Day 8: 18 April -- Mekong Delta

Today our schedule took us to the Mekong Delta. We were told that this is the most populous area in Vietnam, and where most of the rice that is a major export is grown.

It was a 2 hour drive to get there.  After tangling with the city traffic and the unpredictable exploits of the motorcycle riders, we reached to toll booths for 40km of 'super motorway'.  Well, in the best of communist terms, their highway engineers all need to be sent to re-education camps.  The road surface was ok, but every join and culvert caused the bus to bounce sharply.  Not a comfortable ride at all.

A feature of the landscape we passed through was the rice paddies.  But what struck us as ununusal was that they are dotted heavily with tombs.  The locals bury the family members in the fields, facing the right way to bring big crops.  Some are very elaborate too.

The Mekong River, the world's longest which rises in China, splits into 8 branches as it reachers the ocean.  They have created a ninth branch to fit the symbolism of the nine lucky dragons.  We left the bus at a little hamlet and walked through maze of pathways that link homes and small enterprises.  Stopped for a tea ceremony at a typical teahouse where we were enteratined by local musicians and singers.  Then into 3 person sampans for a ride down the jungle canals to visit a small family-run 'factory' that makes caramel coconut.  Saw the whole process from squeezing the coconuts, boiling with sugar, hand extruding, chopping and wrapping in rice paper.

A short bus ride then took us to the river where we joined a tourist ferry for a 20 minute ride down one brach of the mighty river to a riverside 'restauarant' for local specialty fish lunch.  Getting up from the front of the ferry onto the jetty I managed to twist awkwardly and suffered a quite painful groin strain.  So I became a slow hobbler for the rest of the day!  The lunch was delightful, with the staff showing us how to serve whole-grilled fish, to make snacks with lettuce, noodle and fish rolled in rice paper etc... 7 courses (all small) but with lots left over!

Back to the boat and a trip up the river now to the other side, to meet the bus and visit a pagoda where there are 2 huge figures of the Buddha -- one sitting happily smiling, the other reclined in death and nirvana.  Beautiful gardens around the pagoda.

The 2 hour run home was no less bumpy.  And we hit late afternoon traffic when we got into the city that slowed us.  On the way we visited a factory that makes furniture and other items with mother of pearl and eggshell inlay.  Informative, pricey, and really lovely goods.

Visit to a traditional Viet restaurant was on the schedule for the evening.  I gave that a miss and settled for light room service.  I hobbled around the corner to a "pharmacy" .. drawers and boxes of all sorts of herbs; but I did manage to snare a small bottle of liniment.  Back at the hotel, I accepted advice and arranged for a leg massage through front desk.  That is another story.  But the liniment and a hot pack have helped ease the acute pain I have been feeling.  Now for a good night's sleep!

Today's pics are just a sample of what we saw, and ther can be found here.