Day eighteen, Mekong delta

January 9 2013

Today we began our short novernight visit to the Mekong Delta. We have a private guide 'Sunny' who keeps us constantly entertained. He is 68 years old, fought in the Vietnam war and he constantly laughing. Everyone seeme to know him...and he teaches us a lot. We stop at a roadside stall selling gourmet rats...a bit of a delicacy in the area apparently. Sunny offers to buy one and have it cooked up for lunch...but we can't bring ourselves to do it...

The day is filled with exploring the area. Although it is primarily a rural area, it is heavily populated and intensively farmed. We had an amazing day filled with a couple of boat rides and amazing lunch with a whole cooked fish served up with mint and cucumber in delicious rice paper rolls.

 

 

We visited a coconut candy 'factory' where delicious sweets such a coconut caramels and popped rice candy are made. Everything is done by hand, sorting through nuts to remove any imperfections, candy is rolled out, cut AND wrapped by hand.

The absolute highlights of the day were a serene and peaceful paddle through one of the smaller rivers. There must be thousands of these, where local people live a simple life so far removed to our own it is hard to imagine. We also enjoyed cycling through a small village, although it was quite hot and the path was a little narrow in parts...especially when motorcycles needed to pass!

We ended the day in a lovely restaurant overlooking the river. Thankfully by the time we went to bed the very loud karaoke party in out hotel had finished!

 

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