The Mekong Delta

To those of you who, in the past, have unkindly suggested that we're taking on too much for people of our age I would say . . .er . . . you could be right. Back in Saigon we decided to take things a bit easy for a day. Not that this was exceedingly difficult as we found the whole city shut down. On refelction, perhaps coming here during Tet wasn't such a hot idea. Everyone has packed up and gone away for their holidays and those that are left have put the prices up by 30%. God help you if your Immodium supplies have run out; all the pharmacies are shut: for 10 days! After a vegetable existence during the day we ventured back to the "posh" area of Dong Khoi in the evening. Celebrations there were in full swing with thousands of holidaymakers swarming past brightly-illuminated gardens. I promised Linda I'd bite my tongue, open my purse and buy a drink at the rooftop restaurant of the Rex Hotel; a place she insists is one of the "100 Things To Do Before You Die" (funny it wasn't on my list but half of those are probably not achievable). After watching and listening to the surging chaos down in the streets, and paying an unmentionable bill, we scuttled back to backpackers' street for a cheap meal.

So, its back on the road. Returning to TNK Travel we booked a one day tour to the Mekong Delta and set the alarm for 0630 hrs. Our coach took us 70 kms to the west where we crossed a brand new suspension bridge (only finished last year) over the first of the Mekong Delta rivers as it ultimately joins the sea. Seems only fitting as we've been bumping into this river on and off for the past three years on its journey from the Tibetan Plateau. Passing four large islands predominantly given over to fruit produce we arrived at the town of Ben Tre. The Rough Guide says that this place was the subject of that infamous American Major's claim that "it became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it" during the American War (as they call it over here). There followed a helter skelter program of experiences: a fruit brunch of banana, dragon fruit, jackfruit and sapodilla (which tastes of caramel); music from local instrumentalists and singers; a walk through the plantation; a paddle down the canal in a wibbly wobbly canoe; shopping for coconutwood utensils for my wok back home; holding a trayful of honey bees; playing with the family python (no, Ginge, not that -- the 35 kilo reptile kind); another boat trip across the delta to Turtle Island; lunch in a garden with an Australian couple and a Norwegian who lives in Oz; a visit to an ancestral graveyard and a lecture on local customs and beliefs; another boat trip across the delta back to the town of My Tho; back on the coach; visiting the rather beautiful Vinh Trang pagoda and the 50 foot happy Buddha statue; drive back to Ho Chi Minh City.

Knackered! So its back to Le Pub for a couple of large cold draught Tigers on Chua An Lac, a backpackers street running parallel with De Tham named after an old temple that's long since been surrounded by cheap hotels. A quick dinner at a popular street cafe and to bed. Alarm set for 0630 for another trip tomorrow.