Hai Chau Hotel Chau Doc

... and roads are the maddest i've experience. There was about 10 of us doing it in total and we were all riding Pillion, its was like wacky races. I won. Got some really good photo's of the sunset from the top of the mountain and chilled out in a hammock with a beer before the return journey.<br>Had time for a quick shower and then off out for some food in a restaurant on the Mekong river. Got a reasonably early night as were moving onto Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) tmrw.

... real insight into daily life on the Mekong. At times it felt like we were prying upon the Delta people. But the intrigue was mutual between traveler and villager.<br><br>Once on the Cambodian side Ian and I decided to retreat from the shade and sit on the bow of our boat. Life seemed much the same in this part of the Delta. In fact the Delta people seemed to be their own group and I doubt the boarder does much to distinguish or separate their lifestyles.<br>

... into the sea from the boat, very scary as it was a three-storey boat! After a beutiful sunset, dinner and a few beers with the others from our group, Andrew and I decided to sleep on the top open deck of the boat under a sky of bright blazing stars. Maybe it was the beer, maybe I had already fallen asleep and was dreaming but I saw the most incredible shooting star, it looked like a meteor as it was so bright. Andrew was already snoring so he could not assure me that I was not seeing ...

... of the Mekong Delta. We had to kill a few hours in a fairly ****** hotel, watching movies and waited out a storm which came in - it rained solidly for 3 hours - we were starving by the time it had finished, so managed to get a cheap noodle soup before bed. The following day we headed to the highway and flagged down a minibus which would take us the distance up to the border crossing of Chau Doc. Although a relatively quite border town ...

... contemplating on what was being said. After we finished, we impressed with one of two words of Vietnamese that we have learned and walked back to the boat; stopping off and buying some coconuts along the way (it was quite funny seeing the woman cut open a coconut which sprayed its contents right into her face). Anyway that was our lunchtime drinks sorted. <br><br>It was now lunchtime. The crew had secretly turned our living room into a nice dining ...

Ok, I might start to get a bit soppy in this entry (and the next) if so, please send me a virtual slap. I had a bit of a busy day crossing the border from Cambodia to Vietnam. There was a direct bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City which took 6 hours but that was far too easy for me as I wanted to follow the great Mekong river to the end of it's journey. I took one normal bus for a few hours south and then swapped into a minivan to the border. The ...

Touring the Mekong Delta Some things are so bad that they are actually good. Things are different when you're on a tight time budget and I didn't want to waste time finding out about bus times and where different bus stations were. There was an almost full bus of about 30 people, driving around Saigon picking up people along the way. We got to a town called My Tho and took a small boat across the river to a coconut-candy workshop. The guide was a young Vietnamese lad but, unfortunately ...

... very vew traffic lights and loose use of lanes, somehow it all works as I saw no serious accidents... having said that I did hear a rumour that on average 10 motorcyclists are killed in HCMC each day. It also made me appreciate the silences more... like that experienced in Sapa early in the mornings, the quietness of kayaking in Halong Bay, and waking up in a longhouse at Lak Lake hearing only the crickets.<br>&gt; Toothpick holders... is it strange that I ...

... for our bags or walking to the tour office from the boat dock. We arrived in District 1, but have not seen our hotel. Finally the driver called dispatch, but they have no clue either. The driver starts driving again and goes by Asian Ruby 2. The bell hop is able to give him the address for their sister hotel! Hurray!! Thank you St Christopher! Bill was right, we are only off by half a dozen blocks. It was after midnight by now and we have been traveling since ...

... we stop off at a stork sanctuary on the way to Chau Doc - we agreed as we hadn't seen much wildlife! Another long tail boat ride - we borrowed coolie hats as it was scorching - excellent cover! And away we went down these canals - very intriguing - lots of kids in the water - but lots of rubbish too ;-( amazing seeing into peoples houses - so close ! The canals were really quite mucky - no way would you want to fall in!! The storks ...