Mekong River – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

Friday, September 1st, 2021

This morning at breakfast we tried another local fruit, mangosteen or queen fruit. You peel the rind and enjoy the juicy segments inside. We didn’t take a picture of one peeled open.

The picture below showed what a mangosteen peel and inside fruit looked like.

Today we took the sampan boat to Tân Châu.

The ferry takes people from one side of the river to the other side.

When we got off the boat we got on a rickshaw for a 15-20 minute ride to the temple, Thánh Thãt Tân Châu.

When we got on the rickshaw it was raining for part of our ride. We felt sorry for our drivers. We tipped them well when we got off at the temple.

Sights as we rode around the busy town.

We got off the rickshaws at the Thánh Thãt Tân Châu.

We took off our shoes and entered the temple, women entered on the left and men on the right. It was ornate and beautiful inside.

Looking out from the temple to its entrance and the river behind.

Another boat on one of the canals off the Mekong.

We got back on our sampan for a ride to Vinh Hoa, known as “Evergreen Island”. It was one of the islands in the Makong Delta. We climbed out of our boat and walked up a path for an interesting walk on the island. It was a rural community with traditional houses up on stilts.

The island was luscious with all kinds of vegetables growing.

Some of the neighborhood children walked with us because they didn’t have school today because tomorrow was a national Vietnam holiday. We enjoyed their company.

We visited one of the local homes and our guide translated with the mother. She was very gracious and after our question and answer time she let us visit inside her home. To get to the home there was a ramp up the front of the home. The family needed that because they keep their motorbike(s) on the porch! The home had a back staircase also.

Her youngest was so sweet. He wove a palm leave into a beautiful butterfly and gave it to me!

Their home was made of corrugated iron and the floor in the living area was bamboo slats. This home had electricity and a small television. The home was very clean and they made good use of their limited space.

Leaving down the back staircase of the home

When our visit was finished we got back on the sampan to visit one of the many floating fish farms on the Mekong. The fish we fed were about three months old. The fish were in cages and fed once a day. The river current helped to keep the cages clean. It was a smelly place.

The video demonstrated the fish going being fed food.

After our visit to the floating fish farm we went back to the riverboat because we were crossing the Border from Vietnam to Cambodia! As were cruised along the river the Sous chef, Chef Sophors and his assistant did a demonstration on how to make fresh spring rolls. He also gave us his recipe!

Tony, our program director gave a talk about the history of Vietnam. It was an interesting talk.

Our cabin neighbor came and told us to look out our window. We did and saw a reclining Buddha up on stilts in Cambodia.

Tomorrow we would have a busy day in Phonmh Penh, Cambodia!

Wednesday, August 30th, 2023

This morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. It was about two and a half hours from Ho Chi Minh City.

As we left Saigon we saw bananas, watermelons, and other fruits being sold.

The Cu Chi tunnels were part of a Vietnam War memorial park.

There were military vehicles left from the Vietnam war around the area.

These tunnels were begun by Communist forces in the 1940s during the war to gain their independence from France. The tunnels were often dug by hand. These tunnels were expanded during the war between the North Vietnamese and the non-Communist regime in South Vietnam.

The United States military aided South Vietnam and used a lot of aerial bombing and the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong went underground in these tunnels. Besides offering shelter the tunnels served as a base for the Communist attacks on Saigon.

Look at the two pictures below. Can you find the entrance to one of the tunnels? It’s there!

The video below showed our guide demonstrating how the Viet Cong disappeared!

The United States had to learn to navigate these tunnels and were called “tunnel rats” and they also had to look out for the booby traps. The area was all jungle and so it was extremely difficult to find the tunnels and escape the booby traps everywhere. Below were just a few of the various traps that were set for the S. Vietnamese and U.S. soldiers. They were quite gruesome.

We had the opportunity to go down into one of the tunnels and crawl/stoop through one section. It was dark and humid in the tunnel.

The entrance that was created for visitors.

Tony took these pictures of us as we came out of the tunnel.

We saw other areas of the tunnels that had been uncovered for visitors to see.

Our guide gave us a bag of tapioca to try. It didn’t have much flavor. It reminded me of a raw potato.

On our way from the tunnels to the port we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant that served traditional food family style.

These were some of the interesting sites we saw as we headed to the port.

Our next stop was the port where we boarded the Viking Saigon, our riverboat for seven days. A staff member showed us to our room and explained where everything was located. Our luggage was already in our room. We unpacked and met our room steward, Patha.

Our cabin and the Mekong River from our French Balcony.

There were 77 passengers on board plus the crew members. The rooms were very spacious! The Viking Saigon had one lounge, one dining room, one skybar, which was on the top deck where the small pool and sun deck was located.

Before dinner there was piano music in the lounge and at 6:00 PM we had a Welcome briefing by one of the program directors and an introduction by the hotel manager.