Hang Chau 2 Hotel Chau Doc

... boat trip on the Mekong river, wegot taken to a fish farm and then to a Vietnamese families house. This was basically a wooden hut on wooden stilts but pretty cool none the less. On the way back our boat broke down in the middle of the river and we had to get another one to come out and get us, eventually we made it to shore and headed back to the hotel.
I had 15 mins before we had to head out for a motorbike trip upto the top of a mountain, The Vietnamese ...

... 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.

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.

... 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 ...

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Next we were taken to a famous flower garden. It used to be renowned around Vietnam until the keeper died a few years ago, his grave in the garden was testiment to that. Our guide was busy picking flowers from a tree and gave them to me. He told me to pass them to Emma and so I did. With a grin he told me that Emma was now my flower wife. Wow, I wonder if people in England would give flowers to their girlfriends if they knew of that ...

... travelling up the coast into Thailand..........Definately a country we will miss...............and friendly people like i have never met before ............... So Cambodia is behind us ...........but still on the coast the beach life continues...............in fact, we have really splashed the cash on this Island (Koh Chang) and have booked 2 nights in some swanky bungalows on the sea.......and then 2 nights in a swanky swanky hotel ...........In their ...

... markets. These markets are in a steady decline with the increase in decent roads and bridges in the area. This was clear to see. Although there were quite a few boats around filled with fruit and veg, there didn't seem to be alot of buyers around. Its a pity really to see a large part of the culture in this area disappear. Our boat driver also took us a little further along the river where we had a stroll ...

... everyone was rendered speechless. We crossed the bridge and scrambled down the embankment, back onto the boat and away. I have no idea why we did it. I thought it was hilarious and definitely the highlight of the tour. The German couple don't know what they missed. We arrived back at Can Tho for lunch before once more plummeting into total confusion, the guide had no idea and kept giving contradictory instructions. There were four different groups to be separated, the two day tour and ...

... 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.
> Toothpick holders... is it strange that I ...

... so just mostly ate bun. Bill saw a case of chocolate coins for sale, they were a Canadian quarter! We missed the rain, but 1 lane of the road was flooded in spots. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 11:20 (7 hours and 20 min later - dang!). The driver was taking drop off requests from Vietnamese people, but dumped us off at some designated spot, but there were no tuk tuks or taxis and it was raining. We walked up to the corner and woke up a taxi driver. He ...