Mekong Delta to Hong Kong

I'm a bit behind on my blogs- will try to get everything up to date asap. Tring to break them up a bit so they aren't so long... And changed the font color for Mikey so hope that helps too!!
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Woke up groggy and a little stiff to the sound of our bus blaring it's horn at the hoard of motobikes around us as we made our way through the rather impressive traffic of Ho Chi Minh. Of all the countries I have visited, Vietnam posesses the most horrendous driving habits and aggressive drivers. Of Vietnam, Saigon takes the cake for being the worst of the worst. And I can confidently say that after only spending a total of 18 hours in this town- I have never seen so many motobikes in such a small vacinity- how they function like this on a daily basis is a mystery and some kind of miracle.

Our bus pulls into our tour agency about an hour and a half late, but it's only 7am so I am totally fine with this tardiness. Grab my bag and reluctantly head into the tour agency as everyone else starts haggling with the mototaxis and hotel owners (all fun tasks to do early in the morn after a restless night on a sleeper bus).

Despite my loathing for group tours, I sign up for a one day tour of the delta with the agreement that they will leave me in the delta so I can explore the area on my own. Unfortunately, the delta (like Halong Bay) is overrun with these tour groups- making it much harder and much more expensive (if you are alone especially) to do a trip on your own. I have enough time to pay, brush my teeth, grab a sandwich, run back to the agency and wait for our bus which is 45 minutes late. Two plus hours on the bus, transfer onto a little motorized boat in My Tho, cruise around and get on with or touristy stops: to the coconut candy making shop, the fruit and veggie farms, tea time with freshly collected honey, a rowboat ride with a local through the mangroves (okay that was awesome), lunch, a bike ride through a little village (also very cool), heard the 'vietnamese opera singers', and some other semi-sweet/totally touristy things- all along the way being asked what we would like to purchase and told to tip the local people. Alas, it was to be expected...

Everyone is suffeciently tired of being asked 'buy from me???' by the time we got on the bus again. Another two hour journey through the delta area ended with a major detour- because there was a ridiculous amount of traffic, our tour guide had us unload everything and walk a path that swerved in and out of peoples houses as they were eating dinner (mind you, there are about forty people on our tour ranging in ages of maybe 18-60; some with just a backpack and others with multiple roller bags) and lead us to the water's edge where we had a motorboat taxi waiting for us (in a fashion similar to a drug deal of sorts) to take us to the other end of Can Tho. Finally make it to the hotel and get settled in after minor hassles and haggling. I end up rooming with a wonderful girl from Melbourne who is a lawyer but has a name that sounds awfully like a stripper's/i-have-hippie-parents name: Destiny or Infinity or something like that. We had some wonderful discussions though before bed and woke up at 6am to join the group for breakfast and a cruise around the floating market (again, cheaper for me to do the tour then to get my own boat out- tricky bastards!).

Breakfast was actually perfect. The floating market was beautiful but the experience is somewhat ruined by the tour-you are on a boat with 40 people with at least 18 different cameras taking the same picture- most of the time of the locals and right up in these locals' faces. You almost feel ashamed to be part of the whole process really. We did a few more little detours before they dropped me off at the dock and waved me farewell- everyone else headed off for another day and a half of this tour business- poor chaps!

It was definitely the people that made the tour though- for better or worse, you are stuck with this group of people for the majority of your day... so you better hope there is some commrodady present between y'all. There was an older couple from California who lived and worked in Yosemite, a French guy who splits his time between France and Nepal, a woman from Chicago who reminds me of aunt Patricia, and a dental suregeon who lives in Seattle (we have already set a tenative girls-night-out/happy-hour-at-kings date for when I move there). There was also a loud Minnesota girl who talked a lot about drugs and concerts, a threesome of burly Dutch dudes, a pretty chatty and uncomprehensable kiwi, and a German guy who everyone was avoiding like the plauge. To anyone who is familiar with Dane Cook's old stuff, this character reminds me of 'Obby' and 'the creepy guy from work' mixed together. There are no words to describe the vibe you got from the guy but it was close to contempt and just plain confusion on how someone could be so disrespectful in so many ways. Despite shoving everyone out of his way and never saying a word, I actually saw him meow at a woman he wanted to take a picture of and slap the top of another woman's helment as she rode by on a motorbike for absolutely no apparent reason. Yet another reason to add to the 'why I don't like tours' list.

Now, officially off the tour, I have some time to go explore the little town of Can Tho. The city appears bigger than I originally expected but was easily walkable. To tell you the truth, there is nothing overly stimulating to do in this town but that is okay with me at this point. Set along the banks of the muddy Mekong, Can Tho is about 10+ km inland of the ocean outlet, thus the town (and the whole mekong delta area) thrives on the banks of this massive river. There are a few bigger hotels but the majority of places are small guesthouses and little cafes. There is a great street filled with street vendors selling the freshest fruits, vegetables and fish. PETA would have a field day here... Old women have heaps of fish in big plastic bowls where they wriggle around trying to stay alive in the half inch of water they are alotted. Right next to those old women are more old women who sell whole boiled chickens all lined up in a row so thier eyes and opened beaks follow your gaze as you stroll by- it's enough to make you seriously consider becoming a vegetarian. Luckily, I haven't gone that far yet as I found a great looking western restauant on the water and ordered the cheeseburger I have been craving for weeks now. Now stuffed, I continued to walk along the waterfront and grabbed a nice cup of coffee before retreating back to the hotel for an early night.

The next morning consisted of a quick stroll through the market for some fresh fruit and the cheapest egg sandwhich I've had yet, a bit of picture taking and journal writing and then catching the bus back towards Saigon. Again, we were a few hours late but all was okay as I hadn't yet decided how to spend the night- my flight to Hong Kong left at 6am, check in was around 4 and I was getting into Saigon around 7pm- did I get a room for a few hours and then trust taking a taxi in the wee hours of the morn or do I spend the night in the airport?? Being the indecisive person I am, I got off the bus still not sure what to do but with a name of a good bed and breakfast in hand. I started heading that way as I was harrased by every hotel owner on the street- 'madame need room?'. This little old lady approached me and asked me the same thing and I couldn't resist her old lady charm. I told her my situation and this sweet little lady drug me around from her brothers house to her sisters to her cousins to see if there was something we could work out for a reasonable price. Thank god for this woman and her ability to make my decision for me- we ended with the agreement that I would keep my bags at her cousins shop/house where I could use the restroom and couch if I wanted and then he would drive me at the airport at midnight and then I could sleep there for three hours till my gate opened at 3am. Then I would be the first in my terminal and could sleep more in there- this was all thought up by this little lady- I think she was an angel- and cost me 5$ instead of the proposed $17 I was thinking I would have to throw down.

Grabbed a nice dinner, found the perfect place to kill a few hours (a coffee shop with a movie theatre upstairs and free wifi- amazing!) and then headed back to the shop. Motobiked to the airport, put three seats together, turned on the iPod and put on the eye mask to collect a few winks. Checked into my business class seat (Andy works miracles!) and got my invitation into the red carpet lounge where I tried to act like I fit in- baggy sweatshirt, messy hair and all.

Talked a bit more to the cute old man I met waiting in customs (I just love the old people here) and got to board first into my luxurious business class seat that came with a back massage button, a hot towel, an amazing breakfast, a plethora of drinks and snacks, a large choice of great movies ('Up' is a stellar movie- please watch!) and the nicest stewardess' you will ever meet. I was almost praying for a delay as I really didn't want to get out of this luxurious little seat of mine!