Last day in the amazing Vietnam

What an amazing last day in Vietnam we have had! We booked ourselves onto a tour of the Mekong Delta river and paid a little extra to be in a small group of 8 instead of the large 40 persons group. We were so pleased that we did! We started the trip with a cycle ride around a local village that lies on one of the islands in the river. It was very hot but we were pleased we did this first thing before the day became too unbearable. Our guide was very informative pointing out many fruits and explaining the meanings behind certain aspects of the houses or surrounding area. After the cycle we went back on the mini bus and headed to an amazingly beautiful temple. The temples in Vietnam have been the best we have seen in terms of decoration and level of maintainance and upkeep. We were shown how to make three wishes inside the temple as the local people do with incense before we had time to explore and see the 3 Buddhas they had there; one lying, one standing and one sitting laughing Buddha. We had lunch at a guest house further up the river which was beautifully prepared and all homemade. At this point we boarded a boat that took us up the main stretch of the river which has a few floating houses on and is a lot wider than you imagine. A coconut candy making workshop was next on our list and I was surprised to like it when I don't like coconut, although to be fair it was mixed with sugarcane and peanuts so not much coconut came through in the flavour. We sat down to some local fruits and tea while the local people sang and played some traditional music of the Mekong Delta although they did throw in 'if you're happy and you know it' as a crowd pleaser. Nick took some fruit for the road of course! At this point we boarded small rowing boats in two groups and enjoyed a breath taking ride down a small canal branching off the river. The scenery was so beautiful and we were able to have a glimpse into the lives of people whose houses are on this stretch of the river. Once we left the boats we were able to try fresh honey from a bee hive by pushing your finger into the honeycomb and we even got to hold the racks of honeycomb which were covered in bees. Amazingly they do not sting and she assured us they never have or will. We tried some honey products such as tea, honey covered bananas and a peanut brittle style sweet, the peanut one in particular was so good. Afterwards we had the chance to hold a python! Something I've never done before and was very nervous about but we both did it and are super proud that we did. The snake was so much heavier and smoother than I imagined. That concluded our tour and we went back on the main river by boat to get to the mini bus to bring us back to the city. We had such a great day and it was definitely a lovely way to end our time here in Vietnam.Read more