Update to activities in Mekong Delta and since

After a two and a half hour bus journey we were brought by boat to an island in the Mekong Delta - An Phut I think which means peaceful. En route we were treated to tropical fruits - rambutan, longen (both of which resemble lychees) and little sweet bananas. On the island we did a walk through the jungle admiring the vegetation, the homesteads and the natives. We refrained from encouraging the numerous dogs for fear of rabies. Our walk culminated with tea and more fruit in a long house. Then fortified with snake wine (our holiday so far has included a lot of boisterous mot, hai, ba, YO!) we got into sampans (with some difficulty on my part I must admit) and continued on our water tour of the Mekong. When we get an opportunity we will put up a photo of the two of us in a distinctly conical pose! Back to the bigger boat and on to our homestay where we were introduced to our 70 year old hostess Missy Moui (so called because she married a ninth son - the father is called the first and the sons are the second, third etc.) We managed to arrive just before a massive thunderstorm which was almost as heart attack inducing as the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City. Dinner started with piles of barbecued local prawns and was followed by elephant ear fish, pho bo (beef soup), pork spring rolls and finally more fruit, this time pineapple - we had more than our five a day! All of this was washed down with copious amounts of Tiger beer (Jim mainly) and shots of a very potent rice wine. Beds were dormitory style and it was quite a feat to manage the mosquito nets. Early to bed and early to rise - 5.45 next morning in order to see the local market - not very enticing considering the numbers of flies - and have a Vietnamese coffee at the corner shop. We like it! I'm not sure that the condensed milk will be too kind to the figure though. Back to our boat, waving farewll to Missy Moui and off to see the floating market - not very exciting as each boat confined itself to a single product - pineapples, bananas, sugar cane etc. We stopped off in Cai Be to visit the village
and see some traditional industries - sweet making from coconuts and pop rice and other rice products. 5euro a week is a good wage in this part of the world! Finally back to the bus and back to Ho Chi Minh to prepare for our trip to Nha Trang by sleeper train.

We were 4 to a cabin - we four were a rather large party . Having bought some provisions and some beverages our cabin was the envy of all the rest! We had lots of gatecrashers but lack of space prevented them from joining in so back to their miserable quarters they had to go. Interestingly enough we also has a little visitor later in the night - 4 legged with a tail. We arrived in Nha Trang at 6 am and we did do the mud baths! Off now to do a cyclo tour of the city.