Saturday, October 9, 2010
Today was an interesting day. I took an organized tour to the Mekong Delta area. The area is a huge part of Vietnam and has its own culture, but I didn’t feel like I experienced it fully. I had to be at the tour office at 7:30am for a 7:45 departure. When I arrived, there were a bunch of Asians standing around and panic crept in that my tour would be a repeat of my bus ride. Luckily, my fears were unfound although I quickly starting talking to the first Western couple (Samantha and Tom, Australia) that entered the bus.
We had a two hour bus ride from Saigon to My Tho where we boarded a local motor boat. We rode on the Tien River past Dragon and Phoenix Islands before stopping at Unicorn Island. On the island we tasted honey tea at a bee keeping farm; we had to drink the tea very quickly as the bees started swarming when we waited too long. Two women (Katrien and Marleen, sisters from Holland) joined our table and the five of us hung out for the remainder of the morning. Our second stop was an orchard where we had the opportunity to taste pamelo, papaya, pineapple, banana and rhambatan. Some traditional music, played by a four-person group, created a pleasant background noise while we enjoyed our fruit. Just before we went on the four person rowing boats it started raining; it continued raining on and off for the entire day.
From the rowing boat, we got back on the motor boat which took us to Ben Tre Island, famous for its handmade coconut candy. A few people demonstrated the candy making process before giving us ample time to purchase their products. The candy had a strange flavor to me, so I passed on buying anything. We were supposed to take the small row boats again, but due to the rain and the long queue of people waiting, our guide took us straight to lunch at a local Vietnamese restaurant. Even though a small plate of food was included in the tour, our table decided to share the famous local elephant fish which was served whole then wrapped in rice paper with vegetables. We had free time after lunch to ride bikes on the island, but it was pouring rain and the bikes were a bit old so I figured it would be challenge for me to ride with my finger. Since I was supposed to take the bus back to Saigon, I had an extra hour of free time. However our guide decided to give me a special price on the high speed boat which would arrive in Saigon almost two hours earlier, and I took him up on the offer. I said goodbye to the sisters, who were spending two nights in the Delta, and got on the boat with Samantha and Tom. It was a 2.5 hour boat ride, so after the first hour of staring out the window at the houses on the water (most of which were partially under water), I read my book.
Back in Saigon, a bus took us to our hotels and I stopped in my room, chatting with the people on the floor below me, before heading out for my last Vietnamese meal. The owner of the hotel recommended Kim’s Café, so I took his suggestion and ordered a bowl of beef pho. Now I’m just packing up and preparing myself for Thailand. Not sure what to expect as I don’t know how long I’ll have to stay in Bangkok.
An amazing three weeks in Vietnam.
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