Ugh...Organized tours

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We booked an incredibly cheap Mekong Delta tour. We don't usually like going on tours but it's a fraction of the cost trying to do it ourselves. Our problem with tours is we feel herded around like cattle. We can't do things at our own pace. It wasn't so bad though, kind of fun actually.

The Mekong delta is the southern most part of Vietnam. It's somewhat different to the rest of the country in it's culture so we decided we have to check it out. We stopped at all kinds of tourist traps seeing teh Vietnamese ways of life. Quite interesting to see how they make coconut candy or Whiskey etc in their little villages.

We took a boat around all the canals, seeing life along the river. Our group was ok, we got to know a few people here and there. One guy from Costa Rica was quite interesting he had been travelling for 18 months through North and South America including Alaska and Antartcia, throughout Europe, most of the 'stans, Asia, Australia etc. I wonder what drives him to keep going. I've been on the road for almost 2 months. I love it and am not even close to being ready to go home yet. But sometimes it's a bit tiring packing up and moving on an incredly long journey to the next place. Also where does his money come from?! He must have a lot of stories though!

After the day tour we took a 3 hour bus journey to the bustling city of Can Tho, a 30 minute tuk tuk ride and then a boat (in the dark with a flashlight) for an hour to someones house. Most people in the tour stayed in a hotel. We thought it would be more interesting doing a homestay with a Vietnamese family. It was a cool experiene, better than a hotel. But dissappointing. The Family has homestays about 4 or 5 times a week, we just went in a little hut to have dinner and then a bamboo shack to sleep. it was cool but not what I expected. I guess it makes sense though.

The following day we went to a floating Vietnamese market to see the life along the river. Vietnamese ladies wearing their conical hats trading with the boats was definatly a sight to see. Jasmine has been very sick for a few days now. Really had us worried as we were in an area where credible help was simply not available. We had to cut the tour short, hop on a moto taxi back to a hotel and rest for a few hours while the rest of the crew continued the trip. Must be something she ate or the water. As I write this 2 days later she seems fine now. I think the medication we took from home worked. Hopefully it lasts.

We had fun on our tour, and it was stupidly cheap. Just $6.50 per day including meals and a place to stay. Was interesting but we'd still rather do thing on our own. More fun that way!

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Photos

haha
Everyone visiting Vietnam needs a conical hat picture!

Bich Nga!
We have a Pho Bich Nga in Vancouver and a Bich Nga Laundry in Vietnam. Seems very racist to me *shrug*

Conical Boat tour
I can't get over the cool conical hats everywhere! I love it

Comments

[Jenn Jackson]

HELLO!
Well sounds like your having a neat time! Glad to hear that Jasmine is feeling better, and by the way, the hat looks great! lol....oh by the way its pretty much settled, I belive I will be staying in BC from april to augest, but i think where im staying is about 8 hours away from you. Hopefully I can find something closer. love you miss you, your favourite little sister of all time, Jenn*

[alexia]

so sorry to tell you...
the pho bich nga restaraunt in vancouver shut down. a sad day for all.