April 17, 2015

Yesterday we took a great boat trip up the Mekong Delta into a couple of local areas.  It was neat to see the river from the point of view of the small, man powered boats.  I’ll tell you what…those ladies that maneuver the boats like nobody’s business!  Adam, Hayden and I each took a turn helping to paddle, but I’m pretty sure we caused more grief for her than we actually helped with the paddling.  We’re not really sure how deep the water was (although I suspect pretty shallow) because it was so brown and muddy.  Lots of trees and plants grow right on the side in the water, so it must not be too deep.  There were several houses right along the banks as well, I guess it must not really flood all that often.

Vijils on the Mekong

Mekong Delta

Mekong Delta

Cruising on the Mekong

We paddled down to two different places;  the first was a honey farm where we could hold the bees.  Adam held them, but Hayden and I were too wimpy.  I get a big puffy sore if I get stung and Hayden just didn’t want to do it, so we left that up to our bravest family member.  lol   After the honey farm, we went to a local “factory” where they make coconut candy.  It was actually just a shed with the work equipment under a canopy, so it wasn’t exactly a factory, but they sure could pump out those candies quickly!  Of course, we had to help support the local economy and stock up on candy.  At the same place where they make the candy, they had a “pet” Python that we could hold.  Hayden was a little hesitant at first, but got brave and held it on his own too.

Bee Keeper Adam

Making coconut candy

Hayden and I with the Python

Kissing my new snake friend!

Hayden with the Python

The last part of the trip was cruising up to a local Buddhist temple and statue area.  On the way there, we passed a local fishing village where they were just lowering the nets into the water.  After the boat ride for about 30 minutes, we made it to the temple.  The temple was very pretty and the Buddha was HUGE!   unfortunately, it was getting seriously hot by this time, so we were basically snapping a few pictures so that we could jump back on the bus with A/C.

Local fishing

Buddha statue

Tomorrow comes the LONG bus ride to Cambodia.  We have heard that the road is terribly bumpy, so it should be an adventure!