Back on the Mekong, I love it.

27/4 - Another early start. I'm off on a boat trip at 7.00. Trung tried to get me to meet him for coffee at 6.00, but I managed to side step that one, I used diplomacy and said NO!!!
I expected the boat trip would be full of tourists. Lam picked me up at the hotel spot on time and we walked along the riverfront and jumped in his boat, just me and him, pretty exclusive. It could do with a lick of paint, but it is just the job. We set off across the Mekong river, heading for Cai Be floating market. This delta is a huge set of huge rivers. I love cruising on the Mekong, it is very relaxing and there's plenty of traffic of all sorts of boats and lots of action going on, so there is plenty to keep me amused as I chill on my seat. We passed loads of big boats stacked high with rice husks that are used for burning. Each boat has its own crew of 4 or 5 and big wicker baskets that they use to load and unload the husks manually. I've seen the lads in action, they earn their corn. On every one of these boats there was 1 lad steering and the rest were fast on in hammocks suspended at the back of the boat. They can sleep at the drop of a hat around here. We passed several villages where retailers, wholesalers and workshops opened out onto the river for ease of loading. It seems like it would be a good way to live, by boat, more relaxed than the car mayhem in the UK, perhaps we should flood the country, perhaps we wont have to with Mr Global Warming having a say. Is that the Grumpy old man chipping in again?
Lam pulled over at a petrol station for a few litres. He was telling me that his boat was kitted out as a home and 7 of them sailed around the Mekong Delta for 2 years, working as they went. It had to be cleared with the police before they could set off and an itinerary given, although I can't see it being very exact for 2 years, or perhaps it is only me that can't stick to a plan. He said he had a bit of problem with some locals shopping him to the police, because they thought he was illegal and some asking for money or they would shop him, but when he threatened to go to the police, they backed off. He was saying he had a few police searches on the way. There is a lot of smuggling goes on around the Delta, especially to Cambodia, from what I hear. I think I could handle cruising around the Delta working along the way. I wonder if they have wifi on the delta, so I can dial in.
It took about an hour to get to the floating market, but it flew by. At the market, there are big boats full of produce. 1 boat may be full of 1 product, like pineapples or 2 or 3 products. They are mostly fruit and veg. The big boats sell onto smaller boats, or other big boats. The suppliers are generally farmers who have sailed into market. One boat was off-loading pineapples in a production line of lads, throwing them 2 at a time. I bet that owner was a happy farmer. There was a young lass loading up sacks and weighing them, with what looked like dirty potatoes. Each boat seems to be a family or couples business. A lot of the customers are women, or groups of women in boats. We passed a few boats with a group of women having a good natter on the way to the market, as one steered the boat. It is a big produce market and quite impressive, in fact very impressive, to me. There is a cathedral overlooking matters from the shore, so no dodgy dealing please. We did a circuit of the market, down both sides. It is village life on water and very pleasing to see.
We headed across the river, still the Mekong I think, there are so many big rivers and we stopped at a coconut candy making place. Coconut toffees to us Brits. 3 women are making them from scratch and wrapping each one by hand, so Lam showed me the process. I had to buy some, the samples were lovely. We had a brew, local tea, which is also lovely and a few more samples.
We carried on crossing through an island on small tree lined rivers, very picturesque, this is a smashing place and I didn't remember the name. Along the way there are several boats full of mud, with blokes hoying it onto the banks to build them up against flooding. No wonder the blokes around the Vietnam countryside are mostly well toned, they put in some work. Perhaps I should volunteer for a few days work, except I'd get the sack. These rivers are really lovely. I spotted a couple of types of kingfishers along the banks, similar to back home and just as beautiful. Some farmers passed us going to market with boat loads of rambutan, a spikey fruit that tastes almost as good as it looks. Next stop was a bonsai garden, I guess we are on the tourist route. I had a wander around, while Lam hit the hammock. I checked out the fruit trees as much as the bonsai trees, there's all sorts around here. I went to join Lam and a plate of fruit was dished up with more very nice tea. This is the life. The grapefruit are huge and left a week to get rid of the bitter taste, a shame as I like it. The mangoes are juicy and tasty and there is another fruit whose name I forget, that is very sour. These are the ones Jack the lad gave me in Chau Doc, but are a different colour, so I was duped. I skipped the bananas and we sailed off again. We were headed for a nursery garden, which I was not sure about, but Lam's mate phoned and Lam came along and said he had an idea. Instead of the nursery garden, we could go to see his friend, about 20 minutes away and have some rice wine, he is having a party after coming home for a few days. It sounded like a good idea to me. It was, but there was one problem, when we got there, we went to the wrong friend. Same name, different bloke. The second one lived about an hour away, so we gave it a miss and headed back to Vinh Long. I got some extra time on the Mekong, which was good. We were going to do a bit of catfish fishing, but I think that idea timed out. Lam saw me looking at the nets he had on the boat, that's where that idea came from. I have had a good day, a smashing experience. I'm easily pleased, despite what you lot say.
When we got back to town, the electricity was off, so that knocked the e-fix on the head. I wandered aimlessly. Surprised??? Me neither. Picked up a baguette from a street corner lady, not one of those street corner ladies, a one selling baguettes. It had all sorts on it. I found a bench in a pagoda grounds and got stuck in. A couple of kids wandered over, closely followed by their Mams and a couple more kids. The Mams were getting their chops around some tea in the pagoda garden when I strolled in like John Wayne with a wiggle. The Mams didn't speak English, but still managed to get across the message "What's wrong with your legs?" but it is hard to gesticulate muscular dystrophy. I keep trying and everyone keeps nodding, but somehow I think the message is not getting across. Without any English, one of the Mams also managed to ask for some money for each of her 3 kids, but I didn't go for it and handed out my packet of biscuits instead. The kids seemed happy. I don't think I'll ever get to finish a packet of biscuits.
A clothes and jewellry street market setup whilst I was sitting and chewing the fat, in both senses of the words, so I took a wander through. It was pretty good and I bought a couple of hair clips for Diep and Dung when we go to see them tomorrow, then wandered back to the river. It is like a Gil magnet. There are street vendors everywhere, especially in the evenings. I bought some fried snacks from one, if you want to know what they were, you will have to ask her. They were tasty though and she laughed when I nodded everytime she pointed to something to put on them.
The power came back, so I thought I'd hit the internet. Shows how much I know. The first one was closing at 21:15 and the second has a little old lady, who everytime she sees me just shouts NO NO NO. It's the second time I've tried with the same reaction, first time it was full. She needs to learn some manners, she has got the grumpy old lady thing all wrong. I gave up with the internet plan and went back to my balcony with a can of beer to listen to the karaoke and read. A better plan by far.