Mekong Delta

Today we headed South to the Mekong Delta. It’s a vast area that supplies a lot of food and seafood for locals and export. We travelled for two hours by car and our first stop was to Vinh Trang pagoda. This pretty temple blends French, Chinese and Vietnamese architecture showing the various influences in the region.  

From here we took a boat across the delta and our guide talked about how important the river was to industry with people farming seafood in it, trading on it and using it for transport. With a new bridge built in 2010 it’s no longer needed for trade and transport. 

On the other side we tried honey products, coconut candy and fresh fruit (orange, mango, dragonfruit, jackfruit, watermelon and pineapple with chilli salt).

We saw the fish, frogs, snakes and alligators farmed there. 

 I tried my hand at cooking crispy pancakes and then we sat down to lunch.  

Being rowed in a sampan through a smaller waterway was a real highlight.  The water was a muddy brown everywhere we went so there was no temptation to swim despite the temperature being 35 degrees.

Home for a swim and a rest and then out for drinks at Nguyen Hue - a busy street where we sat out and had a beer and watched the world go by. James and Emma insisted on visiting McDonalds where we had fried chicken covered in fake cheese complete with a plastic glove to eat it with. We all agreed it was the worst food we had eaten so far in the trip!

Then to Bui Viên walking street full of restaurants, bars and more.  It was an assault on the senses, loud, garish, people dancing on stands to attract customers and touts trying to drag you in.  

We found a restaurant at the end that was quieter and had dinner.  We were surprised to see that the food and drink came from down the street and on our way out realised that whilst it looked like like of choice of hundreds of restaurant there was only about three different menus offered..