So after getting home at 3:30am in the morning from my birthday party we were up and catching a bus to the Me Kong at 10:30 am.  It was originally 9 am but Lauren and I negotiated a later start and then we were late so we ended up with 10:30 am.   Now I was not feeling well at all so I came prepared with a plastic bag.  Well we got in the taxi and about 2 mins later I had thrown up, managed to get some of it in the bag, so the taxi driver just looks at me and winds the window down.  Got to love it here.

Well we waited for the bus and I had some alone time to contemplate life, ie too old to go out drinking, but then I remembered, I will blame it on the Dutch guy, buying us red bulls and Vodka and Champagne!  There is always a Dutch guy in there somewhere:)

So as you can imagine I had a “great” ride to the Me Kong for 2 hours.  We made it the Ben Tre Province and we forgot to tell the driver to stop so we had to walk some distance to the accommodation.  We got a greeting that I have never received, 3 dogs came running out, barking and growling.  We survived and then I died on my bed for a while.  Some of the interesting stuff at our accommodation.  By the way, we were the only guests staying there.

We then embarked on an epic journey to get some motorbikes so we could cruise the streets. By this time we were tired and hungry and some of us were “hangry”, hungry and angry.  We found a great restaurant and had fish soup.

From there we cruised around; bubble tea and played cards, and had a hot pot for dinner.

We got back to our accommodation and continued playing cards and had lots of laughs playing “Bullshit” and Spoons.  The funniest part was the pronunciation of bullshit which sounded like “push it”.  We had a few wages, Huy had to buy us Bubble tea because she couldn’t count her cards in spoons and whoever won Bullshit got a free lunch. Lauren, Huy and I one.

We were given mosquito net which is always fun to install and 12am and then we broke the toilet.  I managed to fix it so when we decided to go to sleep, our A/C had other ideas and started a version of chain saw massacre!

The next day we woke up to no power, apparently is was “Sunday Blackout” a common occurrence.  We finished off my birthday cake for breakfast and also an egg Banh Mi.  I entertained the troops with my three cords that I knew.

We then went on a boat tour of the Me Kong and saw coconut lollies being made.  I am not sure but I think there is a form of “child labour” being employed here.

It also rained so we bought rain jackets for $0.60 AUD each: it already came with holes:). We have from left to right Su Jeong Kim from South Korea, Lauren Obermueller, me, and Trang Pham

We then had a horse drawn journey around the village

We were then treated to a paddle along the natural forming channels. Huy decided to paddle as well and I got very wet!!!!

By then we were starving so what else would you have on the Me Kong than a massive fish!

We had rice paper and we picked the fish off, delicious.  Don’t be alarmed, they are scales hanging off.  From there we did a bit of shopping and saw a monkey bridge and visited a Pagoda.

 

I bought a silk fan that is hand painted and I got the artist to write on it for me.  It cost $6 AUD (100,000 VND).

That was the end of our journey so we got the boat back and went to catch the bus home.  The only concern/query I had about the trip was the fact that the life jackets were stored in plastic.  Maybe it helps with buoyancy!.

The cost of food is very cheap in the Me Kong compared to HCM, so because Huy had lost the bet in cards she owed us a bubble tea each.  So we got a lady at the bus stop to go to the nearest bubble tea shop and get prize so she wouldn’t have to pay more in HCM.  Now that is being thrifty.

On the 2 hour bus trip home we were treated with love songs on the TV in the bus.  These are very popular in Vietnam.  It was a wonderful trip with many laughs and experiences.