What a better way than to end my Vietnamese adventure with a mosey up the Mekong Delta (or the nine dragon delta). The delta lies in the south west corner of Vietnam and it is where the Mekong’s 1000s of tributaries empty into the sea. It also seemed like a pleasant way to cross the Cambodian border.
Vanessa and I booked a three day tour which included stops in My Tho and Can Tho before ending in Chau Dor. The programme was jam packed and included activities including visiting a coconut candy island, horse riding, pagodas, a home stay, orchards, rice paper making, tropical fruit tasting, fish farming, floating markets and a plethora of boat trips in various guises – yeh, in three days! I’m not sure what it is with the Vietnamese, but they certainly like you to keep moving on their tours and pack as much as possible into every minute. Needless to say, we weren’t bored; maybe a little bemused at some of the activities but certainly not bored!
My favourite part of the trip was the time we spent on the river, just chilling and watching the folk of the Delta go about their visit. However, my least favourite was the border crossing…
My visa expired 12 hours before I was due to leave Vietnam. Before committing to the trip I did my research, both online and checking with a couple of tour agents. ‘It’ll be fine, they don’t mind if you are a day or two late and if they do just say sorry and give them dollars; they like dollars!’ Despite their reassurances I was a bit jittery, especially when the guy who was doing the border crossing said I could be fined 1,000,000 dong. So, the moment of truth arrived and I was hurriedly escorted in to a room to see the border police – it felt like I was back at school and was off to see the headmaster! I was told my visa had expired, however if I paid 300,000 dong they’d stamp my visa and I’d be on my merry way. Phew… Was I glad once I was in Cambodia?
House of Wendy travels... 