One of the major tourist spots in Southern Vietnam is the Mekong Delta. It's known as the 'rice bowl' of Vietnam. It's very green and lush, with lots of mangrove forests (if you don't know what mangroves are you should look them up- they are like crazy trees you would see in the Snow White cartoon or something!), and tons of rivers interconnecting.
We took a day tour with probably the cheapest company around. It was great because it was super duper kitschy. In order to get to the river we drove for about an hour, with 15 minutes of it going out of the way so we could visit a 'factory' where they make pear inlaid chotchskys. Supposedly the factory employs handicapped and disabled people, but they must have been hiding them somewhere from us. How they made the items, and the artistry and attention to detail was astounding. However when you walk into a huge showroom with thousands of the same pieces really devalues what has been done. I was tempted to buy something small just to support them, but Scott adamantly refused.
Next we got to the river and had to watch a very awkward 50 year old woman sing us traditional Vietnamese music. We had to walk through about seven gift shops. Then we watched some women make candy out of coconuts. The candy was so delicious hot and fresh that we actually bought some (and SCOTT was the one that wanted to- shocker!).
Finally we got on the river. This, of course, was the shortest part of the day tour :). There was one small river where many tour groups bring their guests. We got on tiny boats four at a time, each boat had their own driver. We were lent the iconic bamboo cone hat. By the way, I can't even tell you how many people in Ho Chi Minh City really wear that hat every day! The ladies very skillfully rowed us down the tiny river, maneuvering through lanes of traffic. It was a photographers dream, I wish they hadn't kicked us off so soon! The whole ride was about 7 minutes long. It was a tiny taste of how many people in Southern Vietnam transport themselves and work, and I love seeing how other people live.
When they ushered us off we were at a restaurant where we ate a traditional Vietnamese lunch, and waited around for about an hour for our bus ride back.
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| For some reason the 'show' at lunch involved bringing out a huge snake. I offered to 'try it on', nonchalantly thinking it wasn't really scary. However as soon as that snake touched my skin THIS happened. If it looks like I was going to cry, it's because I almost did. |
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| Trying to play it cool. Notice our tour group behind me laughing. |
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| Annnd that night we took a red-eye home. Bye Bye for now Vietnam! |
