Mekong Delta

The first day of our trip to the Mekong Delta had us all thinking we'd made a very big mistake.  The tour guide was a most irritating man who obviously thought he was a good singer.  He wasn't.  Karaoke bars are extremely popular here; no doubt he spends much of his free time in one but despite what he may think, he definitely can't sing.  He talked and sang none stop over a mike instead of just allowing us to enjoy the scenery.  He also got up everyone's nostrils by constantly asking for tips in song and speech.  We were originally going to but he went on for so long we all put our money back in our pockets.

As with most tours, we got taken to a host of places which are supposed to be of interest but are really just souvenir shopping tourist traps.  Our prime reason for this trip was to see the floating markets on the Mekong but we had to put up with a coconut candy-making tour, hmmm, yet another temple and laughing Buddha, honey tea tasting, a rather pathetic music show, cycling, lying in a hammock, rowing on a small tributary and tasting local fruits.  Now some of this would have been interesting but each was short on interest and long on trying to get us to spend more money

The lunch (included in the tour price) left an awful lot to be desired but we did get a kick out of the a la carte menu offering snake in a variety of forms, turtles (not happy about that one) and a wonderful dish of coconut worms.  Wow, I can't wait to try that out!  Right.

We spent hours in a crammed bus with our luggage blocking the aisles, then to get to the homestay that night, 12 of us were crammed into a tiny narrow boat to go up the river several miles to our accommodation, again with all the luggage piled on top of us.  Not a life jacket or navigation light to be found anywhere.  Elsewhere in the civilised world they wouldn't have allowed half that number of people on such a small boat let alone all the luggage, in fact, it simply wouldn't have been allowed at all.

The homestay was supposed to be a means of getting in touch with the locals.  It was pleasant enough with us all housed in little reed huts but a homestay it was not.  The only evidence of locals were those who served the meal.  However, they fed us a pretty decent dinner.  It was late by the time we ate and we had to be up very early for breakfast and the floating market, so we faded shortly afterwards.

Up before dawn in heavy fog with a new guide (a slight improvement but not by much) we were taken down the small tributary into a wider river where we reached the market.  All negativity disappeared as this was what we came for.  Dozens of boats laden with pumpkins, cabbages, a myriad of green things, pineapples and a host of other produce.  Smaller boats, either rowed or with long shaft props, selling steaming coffee and cold drinks.  It was a scene of vibrant activity and a thrill to see.  A year prior to leaving South Africa, we'd visited Thailand and seen the floating market in Bangkok which we'd loved.  This was very different but just as exciting.  Our boat took us right through then stopped amongst the traders for a while to let us enjoy the atmosphere.

After that, we travelled further up the river viewing local river life then went to a rice noodle factory which we also found very interesting.  Every step of the process was done by hand in a small covered back yard.  A mixture of rice flour and tapioca flour is mixed with water then skilled hands made the pancake-type disks to dry in the sun before feeding them through a shredder to form the long noodles.  These are then hand wrapped to be sent off to shops and restaurants.

Another stop was to buy local fruits and barbequed snake, frogs, rats or any number of other hideous things and, of course, to buy souvenirs.  We declined on all accounts.

Despite feeling a bit like an item on a processing conveyor belt, the time at the floating market was very worthwhile so we declared the trip a success.

Back to HCM City as we leave the next day for Pleiku up northwards towards the border into Laos.