Today's agenda is a visit to the Mekong Delta, about 40 miles south of Saigon. Here we go.....
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| Traffic on the riverfront in Saigon. Not much action on Sunday morning. |
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| Riding through a town about 30 miles south of Saigon |
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| A lot of places in the countryside had family cemeteries on the property. |
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| A farmhouse and burial ground south of Saigon. |
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| What's on sale at a rest stop south of Saigon |
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| At the rest stop |
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| My guide, in traditional Vietnamese garb, relaxing at the rest stop |
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| Another town south of Saigon |
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| Yet another town near the delta |
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| More small town activity |
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| On the road... |
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| What they're smoking (and wiping their noses with) in Vietnam |
After about an hour, we arrived at
Cai Be, where we got on a boat to visit some sites on the Mekong Delta. Here's a few shots from in and around Cai Be.
We eventually stopped at a village where they made rice paper and candy, among other things.
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| Making rice paper, which they use to wrap the candy |
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| Making the candy |
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| Some of the other stuff they had on sale. I didn't buy any, but will take orders for my next trip. |
Next, we headed back towards Cai Be to see the floating market. Being a Sunday, it wasn't that busy.
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| Cai Be |
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| Selling watermelons at the floating market |
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| More scenes near the floating market |
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We then headed back down the river for a while and stopped at a small plantation where I had a chance to sample several different fruits that I had never encountered before, such as
water apples,
jackfruit, and
longan. Water apples and longan (which is kind of like a lychee) were particularly good.
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| Intrepid traveler on the river (I think it's actually the Mekong, but it could be one of the tributaries in the Delta) |
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| A tour boat, much bigger than mine |
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| A former tour boat |
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| Not a tour boat |
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| Water apples |
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| Breadfruit, I think |
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| Jackfruit |
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| The house where I had my fruit tasting |
Next stop was a trip down the river for lunch.
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| Walking from the river into the restaurant |
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| I had the place to myself most of the time |
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| An entire fish was placed before me |
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| A light lunch |
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| View back to the river from the restaurant |
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After lunch, we walked around a village near the restaurant. The entire area seemed pretty well off. Although there were a few houses I would not choose to live in myself, I didn't see any real poverty anywhere in Vietnam. Here are a few shots from the area.
Next, we got back into the boat and cruised through some of the backwaters of the Delta. I felt like I was on patrol, looking for Charlie.....
We finally made it back to Cai Be and passed by the floating market again.
After docking at Cai Be, we got back in the van and headed back to Saigon.
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| At a rest stop on the way back to Saigon |
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| On the outskirts of Saigon |
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| Back in Saigon |
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| In Saigon |
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| In Saigon |
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| Apparently they have school on Sunday in Saigon |
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| On the way to the airport |
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| At the airport. Not only was this the only American fast food restaurant I saw in Saigon, a Whopper was $8.00, which is about 10 times the price of a bowl of pho. |
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I made it to the airport in plenty of time for my flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia on
Cambodian Angkor Air. More from Siem Reap as the adventure continues....
