Trans Indochina 2010 journal
Day 2 Mekong Delta (My Tho - Ben Tre)
We started the day early with everyone wake up at 6 am as we have a full day tour to the Mekong Delta.We have our buffet breakfast at the hotel cafe which was surprisingly good. We gathered outside our hotel at 8 am sharp and waiting for the tour bus to pick us up. Our schedule for the day are as follow:-
- arrived at the town of My Tho and boarded a motorized boat to Ben Tre
-visited a coconut candy factory at local village....free tasting of coconut candy!
-visited unicorn island
-visited a honey bee farm and tried honey tea & rice wine with local fruits
-lunch ala Vietnamese style
-trekking along the village & meet the local people
-cruise along small canal & horse drawn carriage or local transport "xe loi"
-returned to My Tho by boat and transfer back to Saigon by bus.
All these amazingly for a mere USD 10 per person or RM 32.50!!
During this trip we met a lonely traveler from Denmark by the name of Jonathan....he has been in this part of the world Asia for some times. However the best part of the day is where my buddy Ong left my camera tripod on the island.....and he only realized it when I asked him where is my tripod on the way back to the mainland......he puzzled and replied OMFG.....I left it on the island! I replied....OMG...how can u forget about it..........luckily enough our kind tour guide...Mr.Loong....help me to locate it and best of all....told me to collect it back later at the tour office just a short walking distance from our hotel! Thank you very much Mr. tour guide.....u'll be remembered!
We are back to Saigon in the evening and soon after our shopping spree started with 2 of my buddy started to burn their money! I joined soon after....hahahaha...but limited damage for the day! I collected back my tripod at the tour office and yes it was right there when I arrived....after all Vietnam not really that bad....except some incident that happened tonight! We had our dinner later that night at some small lane which I don't see a foreigner at all except 3 of us......dinner was extremely cheap and good. All in RM20 for 3 of us....our cheapest meal in Vietnam! After dinner we walked around the town and the traffic at night was as chaotic as the busy afternoon in Saigon! We went back to the hotel after a short walk.....and Ong went to sleep earlier as he developed a pain on his leg!
I went to beef noodle supper again with Kelvin and this time I tried the braised beef noodle Vietnamese style....to my amaze...."WOW" extremely delicious and that's the best bowl of beef noodle I've ever ate in my life! I think it is because the taste of the noodle is too good...I forgot my hotel access card and left it at the noodle place.....worse still only recall it after 15 minutes.......run back to the noodle place....luckily it was still there....the staff keep it and kind enough to pass it back to me. Oh gosh...lucky day for the 2nd time! During our supper we saw a foreign tourist lost her hand bag after being snatched by motorcyclist! How unlucky she was.....and bear in mind this incident is a very common sight in Saigon...next time when you are there....be very extra careful and keep your eyes open!
Both of us went to have a drink at the local bar and hit a few bottles of beer before we called it a day and went back to our hotel. I have a good sleep and tomorrow is another long day....we are heading to Phnom Penh, Cambodia....my fifth visit to Phnom Penh.....and I am looking to meet up with a friend I've known for 5 years now! So far so good.......more to come in the next 10 days!
