An early start saw us on a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre where we would start our 3 day and 2 night trip on the Mekong Delta which would take us all the way to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, a good way to travel the long distance as we don't feel like we are wasting the time just traveling from a to b. It was a little bit confusing to begin with as there were many different types of trip running with several different guides, we had heard this from other travelers so we had decided to just go with the flow and not stress about it.

At Ben Tre we got into a motorized boat and were taken across the Mekong to a system of canals that lead to many small villages on an island that run off the Mekong. The Mekong is extremely wide at this point and very busy, with many boats heading in all directions. The dredger boats were particularly busy, dredging up sand from the Mekong riverbed and taking it to Ho Chi Minh City for use in concrete foundations. The development in this part of Vietnam is massive, everywhere you looked in Ho Chi Minh City new buildings were being built and here on the river new massive bridges are being built to provide better access to the city.

As we approached the village it started to rain, very heavily, we were soaked in seconds. Apparently a typhoon had just brushed past and we heard today on the news caused a great deal of damage somewhere in China. So we all brought the horrible plastic ponchos to protect ourselves and no sooner had we done that the rains passed! We were grateful for the rain though as it cooled the air considerably, it is very hot down in this part of Vietnam.

At the little village we were plied with herbal teas and sweet morsels including shredded coconut, crystallized ginger, banana and peanut brittle, there was also some banana rum to try which pretty much just tasted of alcohol! There was also honey bees and a massive python for us to look at. At another house we were treated to a huge variety of tropical fruits and some traditional Vietnamese entertainment, there was a Vietnamese couple in our group who moved to England in the 70's, they explained to us what the songs meant, mostly about love and people going away!

Next was a journey in a row boat along another canal to a coconut candy factory. The candy was actually a kind of fudge that they make and was very yummy! After lunch we had the option of either cycling around the island or lazing in a hammock, not surprisingly we chose the latter and had a lovely hour swinging in hammocks reading!

We were then taken back to the mainland and bused to Vinh Long where we were taken to another island where we were to do our homestay with a local family. This had been highly recommended to us by other travellers and we were not disappointed. It was an amazing experience, where we were shown how to cook a few of the local dishes, we all got stuck into preparing what was to be our dinner, spring rolls, soup, cabbage with chicken, fish in soy sauce and rice, it was delicious and we were lucky to be with a really good group of people, a mix of nationalities - British, American, French and German!

The family we stayed with was lovely, Andrew particularly got on well with the two boys a 13 year old and a 4 year old, playing football with them and other games, he really has such a good rapport with children and it takes no effort at all, many of the others also commented on it! After dinner when most of the others had gone to bed Andrew and I sat with some of the family - the mother, the 25 year old daughter and the two boys talking, translating between the two languages, the children spoke basic English and were learning, they wanted to know about our families and loved it when we got out the photos we carry with us and the few we have on the ipod.

Day Two saw us leaving the homestay, picked up by a different guide to yesterday, and back on a motorised boat to travel 45 minutes along a canal and back onto the Mekong River, which at this stage was 2 km wide and looked more like the sea than a river! The amount of people going about their daily jobs all along the Mekong was astounding, it made us realise exactly how much the local people depend on the Mekong River for their homes, their jobs, everything! The wet season is just around the corner for the region, at the moment the Mekong is fairly low, it rises by another 3m during the wet season! It was interesting to see that those with a bit of money could afford to build flood defences with concrete whereas the poor use mangroves, which looked much nicer to us!

We stopped off to see a floating market of the wholesale kind. Sellers come to this region from all over to sell their goods, staying and living here on their boats until all their goods are sold, when they will return home, replenish their stock and do it all over again! We also stopped off to drink some more herbal tea, eat more interesting sweet bits and we also saw rice paper and rice corn (like popcorn made from rice) being made. Here we got a good grasp of the fact that they do not waste anything here at all, the rice husks are used as fuel, everything is reused as much as possible!

Lunch was on a different island along another canal. At this point it was low tide so our boat could only go so far so we walked for a little while through the island, it was getting very hot and just that short walk had everyone panting and sweating so not surprisingly after lunch when given the option of cycling or sleeping in hammocks everyone chose the latter!! Within 2 hours the tide was back in and the canal which had been like a stream was now back to full flow. Amazing how much effect the tide can have when we are still a fair way from the sea.

We took more row boats (where the rowers stood up) back along the canal before being taken back to the mainland and bused to Sa Dec. Here we could have a quick explore of the crazy market, the locals were really friendly and it was a great game shouting hello back at the children which kept shouting hello to us as we walked past. We also purchased a couple of facemasks, the height of fashion over here, you can get them in every colour and design, worn mainly by the motorcyclists as they have to inhale all the fumes whilst they sit in the traffic jams. We just think they are cool and suspect that we might actually have to use them in China!

We were then transferred to a boat (and another guide) which would sail us along the Mekong overnight towards the Cambodian border. There were bunks for us to sleep on, although we didn't get much use of them as we sat up on deck drinking and chatting with Jon and Michelle (American Couple) and Silas and Dee (English/Irish Couple) till very late - good fun though!

The final day saw us up at 5.30am, way too early considering we had not gone to bed much before that! It was worth it though the sunrise over the Mekong was breathtaking and to see the Chau Doc Floating Market busy at that cooler time of day was very interesting. Now we had to say our goodbyes to the group as we headed on to Cambodia whilst the others were going back to Ho Chi Minh City. We had a great time with the group, its always good when a group of different nationalities gets on as well as we did on this trip.

We briefly stopped off at a fish farm (45,000 fish in a 7m cage under the floating house!) and a Minority Village before catching the slow boat to the Cambodian border. At this point Andrew was not feeling very well, the results of not much sleep, the heat and too much beer had an effect on him which resulted in him feeding the fishes (repeat of Whitsundays anyone?!) Our boat was full of Polish people who thought this was very funny and immediately offered him vodka, much to my amusement, the Polish in Andrew was obviously not feeling very strong as he looked rather green at the offer!! I too was not feeling great as I have developed a heat rash all over my back which is incredibly itchy and looks horrible!

We reached the Vietnamese border at about 11am, it had been a lovely journey, although slow, a great chance again to see the Mekong and those who live along its banks. We ended up stuck at the Vietnamese border for nearly 4 hours because our Cambodian boat had broken down! This would not have been so bad, except it was the hottest part of the day and at the same time there was some deafening building work going on right next to where we were sat! Finally our boat turned up, we were transferred to yet another guide, through the border we went and along the river for a few minutes before we had to get off the boat again to go through the Cambodian checkpoint! Of course they couldn't be next to each other to make it easier!! We then boiled on the boat for a few more hours as we cruised along the Mekong River. The last hour of the journey was completed by car, which was quite a scary journey along the rough roads, witnessed a motorbike accident, arriving in Phnom Penh 3 hours late in the dark and to a powercut in our hotel - we are certainly now in Cambodia!

Despite the last glitch it has been a lovely few days and a great experience along the Mekong Delta, although we have definately had enough of boats for a little while now!!

Hope all is well at home.

Lots of Love

Sarah and Andrew xxx