Mekong Delta

I visited here on a foreshortened tour (never believe a Vietnam sales woman about finishing times, in fact just never believe a Vietnam sales person) because a two day tour would have meant missing my train to Quy Nohn. This was disappointing as I missed out on the floating markets and a home stay. Anyway, I did get to ride in a canoe (admittedly one filled with other tourists) and the speedboat tour back to Saigon was fantastic, watching the life on the banks of the river change and all the cargo boats go by. I tried snake wine, banana wine and some really lovely lotus flower honey. The snake wine is not too bad, but I am not convinced of it doing much except damaging your liver.

One of the canoes that I rode on

A Vietnamese rower

A water buffalo

Jackfruit growing on trees, I tried these which I am pretty sure are non-existent in the UK

A live-on boat

The man to the left is playing a piece of wire attached to the bamboo pole, it makes a kind of tinny sound that you associate with the East. The music was quite good, shame that the singing sounded like a strangled cat (never has that term been so appropriate)

Lots of Cargo boats on the Mekong river which begins in Tibet

There are various different sorts of housing on the riverside, varying from apartment blocks to shacks half falling in the water made of bush materials

A typical riverside scene

I saw this everywhere used as roof material so I presume that is what it's for

These were quite strange 'terraces' that were not joined up. They looked even odder from the air when I flew in, some just spring up in the middle of nowhere with no street, nothing

The Saigon part of the Mekong River which was very polluted and the driver kept having to stop to remove rubbish from the motor

Another part of Saigon where we finished our boat trip