Having flown from Danang on Saturday morning we arrived into HCMC about 1pm and checked into our spotlessly clean but pretty basic hotel in the backpacker area of the city. Lovely looking pool and eating area. Kids in one hotel and adults in the other. Walked via Bahn mi for lunch through the park to the War Remnants Museum, some pretty horrific photos and stories to read dating back not so very long ago. Our walk back to the hotel took us past the gorgeous looking reunification palace where the war officially ended and quickly through Ben Thanh market for a bIt of a reccy. The pool at the hotel was welcomly refreshing. Then we headed out again on foot to the. Backpacker iarea for dinner and a drink at a rooftop bar. Gorgeous views of the heaving city.
Delicious breakfast at the hotel before our transfer to Nguyen Shack arrived. 3 1/2 hours on freeway and hellishly bumpy roads later we pulled up at the shack in what felt like the middle of nowhere. Here we had 2 bamboos shacks built on stilts overlooking the river. Very basic but adequate bathroom, bed, ceiling and pedistal fans, bamboo flaps for windows and doors and a deck overlooking the river with hammocks. After a delicious lunch washed down with beer and smoothies we very quickly settled into the laid back vibe that is afternoons on the Deltas. Relaxing in hammocks watching life go by. Could have been miles from anywhere. We passed up the option of a food tour to taste rat, snake, croc etc opting for another yummy dinner at the shack washed down with amazing gin and tonic with freshly squeezed lime, smoothies and snake wine. Met lots of interesting travellers also staying. Everyone slept remarkably well given it was a Shack with no a/c and 26 degrees. No problem rising at 5 for the early morning tour of the floating and land markets as the sounds of the delta are a chorus of roosters, crickets, frogs and god knows what else punctuated with put put of the odd boat chugging off to market. Plenty of action along the river, Washing clothes bodies and food in the disgustingly brown water. Shacks built half off half on the water as a way of avoiding tax. The market itself is shrinking due to improved roading and 2 huge bridges over wide stretches of the river that were previously barged however plenty of locals coming to buy whatever was on offer for the day, mostly saw fruit and verges. One water taxi driver in the water trying to untangle another boat eventually jumping into the swiftly flowing water with his machete to cut it free. We thought if he didn't drown he'd surely get munched by some motor or other. The land market much the same as many others but the first time we had seen rats and frogs for sale. After breakfast on our return we went on a cycle tour of some of the village sights. Fortunately we were safely in the pagoda when the days thunderstorm passed and cooled things down for our return journey. Tour guide had some problems with his t's at one stage telling us what we were eating was made from penis, rather than peanuts, then telling us he used to tell people the pots they were looking at were made from semen rather than cement!!! Quite A difference!!! We are headed back to HCMC for last two nights.