Blogs from Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia

9 May 2023 - I travelled on a day trip to Can Tho City to visit Vinh (13 years old) and his brother Bao (5 years old). I have been sponsoring them and teaching Vinh English since October 2021 after their father died of Covid-19. My friends donated them some money at that time and before this trip my cousin in Hanoi called her friends for donations. We received some cash, English books, toys and clothes which were second hand but still of good quality. I flew to Can Tho City on Vietjet Air in the morning and took the latest flight before midnight on Bamboo Airways to go back to Hanoi, so I had a half day with their family. When my plane was going to land, I saw an amazing view of the Mekong ... read more

We had a full day of splendid sailing after departing Phnom Penh. Sailing the Mekong River during daylight was one of the highlights of this trip. We watched life on the Mekong with its many villages, temples, farmlands and we even spotted a reclining Golden Buddha near the shores. We captured a lovely sunset photo featuring a red sun! We had a long delay at the Vietnamese Border, I presume due to Vietnamese border issues. We didn't plan our trip very well as we started in Vietnam, flew to Cambodia then returned to Vietnam on the cruise. As a result, the Vietnamese embassy made us pay for 2 visas (one time entry only) which set us back about $900! So plan to do Vietnam in a one time, one month visit or you will pay the ... read more

Yay, this morning I felt well enough to venture down to the dining room for a very light breakfast. Would I be feeling sufficiently recovered anyway or is it the drugs?! Whichever, I am glad. Back in our room after breakfast we finalized our packing and then headed downstairs to check out about 10.10am expecting to be met my our Pandaw tour operator between 10.30-11.00am. We arrived at the front desk to find that the Pandaw staff had already set themselves up in the foyer. James greeted us all and saw us onto the coach when it arrived - at closer to 11.00am - and then handed us over to our Vietnamese guides, Mac and Giang, which he told us means ‘River’ in Vietnamese. After not seeing any men urinating in public thus far, today was ... read more

Sidste stop på turen er Saigon eller Ho Chi Min City som den hedder i dag. Ca. 70 km uden for byen ligger Cu Chi tunnellerne som er blevet bygget af Vietcong i perioden 1940-60. Tunnellerne var en del af det mere end 250 km lange tunnel system som gjorde det umuligt for bl.a. amerikanerne et bekæmpe Vietcong. Tunnellerne er meget snævre. Også her er det uforståeligt hvordan vietnameserne har kunnet leve på den måde i så mange år. Ud over tunnellerne så vi også nogle af de frygtelige fælder og våben som Vietcong havde udviklet bl.a. dyrefælder som Amerikanerne kunne falde i. Turen fortsatte til Genforeningspaladset som står som det blev forladt ved sydvietnams fald i 1975. Den sidste dag, inden flyveturen hjem, var der byvandring i Ho Chi Min City, forbi det gamle franske ... read more

Today we saw the floating river markets- what an absolute treat! We were very lucky as we had arrived later than the locals typically "go to market" and yet, we had some boats clip on to ours and offer up their goods. We were also lucky to have Vietnamese women on board who were all about the shopping - I loved it! I was right in the middle, somehow, and caught it all. I got to try passion fruit, jack fruit and that beautiful fruit - durian. It was fantastic. We then went over to see how rice noodles are made and did a little shopping. The food was not that good in Can Tho and if I understood the guide correctly it is because their history of colonization has confused the culinary experience (again, not ... read more