What a great day! And there was no 'Douchebag' bus or guide this time!! Our guide was sensational! On the morning bus ride he whipped out his guitar and sang for us! And he was good! He also had a great, witty sense of humor and was always throwing out fun facts about Vietnam---couldn't have asked for a better guide! The day began at a stop for an early snack in a small village near the Mekong river. We ate some fruit, had some tea, & a local band played and sang for us with traditional wooden instruments. Next, we walked through lush jungle to get to a small river ---it looked just like Alleppey, India! Here we climbed into a row boat, put on our Vietnamese straw hats and floated slowly & calmly down the river....so beautiful and so serene. We eventually stopped at a coconut candy factory on the banks of the Mekong. Here we watched the locals make the coconut candy and then ate a bunch-- it tasted like toffee candy but better!! There were lots of different flavors too! Mmmmm
Next was pictures with a python.....no , really!! They had a 2 meter long python there and people could put it on & take pictures--why not? :P Tom went first and seemed to enjoy himself. When it was my turn, the guide walked off and just left me there!!! Seriously!! After a few minutes people were wondering if he was coming back?! Another guy wanted to hold the python so eventually I just exchanged it with him, no guide in sight!! I tried to be calm & cool but eventually got a little panicked.....ok tour guide, 1 red flag for you!!
Next, we got back to the water & on a small motorboat. We had a nice long boat ride on the Mekong river until we got dropped off to lunch. Considering we paid $10 for our whole trip, our meal wasn't too bad! Rice with pork and veggies and a veggie soup...
After that another boat ride across the Mekong and we ended up in the town of My Tho. There, they took us to check out some massive Buddha statues---the sleeping Buddha, The happy Buddha, and the present Buddha. They were massive--40m high, 50m long....imagine! They were incredible structures! After grabbing some ice cream, we were back on the bus heading back to Ho Chi Minh, with our guide entertaining us musically along the way....
We were dropped off near the central market and were told the cheapest way to get home, to Thao Dien district, was by bus. So we took the bus...but little did we know it would drop us off on the expressway and completely outside Thao dien. Whoops! You live and you learn! We cabbed it from there…
