After a day in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), we started on our journey towards Cambodia and headed to the border town of Chau Doc in the Meekong Delta. Despite the murky color of the river, this region is actually rich with wildlife and is famous for its rice growing (it produces half of Vietnam's total rice output!). After settling into our simple rooms, some of us took a boat tour around the river to see some local sights.
Chau Doc is surrounded by the river and dotted with various fishing communities all around. Because of the flooding in the area at certain times of the year, most of the dwellings are either built to float, or are mounted in stilts. Many of the abodes contain a small fishing farm inside; a cage lines the underwater area of the house, and fish are placed there until they are large enough to send to market.
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| Fish splashing around as they are fed |
Once again, this area was obviously poor, and the people lived in very simple surroundings. I saw children bathing in the river, while adults rowed boats around to deliver their day's fare to the markets. All of it highlights the fact that I lead a very luxurious life.
The next morning, we prepared to say goodbye to Vietnam. We were taking a 45 minute bus ride to cross the Vietnam/Cambodia border. Prior to that, my breakfast: a banh mi sandwich filled with meat and pate, pickled veggies and cilantro. It's a baby version of what I usually have in New York (it's a 6-incher or so), but it cost only 50 cents USD.
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| For the price, I could have 4 of these! |
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| Found a new snack! Lychee flavored Sugus! |
Once we arrived at the border, we were required to leave the bus and cross on foot. I was a little wary about the situation and so there are no pictures, but the whole process was interesting. The officials were overall on the friendly side (I suppose that they are happy to have money-spending tourists in their country), and the visas were easy to obtain. Within an hour or so, we were all back into a van heading towards the beach town of Sihanoukville. The ride to Sihanoukville was long and bumpy, but it was totally worth it once this view opened up in front of us.
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| This may be paradise! |
The hotel is beautiful, with large rooms and comfortable bathrooms. I am going to sit back and relax for the rest of the day!
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| Got a great night's sleep! |
From LokKauFu
ReplyDelete"Hi Wai Yan, This is your "old" uncle #6. I have been following your trail all the time but never try to write any comments. ( afriad of generation gap? - may be)However, the mouth watering food (well, pictures only)that you posted were so tempting that I could not help but to tell you "I am jealous"!!!Trully, your trip so far is fascinating, not only the food but the scenery, the different culture, the different people. Thanks for sharing all of these with us. This is surely a once in a life time advanture. Enjoy as much as you can and at the same time, stay healthy and be safe."
Hello, Kau Fu! I am really happy to have the chance to share my trip with you, and am glad that you are reading the blog. Now that I know you follow this, I will try to take even more pictures of the food I eat! Thank you for your well-wishes, and I will hopefully see you soon!
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