Mekong Delta

To gain an extra day we had another early start as our trip to Cambodia started. Not content with taking the 6 hour bus straight there we went on a trip that took us to the Mekong delta area and along the Mekong River for 2 days. We made a few stops to see how they make rice crispies (not coco pops grrr) and coconut sweets, yuk, before stopping for lunch on a cool island. After lunch we jumped in some nearby hammocks and swung for a bit (not as in drop your keys in a bowl swung!). We found some crocs lazing around (in a cage) and as we left they got fed in a dead fish frenzy! They then played some local music which was pretty good apart from the one ladies piercing voice (no not Emma's voice- I know you were thinking it!) Easy on the volume love! We crossed the Mekong on the busiest ferry crossing (after being delayed). For some reason we were asked to get off the bus and wait in an enclosed room with all the mopeds. The problem was they all insisted on keeping their engines on!! There was no fresh air and about 200 mopeds in this one small room. Cough, choke!

3 hours later by bus we stopped near the border for the night in the Chau Doc which was dead when we arrived at 8pm!

Another early morning (yea they're annoying me now- we're meant to be on holiday!) and an omelet baguette later we were off to the harbour. We were told to leave our bags on the 'big boat' for our trip later. Now imagine the scene, there a massive luxury boat and what I'd describe as a floating cage next to it. When the guide said 'big boat' we thought, the big boat. Oh how wrong we were!! The poor American girl was taking pictures of the big boat before she realised ours was the floating cage!

We then all got on rowing boats, and were rowed by Vietnamese ladies around the floating villages. The first thing we see is a kid having a number 2 off the side of his house on the water. Only a few feet away we saw a lady washing her clothes and we were later told they also drink the river water which was a shock as it's scary to think how some people live. The people seem to be so happy here though! We were told they brought electricity (for TV) to the floating villages to cut the number of children in families. I guess they're thinking their equivalent of Eastenders will help reduce the population and apparently it's worked!! We got rowed towards the Cham minority village which was pretty nice. Emma bought a nice 3 layer (pink!) scarf for a good price which was rare as we didn't have to haggle! We went to a temple but only for the view and when we came back the kids had lined all our shoes up and put flowers in our flip flops which was pretty cute. We then visited a fish farm which had 100,000 fish under our feet in a fairly small space! They sell them every six months for $1-3 a fish, although 20-40% die (usually due to pollution) The lady who owns it was poor when she started but now I think shes pretty loaded by Vietnamese standards!! She had 12 children and they all went to uni.

We then headed for the Cambodian border. We'd heard and read all sorts of stories but it took 5 minutes! A boat took us to the office and they stamped our passports (they sorted our visas on the boat). The guy who stamped Emma's visa was pretending to read the passport but was actually more interested in reading the paper!

We then had a 3, no make that 4 hour boat journey on another floating cage...I mean boat, to get to Pnomh Phenh! There was a couple from Bournemouth in their 60's on our trip who were on an impressive 12 month world tour. The guy kept us entertained with his dad jokes which helped pass the time although our fake laughs were wearing thin, especially after the 'what do call a deer with no eyes' joke! 'No ideer' is the punchline for those who haven't heard it before! The journey in parts was great though. Children ran along the riverbank waving at our boat and we waved the back. We saw people bathing in the water, washing animals and farming at the side of the river

So we get off the boat on to our cozy minibus. The 'mini bus' squeezed 14 of us plus luggage in what felt like a Morris minor! Anyway the bus broke down after 2 minutes. We broke down on a busy road next to a families hut. The mother immediately ran inside and changed into a smarter outfit! The children then brought out a table for us all the sit on! I couldn't believe how sweet and friendly they were. An Indian guy on the trip gave them sweets and they seemed really happy although the mother wouldn't let them eat them as I think they were about to have dinner (some rules are the same no matter what country your in - no sweets before dinner). Despite the driver telling us we'd have a lift in 10 minutes it was well over an hour later before our tow arrived! Some people were getting irate but we and others were enjoying where we had stopped! We think the father was trying to say that he fought in a war, but he was only communicating through actions! - he could have been saying he likes football for all we know!!

We sat in the front of the tow truck (we were too slow to get a seat on the back damn it!). In the end it worked out good as we were treated to the most amazing lightning we've ever seen! It was lighting up the sky every second or so for an hour! The tow cable kept snapping leaving the minibus stranded!. It broke on a busy roundabout but in the end we got to our free hotel in Phonh Penh which was pretty impressive. We booked the trip with Sinh Cafe who had served us well with trips throughout Vietnam and we were never obliged to stay in hotels or book trips with them! Highly recommended.