Mekong Delta Tour, Vietnam

On Jan 28, 2002, we took a three day Mekong Delta tour with Sinh Office (local travel agent). We were busy from 7 in the morning until 7 at night everyday. It cost $25 US per person and included all entrance fees for activities and two nights accommodation at great hotels. We visited temples (this country is loaded with them), floating markets, fish farms, a rice mill (very similar to milling grain), a vermicelli factory (rice noodle making), and incense making factory (for Buddhists worshiping at temples), a rice paper making factory, and a stork sanctuary. The trip included a final day boat trip through the Mekong Delta canals for 4 hours, where we were able to see how the people live and work.

A Boating Mishap

A funny incident happened during the boat trip, or at least in retrospect it is funny. Lance needed to go to the washroom, so he went to the back of the boat where the washroom consisted of a round hole in the deck surrounded by a 3 foot high plywood enclosure. He entered the enclosure, pulled down his pants and bent down (so that certain parts would not be visible to the world). When he bent his knees he leaned on the enclosure (which much to his surprise was NOT attached) and it fell over. He was sprawled on the boat deck, his pants down around my knees, and fully exposed! Needless to say the other passengers had a good laugh. Fortunately, he was not injured, nothing more than a bruise on his arm and a bruised ego, and thank goodness he fell into the boat and not over the edge into the water!