I am sorry that it is taking some time to get my posts up but I don't seem to have a minute to spare!! So, I am already one day behind!
We started out our day (Tuesday) at 8:00 am by loading onto the bus and driving south of Saigon to the Mekong Delta. It took us about 2.5 hours but our tour director, Chung, used the time to tell us lots of interesting facts about life in Vietnam. It is always interesting to see the sites from the bus window. As we travelled out of the city we marvelled at the thousands of scooters that were on the road as everyone was heading to work. We seem to never tire at watching how they intricately weave around each other, without hitting each other or without displaying any type of road rage!! We Westerners have a lot to learn from them!! It is also extremely interesting to see how the locals operate on the street with their little carts, selling everything imaginable, as well as the little street food stalls that seem to be everywhere!
As we rode out into the country we got to see the farms and the crops. Something that was very interesting to see were the large concrete grave sites that were scattered throughout the land. Each family keeps their own gravesite on their farmland.
Once we arrived at CaiBe in the Mekong Delta we got onto a larger boat for our group (27 in total) and we cruised along the main river. We saw all types of boats and barges moving along the river corridor, as well as the floating market boats. Then we turned up a small tributary and got onto small, narrow boats that held four of us, (sampan), hand powered with oars at the back of the boat. We settled onto our narrow wooden seats and enjoyed a ride up the narrow waterway. Our ride was about 40 minutes long and that was long enough in the hot sun! We passed by the homes of people living beside the river.
We then made a stop at a little shop/ cafe where we were served tea and local snacks. We were met by a man wielding a VERY large snake. I have always done my best to avoid these situations but, for some reason, I decided that this was the chance to face my fear of snakes. I let him drape the very heavy snake around my shoulders, with the condition that he continued to hold and control the head!!! Others took their turn but they were on their own when it came to where that guy stuck his nose! Yikes!!!!!
After holding the snake, we got to drink snake wine!! It was a little unnerving to look at the Huge jars of liquid with snakes coiled up in them but most of us went for it and knocked back a shot of snake wine (tasted like home brew)!
We then went to a local farmer's home for a lovely lunch. Once again, there was a bit of shock factor as they brought out these whole, deep fried fish that were propped up and looking us right in the eye! As it turned out, the fish was delicious inside of the fish spring rolls that the waitress showed us how to make! We were served several courses of amazing food!!
We then walked back to our boat and cruised back to CaiBe, enjoying the sites along the way!!
We arrived back at the hotel at 5:15, giving us just enough time to catch our breath before our evening adventure. It was so amazing that I decided I needed to write about it in a separate post! Stay tuned!!!!
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