Homestay on the Mekong

Cycle tour
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March 11

We left Hoi Chi Minh for a three hour bus ride to the Mekong River where we took a boat down the river to our riverside homestay. Along the way we saw the local floating market. We also visited a village where we toured “local factories” (sweat shops), one of them being a rice paper factory. Here the women can make up to 2000 papers per day and will get paid about $10.00. We also visited a factory that made fish sauce. Sort of turns you off of ever wanting to eat fish sauce again. Cleanliness is not the top priority. The fish are placed in a large wooden vat with salt and water and left to ferment for about three months. We went up a smaller tributary on a boat rowed by a local women. Here we visited an island where we had a scenic bicycle ride around the island, the whole while waving back to the local children who love to wave and say "hello". We sampled the local snake wine (Whiskey) and held a 10 foot python snake. We then boarded our boat to head for our homestay. Our hosts prepare a wonderful meal which we get to help with. After a great meal and we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the river. We shared two rustic rooms with cots and bug nets. The peace and quiet disappeared during the night as the local river folk head up and down the river on their long tail boats hoping to get to the floating market at first daylight to sell their wares.

We sampled local snake wine (Whiskey).