Hello from The Mekong Delta,

We have decided to roll this into one blog since we have seen so many places in such a short time. We left Saigon and our first stop on the Mekong Delta was My Tho.

Our taxi drivers took us to a really nice and cheap hotel right on the waterfront. Since we decided to stay only one night we decided to take a boat tour of the nearby islands.

The first island we stopped at we got to taste some of the local "lemon tea". With both of us not being the biggest fan of tea we were quite surprised as we actually really enjoyed it. We were also given some ginger sweets, dried banana and coated peanuts as some snacks which were all really good. J ended up buying a packet of the ginger sweets. We had around a half hour to explore the island, it was mainly just stalls of hand made crafts. Since we are now experienced users of the "chopsticks" we invested in a nice set along with a holder. Another nice purchase for the non-existent house haha.

Our next stop was an island that makes Coconut Candy. As soon as we got off the boat, a lady came over to us with some squares of the candy still hot. It was amaaaaaaaazing. So we spent the next half hour trying to decided which flavors to buy. The lady told us if we bought 5 packets we could get one free but we had to resist and settled for just two packets. One chocolate/coconut and one peanut/coconut. Both really yum. We then watched how the sweets were hand made, packed and wrapped. We really enjoyed this stop :)

We then got to take a rowing boat through some small canals on one of the islands. The scenery was beautiful as the trees had overgrown making a nice little channel to row down. It was a really nice day so the pictures look pretty good.
Our last stop was to the final island that had a hotel for people that wished to stay, although there wasn't much to really do on this island. We found a sectioned off area where they had some crocodiles swimming around. Much to J's delight you could pay to buy some chicken and hang it from a stick, getting the crocs to jump out of the water trying to catch it. So he bought two sticks and he was happy as larry for the next 20 minutes haha. The boat tour was really good, it was a nice way to see more of the Mekong Delta.

That night there was a massive thunderstorm, we heard the biggest clatter of thunder we have ever heard, so we rushed out to watch it but it was right above our heads so we couldn't see much. Once the rain finally came to a stop we took a walk to try and find some food. Well, we didn't have much luck. There was actually no sign of any sort of food other than bread. We went back to our hotel and ordered some food and ate it in our room to avoid getting another 100 mosquito bites from the river.

The following morning we woke up bright and early to catch our bus to Can Tho. When we asked reception about a bus station, we found out there was no such thing and if you wanted to catch a bus you had to stand on the highway and flag one down. We were slightly weary about this. However, our two taxi drivers took us to the place and waited with us until the bus came. He said if we gave him money he would buy our tickets, so we gave him 120,000Dong each (£3.40ish) which we soon found out was a complete rip off as it was another local bus (where everyone sits on top of each other and takes really weird things like crabs on the bus). We were slightly peeved at being ripped off, then we realised to us it was only an extra £1 or so. B had an admirer on the bus, the lady wouldn't stop touching/stroking her thigh and saying something in Vietnamese and the other ladies were laughing. B ended up having to sit next to her at one point and she just sat there with her hand on her thigh.....we are not sure if this was a good thing of a bad thing??

Arriving in Can Tho we checked into our hotel and took a walk around. It was another roasting hot day. We seen a nice statue of Ho Chi Min and managed to book a boat ride to the floating markets for the following day. At night we went to a nice restaurant on the riverside which was recommended in LonelyPlanet. Well it was a bit of a disappointment, not often we don't have a good meal but it wasn't great.

The following morning was a very early start of 5am. When we stepped outside our hotel, it was actually busier at this time than it is midday. Very early risers here. We then boarded the boat and watched the sunrise. It was really cool, you could see the trees and bridge with the sun rising above them. We then got taken to the biggest floating market on the Mekong. It was madness, boats with hundreds of pineapples, watermelons, just every fruit and veg you can think of. The lady driving our boat bought us a pineapple for us. The next floating market we got taken to was slightly smaller and more local. There was loads of rowing boats, again selling everything you can think of. This time our driver bought us something that looked like a poppadum and tasted kinda like rice, it was also really good.

Our boat ride back to the hotel seemed to take forever, it was nice for a start as we went through some smaller canals, but soon we just wanted to get back to the hotel. The boat propeller kept getting tangled in the mangrove weeds in the river and we kept stopping, untangling and starting again. At one point the motor wouldn't start up so J had to give her a hand, still not having any luck we were wondering if we were going to have to swim back....luckly it started and we were on our way again.

We decided to take a bus in the afternoon to Chau Doc since we had done everything there was to do here. On the bus journey we met an Aussie, Kiwi and an English guy so we sat talking to them most of the way. Just as well we had something to distract us from the crazy bus driver we had.

We checked into our hotel, had a little rest before taking a walk around the town. There was a nearby market so B suggested we take a look. As soon as we stepped foot inside, we quickly had to get out, the smell was unbelievable. There was dead animals hanging from the roofs....we think that had something to do with the smell haha. Again there wasn't really too many restaurants and after a long day we opted for eating at the hotel. We banged into the 3 guys again so we had some food and a couple beers before heading off to bed. The Aussie guy ownes some bars in New Zealand so we have his contact details for when we head there, which is handy.

The following morning we went to see Sam's Mountain. At the peak you could overlook Chau Doc and in the distance you could see Cambodia, it was again a really nice day and the sky was blue so it was really good views. We then went to see some Pagodas, the first one was overrun with locals and pretty dirty. Nobody was taking their shoes off to enter, which we though was bad manors?? The second one was really nice, there was water surrounding it and some fish and turtles swimming around in the water so we were amuzed.

Again in the afternoon we decided to take the bus to Ha Tian, since we have seen everything. The bus journey was the worst one yet!!!!!!!

It was supposed to be a two hour journey. When we arrived at the bus the guy chucked our backpacks on the roof, J asked him if he was going to tie them down and he nodded and then got back on the bus without tying them down. A bit annoyed we both got on the 12 seater bus with around another 30 people. It wasn't long before the heavens opened and the rain was pelting off the ground. With our bags on the roof with no raincover on them we were raging, we asked the bus driver to stop and cover them up, much to our surprise he did, thank god. The rest of the journey was a nightmare with people practically sitting on top of us, until we then just got told to get off the bus and we stood at the side of the road with our backpacks in the middle of nowhere, another bus drove up and dragged us on. We were glad somebody knew what was going on because we didn't. This bus was slightly more spacious but the bumpiest ride ever. Again we were glad to get off and arrive in Ha Tian. More so that we don't have another long bus journey for a couple of days now.
There isn't a lot to do in Ha Tian at all. We just thought it would be a nice stop before we set off to Phu Quoc Island. When we arrived we walked around the market (slightly nicer smelling than the last one) and grabbed a nice sandwich for 30p. We met a taxi driver offering to take on to Cambodia for $9 on our return from the island, which is much better price than the travel agents are offering. So we took his details and said we would contact him later if we are interested and said bye. 2 minutes later......there he was again, explaining the same thing about Cambodia over again, so once he was finished we said goodbye, again. 2 minutes later.....same thing again, I think we got the picture that he could take us to Cambodia for a good price!! We thought we had finally seen the last of him but he popped up one last time just to make sure.....we knew he could take us to Cambodia for a good price haha!! Wondering if he just really wanted business or its a bit dodgy, so think we will try somebody else for the Cambodia trip!!

At night we decided to head to the local market to eat and mix in with the local a little, or try. We had to order by pointing to either noodles or rice and then some meat and they would make us up a nice plate. J had some noodles in a chicken soup sort of thing, it wasn't up to much. B had rice and what we thought or hope was either beef or pork. But, it was amazing, so good that J went and ordered a plate as well. Our bill for 3 main courses came to a grand total of £1.50. We defiantly need to start eating with the locals more often.

There wasn't much else to do at night and around 7pm everybody starts to pack up anyway. So we went back to the hotel to watch a movie and get a good kip for our early start to Phu Quoc tomorrow. Although, the weather isn't looking to great and the forecast is rain. B is rather upset with this news as everytime we seem to plan a few beachy days its either overcast or raining. Lets hope we at least get a wee bit of sun.

Until Phu Quoc.......
J+B