Sunday 5th and Monday 6th November 2023

Saigon and Home

Last day started with a very early rising, then breakfast where any plate or utensil that looked slightly finished with was swooped upon by the army of staff.

Checked out and left bags to collect later in the day, when we returned from our Mekong Tour. Made our way to the Opera House where at 800am there were 3 separate wedding groups having photos taken. Modesty does not seem the theme with wedding dresses, showing a bit of thigh seemed to be the theme.

Only 4 of us on the tour so we got plenty of dialogue with our guide. The trip to Mekong Delta took about 2 hours, with a pit stop half way. The traffic was again primarily bikes and the scenery lots of rice paddies.

Arrived at the port and onto a small boat to head to the first stop. Everyone had the “one size fits all” life jacket, which fitted well if you were a local. The river was brown, apparently from upstream sediment – would like to validate that fact, especially after pulling up at the wharf next to a bloated dead dog . Fact check 2- dead dogs are thrown into the river to free their spirits.

The river was full of similar boats to ours, ferrying the tourists around. There were plenty of other craft on a very big river, second biggest in Asia.

First island stop was to visit a village and taste some local food, honey products and listen to local music.

We also got a chance to see their outdoor kitchen, including the fuel stove- it was very basic, but effective.

We also had our chance to see how the groceries were bought home from the ‘supermarket’.

With the entertainment over it was time to wander through town and see how some of the local wealthy people lived. Their houses and the ones with the outdoor kitchen were very different. Every house had a little temple out front

Worked our way to the end of town and jumped aboard a Tuk Tuk for our visit to a ‘fancy’ restaurant. It was a bumpy ride on an ever narrowing road, which had us wondering whether we were being kidnapped rather than going to a restaurant.

My fears were soon allayed when we crossed a cocnut tree bridge and turned up to a set of huts in a little bit of paradise.

We had a terrific lunch with about 6 tasty different courses, washed down with a couple of local beers

Next it was off, in a very small sampan, down a narrow canal shrouded by cocnut palms. Had it been in NT you would have expected a crocodile to slither down the bank.

We also visited a coconut plantation where they made lots of yummy sweets and the famous snake wine.We tasted the coconut sweets , but passed on snake wine and opted for rice wine.

Back onto the bigger boat we headed down tne river passing a swag of fish farms where both fish and prawns are cultivated.

We docked and were soon back on the bus heading for Saigon. Interesting to note that most of the farms had cemetery plots adjacent to either houses or rice paddies. Trip back was a bit quicker than the outward journey and we were soon back at the hotel.

Thankfully we were able to grab a shower and change of clothes. Then headed upstairs to wile away a couple of hours before the trip to the airport. Enjoyed sipping G and T and a traditional afternoon storm over the river, with about 8 hang gliders providing some post storm entertainment. The river was abuzz with ferries and working ships.

The clock ticked around to 540 and we were off,with the cycle guard of honour, to the airport for a bout in the lounge and then another sleep deprived flight home, arriving about 940 in Sydney and completing another memorable overseas adventure.

The now normal expensive taxi home and after a few hours of unpacking both collapsed and slept till about 4 o’clock.

First task when out of the brain fog will be to work out the next journey