3 Days in the Mekong Delta

For my last days in Vietnam I went on a 3 day tour of the Mekong Delta, which finishes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  It ended up being cheaper to book a tour than doing it yourself, so at 730a we booked the tour that left at 8a.  It was a slightly hectic morning, Ian ended up stalling the bus driver who kept threatening to leave, as we finished packing and checkedout.

The bus took us to the Mekong, where we boarded a boat to visit a couple of villages, one specializing in coconut candy making, another that made rice paper.  From the limited tours i've been on, it seems they are always trying to showcase "normal" activities of local people, but it's always in such a touristy way that it's a little hard to take seriously.

We spent the night in one of the bigger towns in the Mekong Delta, and had a nice dinner of rice and veggies.  Back in Marlene and Ian's room we played cards while listening to a mini radio that was able to pick up some music and news, including a report of bird flu in the delta region, glad I'm not there ... oh wait ;)

The next morning we took a leisurely boat trip of a floating market.  Each boat sells a different local product, and people take small boats around the area buying the produce they need.  I have some nice pics, but I'm still having trouble uploading them.  We also visited a rice factory and boated through some picturesque canals, before boarding another bus that took us to the boarder town of Chao Doc.  Tomorrow - Cambodia.