Mekong Delta

The day started at 6:30am for breakfast and a 2.5hour bus trip to the delta.  Once again, very slow leaving Ho Chi Minh, but the trip interesting.  Upon arrival at My Tho we were shuffled onto a wooden boat to head across to Unicorn Island, an island 14square kilometers in size.  When we reached the island, we tried some honey tea, and even sampled some snake wine (Rice wine + chinese herbs + 10 - 15 king corbas fermented in a vat for 6 months, served straight from the vat.  Picture below) which I thought was good.  After this we were given a tour of some canals which criss cross the island.  Afterwards it was back on a boat to another island in Ben Tranh province where the best coconut candy is made.  We saw the process and sampled their wares.  Very tasty.

Following was another boat ride to lunch, where we had a simple meal of pork, steamed rice and vegetables.  Afterwards we had the opportunity to ride around the island on some local bikes.  Was great fun. 

When the time was up, we chose to take a speed boat back to Ho Chi Minh instead of the bus.  It was very interesting to see the changes in the river, the traffic and the people who live on it from the Delta to t he City.  Certainly saw some squalar on the canals close to Saigon.  The amount of vessles pushing sand and gravel up and down the river was remakable.  On the way to Saigon, you would see a ship barely afloat an in the opposite direction, one empty looking extermely top heavy.

Overall, the tour felt very contrived.  The place has capacity for great numbers of tourists, thank goodness it wasn't full.

Tonight we are on an overnight train to Nha Tranh, a beach city.

The adventure continues.