Mekong Delta

RFor a taste of local life, yesterday morning we boarded Le Cochinchine, a sleeper boat, down the Mekong River south of Ho Chi Minh City. The boat and the staff were incredible. We had the whole boat to ourselves too which was quite a luxury. The trip started with a tour through the largest floating market on the Mekong River. The merchants are all haphazardly organized more or less according to the goods they are selling which they present by hanging a sweet potato or a pumpkin, for example, from a bamboo pole above the boat. 

Once we were back on our larger vessel after the floating market, we dined on a delicious seafood lunch aboard. The heat really took it out of us, so we all reclined for a nap before an exciting countryside bike ride for another taste of local life and gorgeous views of the rice paddies. Upon our return to the boat, we sipped on fresh coconut while getting foot massages from the crew. Turns out the mechanic, cook, and cabin boy are also all masseuses!  We enjoyed another delicious meal onboard before asking the crew to turn out all the lights so we could lie on the deck chairs and look at the stars. 

The next morning, we had another great meal aboard Le Cochinchine before taking the dingy to a coconut candy and rice paper "factory." We saw how both the coconut candy and rice paper were made and tasted some interesting Vietnamese treats such as royal jelly, some weird creamy substance that bees make that is apparently good for just about everything: arthritis, aging skin, joint pain, cancer...

After getting back into the dingy, we visited an old historic home with some fruit orchards growing jackfruit, papaya, mangosteen, and other tropical fruits before ending our Mekong journey.