Thursday 22 March 2012

The best things in life are always simple things that are cheap - Day 2 - Mekong Delta

Hostels are cheap for a reason - i.e. you cant expect to sleep when you pay $6 per night. Not complaining for that price, but hey, why do the beds have to so damn noisy! Every time Scott tosses and turns it squeaks. Oh and if you want to have an afternoon nap, well you'll have to go somewhere else - they don't turn on the airconditioning until 9 in the night.
 
Anyway I wake up to get ready to go on a day trip to Mekong Delta, HCMC's country side. I have breakfast and at the table I meet an Australian couple - we instantly bond. They tell me their plans and I tell mine and my bus is ready to pick me up.
 
I sit in the bus and a Korean tourist unwillingly sits next to me. He then puts his earphones on - Ummm dude, I was NOT going to talk to you! While the tour guide talks and tells a bit of history, the Korean is too engrossed passing level 9 in Fruit Ninja. The guide also warns us that the place is nothing like what you see on the postcards. Damn it! Why dint you tell me before booking! We reach the Delta and get on our boats. It's nothing like the floating markets in Thailand but its quite nice in its own way. We are taken to the Coconut candy making factory, rice paper making factory. We then get on a country style rowing boat. Its quite a nice trip except the 12'oclock heat. Calm river, birds chirping in the background, sound of the ripples as the ladies row the boat - I am enjoying this! We then go to a restaurant where are given home cooked meals. I meet a couple of melbourne girls. We get talking and they tell me how careful they are to not get food poisoning - they only eat bread and rice - plain....I want to throw up there but I just gulp and carry on.
 
They give strange looks at every thing they see - jackfruit, OMG what is that?, Peanut Candy, OMG that looks gross, Spring rolls - OMG they look dodgy. I say to myself, "OMG I want to run". I am all for trying to be cautious with food when overseas, but why expect a local experience if all you want to eat is Pizza and KFC! Anyway, to each their own. 
 
After lunch we are given the option of riding a bike around the country side or resting on the hammock. Riding the bike in at 1pm and 36 degree does'nt sound good terribly exciting to me so I choose the hammock. They girls follow suit. We go there and rest. 
 














 
 
Under the shade, cool breeze sitting on a hammock and doing nothing - now this is what I call a holiday! Yes, best things in life are always simple things that are cheap.
 
We rest for abt 2 hours and then we head back to our hotel and after about 3 hours, we are dropped off at HCMC. Everyone is tired. The girls ask what my plans are for the night  - although I m dying to see the city at night,  I don't fancy going out with them. So I say I am having a quite night and we part ways. I go grab something to eat and hit the sack at 8.30. I really am having a quite night! Scott is still doing some random internet surfing - god knows what! I am too exhausted to fill him on how my day was. I am fast asleep - then at around 3.30am someone enters the room. I open my eyes and spot a cute asian guy (Yes I can still spot someone cute even if I m half asleep :P). So I go back to sleep again, look at the guy and say to myself, Ahhhh, if we are destined to meet, we will...
 
Unfortunately day 2 dint have any racy bits like day 1 - BUT, day 3 took care of it! :P
 
Stay tuned....

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