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Published: July 23rd 2008
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After a whirlwind couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City, I was ready to chill out on our supposedly very relaxing three day boat trip along the Mekong Delta.
Sightseeing by boat is a very different experience compared to staring out of the window of a bus. Although it was a slow way to travel, I really enjoyed it and was able to see how ppl lived along the Mekong and experience their way of life.
The first two days of our trip invovled travelling in a small boat, first along the Saigon river, out to the Mekong, then around many of the Mekong Delta's islands where we got off multiple times to visit setup tourist 'attractions'. These tourist sights were always demonstrations of how the Vietnamese produced some sort of food product. Called 'factories' by our guide, these shops were always small scale (no more than 10 ppl) demonstrations about how coccount candy, honey, puffed rice cakes, rice paper, etc. etc. are made. Taste tests were free but w/ temptation to buy, buy, buy! It was neat how certain products are made - now I know that the Vietnamese can make a mean peanut brittle! Unfortunately, nothing
is exportable since they don't have liscenses due to hygiene and other laws.
The first night was a highlight of the trip for me. 6 of us, a couple from Holland and a couple from Scotland/Ireland along w/ Tory & I, stayed w/ a family on one of the islands. It was SO peaceful and for the first time since arriving in Vietnam, I could hear something other than car/motorbike horns. Acutally, I could even hear BIRDS! Imagine that!
At our homestay, we did a cooking class and ate some really yummy food. Pork spring rolls, pumpkin & veggie soup, pork soup, marinated fish, stir fried veggies, etc. DELICIOUS! After gorging, we all sat around the table bathed in candlelight (there wasn't power) and chatted all night. It was lovely!
The next morning, we went by boat to visit a floating market which was really interesting. In the bay of a biggish town, all of these boats anchored down and displayed, on long bamboo poles sprouting from the tops of their boats, what they had to sell on their boat. Bananas, pineapples, pumpkins, etc. - all strung up high in the air. Then families would circulate by
smaller boats propelled by long-tail propellors, stopped at whichever boat to pick up supplies. Very neat!
The second night was also an interseting experience. After wandering the street market of a small town along the water, our group of six was joined by 15 or so others and we all boarded a large boat at set off from the harbour at dusk. Watching the sun go down from the rooftop deck as we chugged along the Mekong was blissful! After eating and chilling out on deck, we all crashed in the rows of bunks on the lower level of the boat.
I didn't get much sleep b/c of the noise of the boat, but that's ok b/c I was up early enough to see a BEAUTIFUL sunrise over another floating market. It was a gorgeous morning.
That day, we spent about 14hrs on a boat getting from Vietnam, across the border, into Cambodia, and to Phnom Penh by bus. It was a long journey, slow and hot to begin with but made even more trying by a routine motor breakdown. We spent 2hrs waiting on the boat for another boat to come to tow us. Then we
were delayed further as the rescue boat could only move the big boat at a fraction of speed that we were going originally. We arrive in PP 4.5 hrs after we should've! GAH! Welcome to CAMBODIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It honeslty wasn't that bad - the scenery was beautiful and it always can be worse. I'm excited to explore PP and Cambodia in general. So many ppl have said terrible things about visiting this country so I wonder how I'll fare! But goodbye to Vietnam and hello to our LAST country before home!
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