🎶 “a 2 hour (bus) tour”🎶. Again. And again. Lots of time driving on this trip. It took 2 hours this morning to get to our boat for our first activity….

Back on the Mekong! The Vietnamese name for the river means Nine Dragons as here in the Delta there are 9 main branches of the river. It’s infinitely warmer than my Laos cruise, with this tributary thickly lined with coconut palms. We stopped at a coconut factory to learn how they use the nut, had a taste of coconut candy, then could shop for any possible product made from it.

Another 20 minutes downriver and we stopped at a big palapa building for a 6-course lunch: fried banana, soup, prawns, fried elephant ear fish, make-your-own spring rolls, fried rice, and fruit! (I only got as far as the prawns…)

Sampan boats took us away after lunch for a peaceful cruise thru narrow canals to our next mode of transportation: Tuk Tuks!

A fast-paced ride through the plantations to a coconut mat factory; well, 2 ladies sitting on the ground weaving. They can make 4 mats in a day, selling for ~$5 each. Our token volunteers gave it a go…

Back on the big bus for another 2 hour journey to a different part of the Delta where we met our local guide. Another boat trip with a short stop to learn about rice cracker making and to have a cup of tea and some local snacks such as rice crackers and banana jam. Then back onboard for an hour downstream to our overnight homestay on Vinh Long island.

But the day’s not over yet! Arriving at the homestay we had an hour to freshen up before our cooking class. Not a comprehensive class, basically just some chopping and we got to make our own filled crepes. Dinner was another amazing meal: taro spring rolls, our huge crepes filled with some kind of flower/shrimp/chicken/veg mix, baked catfish, fried noodles w/ veggies, morning glory soup, and rice.

Then(!), after dinner we had a traditional folk music and dance performance especially for us and a very large French group from another homestay.