thing about going to the islands was everytime we got to one someone was trying to sell us something which can be a real pain until I mentioned to Mike that as we had only paid $22.50 for 2 days, 1 night in a homestay and meals I think we should just grin and bear it.

We then left the main group and went to the homestay which was great we learned how to make vietnamese pancakes and duely ate them. We were also given a feast by the family and had so much we could not even face the pumpkin soup.

So we were shown to our rooms which were in a block outside and each of the rooms had a mosi net which was good as I did not want to have to set ours up - so major bonus here. I had to get Mike to make sure that the net was tucked in on all sides as these mosi are little blighters and can get everywhere. I told the girls how to set theirs up and also to keep their clothes inside overnight.

Had a good night sleep and was woken by a familiar sound to me of geese (I used to have 2) and chickens (had too many to count, ha ha) which brought back fond memories of my livestock keeping.

Got up and had a cold shower (not fond memories of cold showers in India) but the breakfast was again fantastic.

We had a cruise to the floating market which if I am honest was not as good as the one in Cambodia we went to ,it was more of a commercial market but different all the same.

After landing and seeing how rice noodles are made we got back on the boat for a 1 and 1/2 hour ride to get some lunch and then back on the bus. If you take any adivce regarding Vietnam do not sit at the back on a bus as they hit the bumps really hard and you end up in the air most of the time.

Mind you Mike did have an incident in the happy room (remember the name for the restroom), he was having a tinkle and the bloke next to him kept looking at him (and not his face!), so Mike decided did not like this and moved to a cubicle where the man followed him - to which Mike spoke to him sternly and left - sounds of George Michael here I think - to which Mike wagged his finger at me, ha ha

The girls have been moved from their room which is good as remember they lost their keys in the bag snatch incident - so everyone is happy.

Went out for something to eat and a couple of drinks.

Today we went to another orphanage this time it is not run by the government and is funded privately. There are a couple of other volunteers there 3 ladies who come from Ireland who came last year and an English lady who also came last year to the same orphanage. They did not go through i-to-i which is the company we used as they said they were not impressed with the company - not sure what their concerns were but to be honest no problems at the moment from our perspective.

Anyway we were in a small room which had 8 little children in from the age of 2 - 4. There were no toys in the room - that is being kind there was nothing apart from the children. They were a happy bunch of children but they hardly spoke and just kept climbing over us. I do not know why there were no toys in the room as the Irish ladies said they brought toys to the orphanage. I must admit I was there for 6 hours and was bored stiff sat in the room just playing with the kids. There is only so much you can do by playing games and singing with no interactive games, crayons, books etc. We have decided that tomorrow we are going to get some things for the children to do and find the toys the Irish ladies brought in. These kids are in real need of mental stimulation - holding and talking is not all they need.

Just been watching the highlights of the Olympic closing ceremony looks good.

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Photos

Mekong Delta
A small boat that took us to one of the islands

Homestay
Our room at the home stay - do you like the pink mosi net?

Host
This is our host at the home stay

Mike on the Monkey Bridge
No comments regarding Mike and Monkey, ha ha