Hello Everyone, hope you're all doing well!
Several days ago I took a tour to the Mekong Delta, which is a few hours south of Ho Chi Minh by bus. It was a two day, overnight tour. Our bus left HCM at 8:00 in the morning, which brought us to the start of the delta, where a boat took us to one of the several main islands on the delta. The common boat used on the delta is made of wood, and is long and skinny. Unlike most boats, these board from a plank jutting out the front, which gives them a unique shape. After landing on one of the islands, we got to sample the local honey tea, which was made of pure honey, water, and pollen gathered by the bees. I even got to try honey straight from the comb, while the bees were still swarming it. After that we tried some of the various local fruits grown on the island, and were serenaded by live Vietnamese folk music. Then we separated into groups of four and got into smaller boats which took us down the smaller tributaries that make up the Mekong Delta. The tributaries were only about 15 feet across and were bordered on both sides by water cocoa trees. The jungle was dense, and incredibly green, quite a change from the bleak late winter landscape of Minnesota.
Our next destination was to see how coconut candy was made. I won't explain the entire process, but I'll suffice to say it tasted delicious, even the durian flavor wasn't bad. We took to the boats again, and headed to a restaurant for a late lunch. The lunch was provided on the tour, but they had a menu with other (quite expensive) things you could order. These included squirrel, turtle, and eel, among other things. From there we took the boats back to the mainland, and got on a bus that took us across a large bridge back into the delta. The bus brought us into a town where most of the people on the tour were staying at a hotel. I however, along with several other backpackers I was stalking, did a home-stay instead. For the home-stay, our host took us by boat to his house on the delta where he lived with his parents, his wife, and three kids. Most of us stayed in dorm shacks outside the house, but because there wasn't room I got to stay inside with my own room. We had a wonderful dinner of spring rolls, which we made ourselves, and steamed elephant fish cooked to perfection.
After dinner we hung out on the patio by the river and played with a "cau" which was used like a hacky sack, only it was made of feathers and a plastic spring. The next morning, we got up at 6:30 for breakfast, and then headed off to see the famous floating markets. The floating markets are a fleet of different boats that are all selling various fruits and produce and other goods. Each boat is like small shop, and the locals pull their boats up close in order to buy the day's produce. From the floating markets we went to a rice noodle factory and then walked through a tropical fruit garden, where I saw the biggest jackfruit I had ever seen. We then made our way back to the tour bus, and I took a four hour bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh.
The last couple of days here in HCM have been cloudy and rainy, so now I'm heading up to Nha Trang in an attempt to catch some sun, although the forecast doesn't look to promising. From Nha Trang I'll head up to Hue, and then further north to Hanoi, and then further north still after that. I've had an amazing time here in HCM, and met some truly wonderful people. I'm looking forward to what the rest of Vietnam has in store for me. My bus north leaves in an hour, and the rain seems to be holding out for now. So long Saigon! See you in about three weeks!
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