Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - March 2015: Saigon

Tuesday, March 3rd

We were picked-up by Lee and Thi at 8:00am - perhaps a bit early again, but these tours are jammed packed.

It was busy on the street outside the hotel, as it is most times of the day, except perhaps between 3:00am and 4:00am.

After an hour or so of driving we stopped at a roadside restaurant to visit the Happy Room (toilet). Clearly eel was on the menu in the restaurant.

And the ubiquitous French and German tourists also thought the Happy Rooms looked good. There wasn't time for anything but a photograph and back on the road.

Further on we stopped at a Cao Dai temple - this religion is a fusion of most other main religions, and is apparently the third most popular in Vietnam, after Buddhism and Catholicism.

The inside of the temple was not only colourful, but the breeze through the open sides made it a cool oasis from the outside heat.

After another half hour or so, we came to the first of the nine great arms of the Mekong delta. We would spend the next few hours on the river and various tributaries.

Being a two person group, we always get our own boat and relative peace and quiet at most venues. Life jackets were mandatory, although we noted that neither the boat driver ot our guide thought them necessary.

We traveled along the main arm of the Mekong always in the company of other tour boast, or locals going about their business.

And everywhere something was happening everywhere on the banks.

I had told our guide about my interest in Durian, and when we found a boat selling fruit we stopped by.

That's a look of pleasure, not pain...but they are an acquired taste!

By this time the life jacket was getting hot, and so mine wasn't going to stay on much longer. I'm sure we were the only ones on the boat who could actually swim, as well.

We visited a candy factory where they make caramels and sweet rice pops (just like a chocolate milkshake, only....). This has been one of the few places where we bought the local product and we're still finishing the packet.

Oh, this is caramel before it's put into the mold, dried, cut and (manually) packaged.

Next stop, a small restaurant on an island where the locals put on a little musical comedy and serve tea and fruit. It was also another opportunity to visit the Happy Room.

We were then transferred to a sampan piloted by a "little old lady" (probably much younger than us) and two oars (just like a gondola).

After a couple of kilometers of very small canals we thought our oarswoman was beginning to struggle, but she wasn't puffin or sweating, so she did much better than we could have. The most interesting part of this detour was the snake that crossed our path somewhere near here.

Back in our power boat and on a larger branch, we passed a rice barge which reminded us of the Canal du Midi, for some reason.

Then it was time for lunch (again), and as usual everything was well organised, and the location of our table thoughtful.

Unfortunately, although the food was excellent, the quantity was starting to catch up on us, especially because neither of us usually has much for lunch.

This deep fried local specialty (Elephant Ear Fish - like a bream) looked and tasted delicious and was served with vegetables wrapped in rice paper and dipped in chilli sauce.

Because wine really isn't an option, I've taken to drinking beer and Prue either coconut juice, or (on this occasion) Coca Cola!

What we didn't eat was recycled to feed to next round of fish for the next round of tourists.

And in the next pond, bizarrely, a large number of small crocodiles or alligators waited their turn. We think there might have been a zoo or aquarium here at some time...who knows.

The view from our hotel in Can Tho was lovely, looking out over the second of the nine main arms of the Mekong - to think there are another seven further south.