Ho Chi Minh City, Mytho and Can Tho
This holiday began with a Jetstar flight leaving Sydney at 1.30pm. After a great flight we arrived at Tan Son Nhut
Airport and transferred to the Xuan Loc Hotel in Hochiminh City. It was only about 7.30 Vietnam time so a walk was a priority
and something to eat. The Ben Thanh markets were very close to our hotel and the outdoor eateries smelled delicious so we
chose one and enjoyed our late dinner!
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The next morning our tour guide picked us up and we were off on a drive to My Tho, the first province in the Mekong Delta. First,
we boarded a boat and travelled up the Mekong looking at everyday life going on as usual. There were many boats transporting
goods of all kinds and of course the dozens of sellers showing their wares and food for anxious buyers. Our boat then stopped at an island so we could visit the tropical fruit gardens where we sat down to
taste local fruits such as watermelon, ginger and coconut. A lovely tea was served to us and we were shown jars of Royal Jelly - good for your health. The only downside to this day was that it was pouring rain
but we managed to not get too wet and we enjoyed a lunch on another island that certainly brightened our day! We then drove to Can Tho for our next night's accomodation and settled into our hotel.
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This morning saw us take a 3 hour another boat trip to see the Cai rang - the Phong Dien Floating Market. What an
incredible landscape - boats of all sizes everywhere. All full of items to sell and one of the most interesting forms of
advertising to us was the tall sticks on the boats that showed what items the seller had. For instance the pineapple sellers had pineapples up and so on.
After this we headed across the river to visit the tropical fruit gardens and have lunch. It was raining here and made getting around a little
difficult but we really enjoyed the fruits and the special tea. Lunch was an absolute delight!
Pho first, and then an elephant fish and salad beautifully presented. A wonderful visit and then to make it special we went
for a trip in small boats through the tall green growth
of the small islets. Then it was time to head for ChauDoc where we stayed overnight. We made a visit to Sam Mountain in the late
afternoon to look out over Cambodia and then back into the village as there was a ceremony in the local temple.
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