2/12/2009

Day 58 - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Reunification Palace, Mekong Delta

This morning we visited the Reunification Palace which looked more like a government building than a palace. We got to see where the President lived and the war rooms in the basement. Then we headed off to the Mekong Delta.
When we arrived we went for a river cruise to an island where we saw the process of making yummy coconut toffees. We had some honey tea and they had a pet python which Dad, Sura and I all held (Mum was too scared). Its body was very muscular and it did not feel cold like we expected but it was very scaly. When Aunty Andy held the snake it slithered up and sat on her head!

We then went for a ride in a traditional Vietnamese canoe and had to keep our fingers and toes inside the boat away from the alligators and got to wear Vietnamese hats to keep the sun off our heads.

Back on the bus we stopped off to see a giant laughing Buddha and he was happiest Buddha we have seen yet! It then started pouring down with rain and our bus driver was driving up the wrong side of the road (which everyone does here) however this time a policeman saw him and stopped our bus to give the driver a ticket. Our driver kept smiling though. We were getting on a ferry to cross the river and it was very busy. When Pop looked out of the back window he saw that the gates weren't closed because our bus was hanging over the edge of the ferry!

For dinner we ate at a restaurant that was overlooking the river - Sura and I were having fun counting all the geckos and watching the pets. A small kitten decided she was hungry and jumped right into a lady's lap to get a closer look at her dinner!