Back to Saigon

Woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster crowing! We were on our boat by 8.00 after a breakfast of crusty rolls, cheese and sausage - very European. The cool breeze on the river was very welcome, though it didn't last. We motored to where there is a floating market. This is where the people who live on the river trade their wares. It was a fascinating mixture of produce.

We then went to a local village to so how some of the local goods are produced. We visited a soya sauce factory, a home where they make 'mesh' rice paper for spring rolls, and a coconut candy factory.

Rice crackers.

Popped rice and corn, which was then made into snack bars.

We met up with the girls and I put myself well out of my comfort zone by holding a snake. Probably not an experience I will repeat in a hurry.

After that it was back to the buses to begin the drive back to Saigon. We stopped at the Cao Dai Temple with it's beautiful ceiling and paintings.

Another stop for lunch at a restaurant with more beautiful gardens.

The Mekong Delta is a fascinating place an a highlight of this trip.

Once we got back to the city, I went for a walk to the Ben Thang market. It was just as overwhelming as I remembered so I spent an hour or so exploring the surrounding streets. Tonight we went to a BBQ restaurant for a farewell dinner. It was fun cooking the meat over small BBQs at the tables. Hard to believe that our journey home will start tomorrow.

Mekong Delta

Saigon has 'tourist police' and I think that all cities should follow suit. They are there to ensure people are safe and assist with crossing the road. Even at night I never felt unsafe.

The trip to the Mekong Delta region took about three hours. As usual there were some interesting moments along the way. We drove on the first motorway in the Mekong region which is 40 km long. Travelling at 100 km/hr wasn't quite as scary as there are not motorbikes or wandering stock on the road. We had a stop at a rest area with a lovely garden and pond area.

The heat is just as intense and we are back to higher levels of humidity. Can't imagine how we will adjust to the Otago cold again. The Mekong River is huge and the area is full of tributaries and canals. I found the whole area fascinating, just watching people going about their everyday lives. We crossed to one of islands and stopped at the Vinh Long home stay for lunch. this is also where the girls are staying tonight.

Ella ended up sitting at the tea here's table for lunch. She was not impressed by the fish!

We were also 'entertained' with some local music - interesting. The instrument one of the men was playing was called a moon guitar and they had a foot instrument as a drum.

The girls will certainly miss the air conditioning tonight.

We left the girls and walked toward another part of the river, through the orchards.

Pineapple

Papaya

Jackfruit 

Bananas

We then got on smaller boats, rowed by locals, and travelled along a creek back to the main river. I loved it!

Once we were back on board the large boat, we travelled for about half an hour further down the river. Amazing. This lady has a stove on the boat and they travel along the river selling hot food.

The crane is floating on a platform and is used for getting sand from the river bed. This is then sold to building suppliers for concrete. The crane looked like it was going to tip over when it was lifting the full bucket of sand.

Life along the river.

We are staying at the Ba Duc Home stay. The property has been in the same family for five generations and was rebuilt in 1938, reflecting the French style of the old home. Te family still live here and run the home stay, growing most of the food themselves. It is basic, but really interesting. We had dinner outside, under the trees and made our own spring rolls.

The owner insisted we try his homemade wine. It smelt like port but was pretty disgusting - 45 percent proof!

This guy was having a bath and washing his clothes in the river across the road from where were are staying. The river looks pretty dirty, but the locals are obviously used to it.

Cu Chi Tunnels

This morning we drove the 30 km to the tunnels, not far but the trip took nearly 90 minutes. The bus driver was crazy and sprint most of the trip straddling the white line in the middle of the road. Another swelteringly hot day - can't believe how good air conditioning is. The tunnel area is pretty amazing, especially when you consider that the tunnels that the tourists go through have been enlarged. At some stages during the war over 19,000 people were in there.

Walking through 20 metres of the enlarged tunnel was enough for me.

The displays of the different methods for trapping soldiers was pretty scary but amazingly ingenious.

There were examples of the shoes worn by the soldiers and a local craftsman still makes thEm for the tourists to buy. They were made out of old tyres and reminded me of original Crocs.

On the way back to the city we stopped for lunch at a restaurant an the edge of the Saigon River. I was fascinated with the amount of water hyacinth floating along the river. Not sure whether the duck farm beside the restaurant supplied ingredients for the food, but I decided not to think about that!

We also stopped at a rubber plantation which is one of the main industries in the Cu Chi area.

Once we were back in the city we went to the War Remnants Museum. The exhibition currently on display is photographs taken by war correspondents from around the world. It definitely didn't do the American's any favours. The photos told a pretty grim story.

The last stop was a brief one at the Reunification Palace. The original palace was damaged by bombs and the current on was completed in 1966. The building is probably most famous for being the place where Americans were evacuated from the roof, by helicopter, in 1966.

We went back to the mall for dinner and the city looked spectacular with the lights on the buildings. Across the road from our hotel is another high end mall with some amazing window displays. 

Also found this shop in a very upmarket mall!