MEKONG RIVER LIFE

It was our last day with Kev and we'd booked a 2 day trip to the Mekong Delta. The second day we were to head, by boat, to Phnom Penh in Cambodia, whilst Kev would head back to Saigon to catch his flight to Bangkok.

After a short bus trip, we spent the day cruising along the Mekong River, stopping to see the floating markets, the locals making rice-popcorn, coconut candy and rice paper. After a quick lunch of enormous freshwater shrimp and a post-lunch bike-ride through the surrounding countryside, we got back on our boat and made our way to the bus pick-up. Having been assured we would all be staying in the same hotel, we found to our disappointment that Kev had to go with the 'Saigon group' and we were to make our way separately, via a 4 hour minibus ride from hell, to a floating hotel closer to the Cambodian border. So, it was a rushed farewell. Kev, it was short but very sweet - thanks for popping over to Nam to see us!

The next day we were brutally awoken at 6am, made our way to a local floating fish market, before taking a very relaxing 6 hour boat ride to Cambodia, stopping at a riverside immigration point for lunch and border-crossing shenanigans along the way. It was a unforgettable trip - fascinating to see the unique & simple river life of the Mekong Delta, and especially to see the smiley, waving children & boat people going about their everyday routine. Next stop Phnom Penh...