Uhmmm where'd it go?

I swear I spent a few hours while in Saigon writing a blog describing my weekend down in the Mekong Delta, but when I logged on today its no where to be found.

Anyway got in to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) on Friday after a 8 hour journey from Phnom Penh and decided to spend the weekend down in the Mekong Delta. It was a great way to really get to see the boating life of the Vietnamese. Everything people did revolved around the Mekong. I honestly think I spent more time on water than on land those 3 days.

The first and 1/2 of the second was spent touring around the city of Ben Tre and Can Tho, trying the local cuisine, biking around the town, rowing down the narrow canals. In Ben Tre I got to try Elephant Eared Fish which was fried and then served whole on a little display. My waitress then came out with rice paper sheets and greens, peanuts and noodles to make fresh spring rolls ....mmmm so yummy. Among other things I tried fresh tropical fruit such as rambutan, mango, dragon fruit, freshly made coconut candy, crepes with shredded coconut and my favorite from India, sugarcane juice with lime!!! I also discovered my second favorite Vietnamese dish, meat with chili and lemongrass..mmmm in typical vietnamese style its made fresher/lighter than its Thai version.

During the 2nd half of my Second day I left the group that I was touring with to spend some time on Tiger Island and spend my 2nd night at a homestay. I was met by my guide and 2 bicycles when I arrived in Long Xuyen City. We hopped on our bikes went around town and took the ferry over to Tiger Island. The island seemed more like small strips of land as small deltas and canals ran throughout its 15 square kilometers. It was great to be away from the tourist shops and hotels and be the only foreigner on the island. Like the rest of asia as I biked around I was greeted by children, laughing and shouting 'Hello' at the top of their lungs. Even the adults who would just smile would laugh and grin when I'd smile at them and shout out 'sin chao' (hello)

I can't rave enough about my short stay with the Huyen family (i'm sure i've butchered the spelling of their name :( which consisted of mr and mrs, they're two sons Nyuk (10), Benh (16) and their grandmother. Except for a few phrases the boys had learned none of them spoke any English. Instead they would just gesture and smile at me. I was invited to have dinner with the family in the kitchen on their bamboo mat. A huge amount of food was set out in 2 separate groups, what looked like one set for me and the other to be shared by the family. I don't know what there was thinking but there was no way that I could eat all of it by myself nor would I while they shared between themselves. So without any words I moved all of my bowls towards their food and moved in closer. I gestured with my hands and placed some of the meat into the grandmother' ball, I had been told earlier by my guide that offering the best food to the eldest was a sign of respect. I was grateful he'd said that as it seemed to work. The grandmother preceded to rearrange the bowls and motioned for me to eat. It was heavenly! After dinner i was given some watermelon and watched some badly dubbed cartoons and chinese soap operas with the boys. The youngest, was the least shy and called me over to play a game with him. A sort of cross between mine-sweeper and tic-tac-toe. Benh soon joined and we passed the time just hanging out, playing, drawing and doing Bruce Lee impressions.

The next day after lunch I said my goodbyes and was off back to Saigon.