The other day, we left Saigon bright and early for a two day one night Mekong Delta tour and a float across the border into Cambodia. The hotel told us to be ready to go at seven am and we were! Our ride arrived at 8:15 ...
We drove for a few hours to a town on the river and then got on the boat to go on a tour of the delta. We started with a tour to the floating market which is supposed to be an amazing sight when it is busy. the fruit and veggie wholesalers park their boats in a specific area. Then, they tie up a sample of what they are selling on a long pole so that the buyers, can see from afar what they are offering. Also, you will notice in the photos that the boats have eyes painted on them. In the past, the delta was full of crocodiles and these eyes were painted to scare them away.
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There are little tin houses on stilts all along the river. The people here live mainly off the river, using it's water for everything. They use a filtering process to clean the water for drinking and cooking.
We went for a short walk through a Cham village. The Cham people had their own country a long time ago and are of the Muslim faith. Now they are a muslim group living in small communities around Vietnam and Cambodia.
Next, we stopped to watch how the local people make coconut candies and rice paper. The rice paper is a huge deal here as it wraps the spring rolls they eat everywhere! Apparently, the coconut husks proved most of the fire power in these parts and the people use them instead of coal. ( remember it's damn hot here, we aren't talking about heating homes).
The next stop was for tea and honey accompanied by a huge upsell to buy their bee pollen, nectar, honey ... Although I did buy coconut candies, I left the bee products behind. Our night stop was at a floating hotel. It was fine but nothing special and totally attached to the land. The second day we went to a crocodile farm. Nothing much to report here, they are raising the animals for their skin. Think twice before you buy up that fancy crocodile handbag! Next, we headed down the Mekong towards the Cambodian border. We had to get off the boat, buy the entry visa and then get on a different Cambodian boat that took us the rest of the way into Phnom Penh. At the border, there was a very rickety bridge to take us up to the courtyard and the visa office.
We noticed a change in scenery quickly after the border. On the Vietnam side, tons of little tin houses as above. On the Cambodian side, the houses are made of wood and seem more solid! Also, they pile their agricultural waste in neat piles that we didn't see in Vietnam!
We sat on the roof of the boat and enjoyed the scenery for the six hours it took us to reach our final destination. Here are some shots of the wetlands that surround the river.
By the time we reached the city we were all rivered out and very happy for the change in scenery!
In Phnom Penh we went directly to the hotel to reserve our bus to Siem Reap the next day. We did not spend any time exploring Cambodia's capital city. This is too bad since the country has such rich history. However, we are running out of days and we need to keep moving. We did find a fantastic restaurant that had a private lounge where we watched a movie and had a good meal before getting to bed early!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPadthe Mekong Delao
Location:Vietnam/Cambodia
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