Chuc Mung Nam Moi 2015! Happy New Year 2015!

Today we did a day tour of the Mekong Delta. Leaving at 7.30, we had a two hour coach journey with a stop half way for the 'Happy Room'.

The first place we visited was Ben Tre to experience a live Vietnamese band with instruments we have never seen before. We saw a love story sung out and our tour guide joined in with his guitar adding some comedy. They also added in Auld Lang Syne! Whilst there, we had a plate of different fruits including papaya, dragon fruit and a weird one we can't remember the name of.

From there we got in small hand-rowed sampans (four to a boat) and had a cruise down the natural canals of the Mekong River under the shadows of water coconut trees. During the cruise we got to wear the traditional Vietnamese round hats that all of the ladies wear. Our destination was coconut island - you guessed it, an island filled with coconut trees. Here we saw how a local family business makes coconut candy from scratch. We got to try some warm coconut candy (yum) and some coconut wine (not so yum).

After another boat ride across the delta, we got to My Tho and had some lunch - a vegetable soup dish and fried pork, egg and rice. On the way back, we stopped to see a pagoda (in this case, three giant Buddhas) and are now back at our hotel.

Our hotel tried to kick us out at 7p.m this evening (New Years Eve) as they hadn't noted down that we asked to stay an extra night and other people were trying to check-in. But we stood our ground and we managed to stay.

We headed out for New Years Eve and found ourselves in the heart of district 1. All traffic had come to a standstill as there were so many people out and we were definitely the odd ones out in the crowd. There was a pop concert followed by some crazy techno rave music. After the countdown to midnight, fireworks flew out from the tallest building for 15 minutes.

The walk back to our hotel was insane. There was so much traffic it was barely moving inch by inch, and as we tried to cross roads around the bikes, they would launch forward trying to fill the space. This was the case even on the footpaths!

Happy New Year once again, we hope that 2015 brings happiness to you all.

Steph and Max x