Mekong River Delta

We spent two nights on a boat cruise exploring the Mekong river delta in southern Vietnam.  

 Water taxi to our boat

Our boat on the Mekong

We were having a lovely time until we were awoken in the middle of the night by rats scratching and squeaking in our walls.  We had the unfortunate luck of our room being next to the dining area which is where the rats decided to build their nest. Knowing that our "friends" were aboard made it hard to sleep and eat the rest of the boat trip.

 

Floating market

Star fruit

Watermelons for sale

Lotus flower

We made several stops at villages and islands along the way; which we explored by bicycle.  

The children loved to wave and say "hello" to all the foreigners.  

We stopped for refreshments at a local market.

Young coconut

Hoi An, The City of Lanterns

After a four hour bus ride, we arrived in Hoi An. Southern Vietnam is drastically different than the north from everything to the people, food, and weather. On the way to Hoi An, we traveled through a mountain in a tunnel that took about 15 minutes. When we entered the tunnel on the north side it was rainy and cold.  When we exited the southern end of the tunnel, the sun was shining and  it was around 90 degrees.

Organic vegetable farm

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 Hoi An is known for its excellent produce and food. 

Eyes were originally painted on these boats to scare away snakes and crocodiles.

Incense coil

The central market

Fish market

We took another cooking class in Hoi An at the Morning Glory restaurant.  Our menu included fresh spring rolls, savory pancakes, cabbage and shrimp soup, chicken skewers and green mango salad.

Fresh spring rolls

Green mango salad

Hoi An is a beautiful city at night.  It's known as the city of lanterns.

Japanese covered bridge

Motor Scooter Tour

In Hue, Vietnam, we took a motor scooter tour out of the city and into the country side. It was a bit of a risky undertaking because Vietnam has one of the highest incidents of motor scooter accidents in the world, but once we got into the countryside we felt very comfortable. The traffic was minimal and often we were the only ones on the road.

Our motor scooter group

In the morning, we met a group of Vietnamese guys who each chose one of us to drive around.

Our local tour guide showing us the flood height from 1997.

This elderly woman showed us how to farm rice in Vietnam.

Vietnamese rain jacket

Our guide played the part of the water buffalo during the plow demonstration.

Shelly found a friend to take home.

Rice paddies

Perfume river

Shelly found another friend to take home.

Incense sticks

Shelly and her driver

My driver

The motor scooter gang