Monday 3rd March 2008

This morning was one of the most eventful and memorable of our whole trip so far. First, when I was in the shower, Nikki managed to drop her engagement ring on to the floor of our room. Of course in a movie it would've bounced around for a bit - but not for her, nope - it went straight through one of the cracks in the floor and into the river below... d'oh! When I got out she was in a real state and yet, for some reason, the lady from the home-stay was in fits of laughter. Luckily, her husband had more sympathy for her and was soon stripped off and in the river. Like some sort of superman, after only two minutes he'd pulled it from the muddy water and returned it to my teary Wife. Afterwards he just sat on the side, dried his feet and then went back about his business.

After some sort of Vietnamese sausage sandwich for our breakfast, it was time to leave, so we thanked our hosts, gave the man a $20 'reward' for finding Nikki's engagement ring and then left. We were told that, because the water levels had dropped, we would have to walk for a bit before meeting up with the others. Mum and Keith seemed quite happy for that and even seemed to be enjoying themselves as they crossed the small tree-trunk bridge. Mum's face soon changed (in both look and colour) when she realised that we'd walked far enough - and the rest of the journey would be on the back of a moped... Rock on! For someone who was apparently terrified, i've never heard someone laugh as much as my Mum on the bike. Me, Nikki and Keith loved it! The ride wasn't far - just through all the back lanes of the small village and after about 10 minutes it was out on to the main roads, which was when the fun started. As we approached any junctions, instead of slowing to a stop (as the signs suggest) our drivers would just press the horn and seemingly hope for the best - weaving through the crossing traffic. We made it safely to the market, which was where we picked up another boat, and had to walk in amongst the locals. It was an AMAZING experience and somewhere we definitely wouldn't have seen had we stayed at the hotel. As well as all the lush fruit and veg', there were hundreds of animals (both dead and alive) up for sale - and we were the only Western looking people in sight.

We met the others on the boat and apparently the hotel they all stayed in last night wasn't up to much - so I think the olds made the right choice in 'roughing it'. We were taken out into the middle of the river, where we were boarded a smaller boat and were taken around the brilliant Cai Rang floating markets. It was a great way to take in the scenery and watch how the locals on this part of the Mekong River did their shopping. The rest of the morning was spent visiting a noodle and rice factory, which were both pretty impressive. Vietnam is one of the biggest exporters of rice in the world!

This afternoon we stopped back in Can Tho for some lunch. We decided to go to a small restaurant where Nikki and Keith both had prawn dishes. DareDevil Mum pushed the boat out and had an egg sarnie with chips and I ordered eel. I don't know what I was expecting, but was shocked when a whole crispy wiggly fish was bought out on a bed of leaves. I have to say, I was really impressed and it tasted lovely. I did feel a little bit bad though when I went to the toilet afterwards and saw some live ones in a big tank.

We drove back to Ho Chi Minh and arrived at almost 7pm this evening. We collected our bags from the Luan Vu guest house and then checked in to the Mi Mi, which is where me and Niks stayed on our first night. Mum and Keith's standards are obviously dropping because, even though it's nice and clean, it's not as nice as the Luan Vu - but I suppose after a night in the forest, any bed with a proper mattress looks lovely. We dumped our bags and then went out for the night - ending up in our little bar that serves the 12.5p beer.

WOW, what a day! I don't think any of our holidays will ever be the same again!