Vietnam

We were up early in the morning, had breakfast on the ship, and were off on a ship’s tour to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Unlike last year’s visit to Ho Chi Minh City, this time we headed away from the city. We quickly rode out of the area of tall buildings to small towns and rural areas. After an hour and a half on the bus, we arrived at the dock, where we boarded an ancient wooden boat to take us across the river. We passed barges loaded with sand to be used in cement for construction, fishing boats, and floating structures that people live in. Once across the river, we had tea and delicious tropical fruit at an open-air hut with teak tables and chairs. From there, we walked through jungle to a candy factory and sampled outstanding coconut candy, still warm from cooking with a charcoal stove. We saw a bee hive where honey was gathered for sale and then we boarded really ancient small canoes that held 4 passengers and 2 rowers. We had to step very carefully in the center of the boat to keep it from capsizing. We also had to keep our hands off the edge and inside the boat because there were so many boats passing in the narrow passageway between the bamboo and other plants growing along the canal. As soon as we were on board, the Vietnamese woman rowing at the bow, handed me another oar and indicated I should row! So I did. Coolie hat and all. We arrived at the end of the rowing boat ride where a wonderful lunch was awaiting us. We had spring rolls, noodles with bok choy and other vegetables and sticky rice for dessert. We had no problem devouring it all without dropping one grain of rice off our chopsticks. Then it was back on the ancient boat to re-cross the river and return to the bus for the ride back to the ship.

We are both so glad to have the opportunity to return to Vietnam and see a different perspective of the country and its lovely people.