Down the Mekong

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We headed to Vietnam this morning by private taxi because we decided to go an unusual route and there we no buses going that route. It was a good way to see parts of cambodia that we wouldn't have done otherwise. It took 3hours and when we got to the border we had to sort out where to go which was frightening cos we kept being pulled in by police and immigration! When we finally got across we got a moto (appears to be the only form of taxi service) each for 30km to the nearest town, Chau Doc. From there we arranged a Mekong Delta boat and bus trip for 2 days and ending in Ho Chi Min City (or Saigon), the capital. The boat trip parts were amazing; we visited fish farms, floating villages and markets and stayed overnight at a homestay on one of the canals of the vast Mekong Delta. The family were lovely and even though they couldn't speak English and we certainly could not speak Vietnamese, we managed to communicate in otherways! It was great as they took us around their garden and ate the fresh fruit from the trees and then they caught a fish (elephant fish) especially for us from their own supply, so Helen had to eat it! The home owner also runs boat tours, in the morning he took us and other tourists on a tour of the Mekong delta. We visited the floating markets which sell fruit and veg etc to the locals from boats. We also visited a rice processing factory (health and hygiene needs to be worked on!) and the monkey bridges in the local areas, these are essentially a single stick of bamboo supported over the river and the locals use as bridges, Mark gave it a go! After this a rather long bus trip to HCMC.

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Photos

Our homestay family
Mark lost!