Mekong Delta Saigon 14 January 2011

We begin our excursion at 7.30 in the morning and its back to the Mercedes Vans. This time with our same small group of people who joined us in our trip to Hanoi. We are one big happy family now and many of us don’t want to leave .We may have to stage a mutiny. The Mekong Delta excursion is the trip which everybody looks forward to. The Mekong is the World’s 12th longest river at about 4,350 km. Its source is the Tibetan Plateau, running through China’s Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. One of my books I read as a child talked about the Great Grey Greasy Limpopo River. This is pretty close to it. By the time it has been through the above countries then Vietnam it is the consistency of pea soup. Fish still survive and swim in it. Apparently researchers say that the Mekong houses more species of giant fish than any world river, and now I ask you why?
My dark humour aside, we are enjoying the experience as we leave the motorbikes and frenzied rush of Saigon to the countryside and miles of rice paddy fields. Vietnam only has two seasons, the wet and the dry season. The latter is about to begin. Our guide, as always is fun and informative. The two hour trip to the pier goes quickly as we hear about the culture. We board our Sampans to experience the sights and sounds of the Mekong River. However, a ‘comfort stop’ before boarding proves to be a challenge. Our guide affectionately calls it the Happy Room and happy it is not. The toilet facilities are very dodgy. Shall we say in this case it is better to be a boy? The Sampan ride was great where we rode the river, looked at Fish Farms, and went down narrow canals between fruit trees and the always prevalent water hyacinth. This looks very similar to the pot hyacinth but does not have the wonderful smell we are used to. It floats on the water and looks like it could choke everything if you let it. We visited a local factory that made popped rice and rice paper using the old methods. There was also plenty to sample. We purchased some Mekong Candy and Jasmine tea to share in NZ. We then visited a family home to see how they lived and explored their garden. I managed to have a kitty fix as the photos show. Carmen carries extra supplies of food to feed animals and children she meets along the way, so the cat had a decent snack. The cat was no longer interested in me. Cats have agendas the world over. We then cruised a village with floating markets. The Venice of Vietnam. Yeah right! Each boat sells a different type of produce which is displayed on a pole. We had fresh coconut water straight from the coconut which was so yummy. We have a few amusing photos to share. Our tour ended with a Vietnamese Lunch at a place that also hosts weddings and there was a big one this particular day. It was then back to the ship. Bill has added more photos to the Motorbike series. The best are displayed for your enjoyment. Tonight the ship hosted an enormous deck barbecue under the stars .Fantastic but overindulged food wise for the first time so were both feeling a little off. The ship’s restaurants food portions are just right so you feel you have had a meal but have not overeaten. The weather has now come right. We have just heard with sadness about the latest Pike River News that the bodies will never be recovered. We have also been kept up to date about the flooding at Brisbane and Toowoomba. We now sail toward Ko Kood in Thailand.