We were up early again for our bus at 8 am to go on the Mae Cong Delta River Cruz. Just took our small backpacks and left our big ones in the office because we were gonna be on and off the river and boats and then the island and did not want to lug our big bags around with us. It was a 3 hour ride to our first boat and I slipped on my ipod and drifted off letting my mind daydream as we left the city. When we arrived we got on a small boat with tiny blue wooden benches, not to comfortable and took off across the river. The water was a murky brown with lots of debris and river plants floating around in it as well as blue and black smoke filling the air from all of the boats that were going up and down the river around us.
Our first stop was to see the honey bees and sample their honey tea as well as getting to hold a huge Python.
Back on the boat to another small dock where we sat and ate fresh fruit while a woman sang local songs to us. Off to another small island and had lunch. Chris and I were pretty tired and laid down in hammocks after lunch dozing off and waking up realizing our boat was probably waiting for us so we headed back to the dock where they were waiting. Went to another spot on the river to a small muddy channel where 4 per boat were taken down a very small channel by locals surrounded by river palms.
Our guide for the trip was a hilarious and very small kick boxer and he made jokes with us the whole time saying he could kick our ass if we got out of line really adding to the experience on the boat. Locals were waist deep in the water along the shores picking crabs and coconuts off the bottom of the river. This area is so much different then the rest of Vietnam and the people here depend soley on the Mae Cong River which runs from China all the way to Southern Vietnam where it meets the ocean.
Connected with the bigger boat to the coconut candy shop where they demonstrated how they made it and gave us a sample. All of these stops today were meant to sell to the tourists stuff and felt kinda lame but it was cool to see areas of the river we never would have been able to see on our own. We then got back to the harbor and met up with another bus that was going to Can Tho for our next night where we would be staying with a local family on the river. It had been a really long day and after 2 and a half hours on a bus we arrived in the city and had to get on another boat out to the Bungalows on the river. It took us another hour and a half to get to the bungalows in pitch black darkness on a small boat which was really tiring after our long day and when we arrived we were totally beat. We had dinner which was really good, making our own spring rolls with fresh fish they had taken from their pond right in the back of their house. After we went to bed and tried to get some sleep but that was not easy. We were right on the river and these boats that sounded like semi trucks went past every 5 minutes as well as a road right on the other side of our bungalows with motor bikes so sleep was not easy.
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