Saturday, 5 January 2008

Day 7: The Mekong River and Coconut Candy with Friends

Had a 6AM wake up to get to Brother's Cafe. Because there was no traffic, I actually got there about an hour early. I sent some e-mails after walking around the local park near Cho Banh Thanh-badminton is big here on Saturday mornings!

Always a fan of double checking, I asked to make sure I was on the bus to the Mekong Delta 1-Day Tour. I ended up spending the day with Noelle, a Seattle-raised, 24-year-old world traveller. Seated next to me was another world traveller from England, Andres. After the 1.5 hour bus ride, we took a boat/ferry to Ben Thuc.

Andres was only in Vietnam for two days because of an expiring visa.

The boats then took us to Ben The where we sampled honey and drank some wine. Rowing boats took us to lunch in a village where we ate some pork and rice and relaxed in the delta.

Rowing in the Mekong Delta

Tip: You must try the coconut candy and you must try it warm!

Warm home-baked coconut candy at Ben Thuc!

We had the opportunity to watch some Traditional Vietnamese songs and dance (feels like I'm back home in Garden Grove!) We had some fruit tasting while listening to the instruments and singing before the boat took us back to My Thoc.

As we all jumped on the shuttle, Noelle grabbed her backpack and headed off to Cambodia. I hope she meets up with Sebastian!

Back in Saigon, I said hello to Thao at the travel agency and told her I'd return again. I introduced Andres to pho (spicy beef) and I enjoyed traditional meatball (20,000Dong).

Working with Thao!

Tip: Pho is like the spaghetti of Vietnamese foods. If you're a first-timer, go with the meatball!

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