Vietnam 1- Mekong Delta- Tamara

We entered Vietnam via the Mekong River which was a delightful boatride with some great scenery of the river lifestyle. The border crossing went smoothly and simply. We arrived in Cho Doc in the afternoon. We were all immediately amazed at how different Vietnam seemed compared to Cambodia. Cho Doc was a busy small town with not to much to see so we decided to move on the next day. Our next destination in the Mekong Delta was Vinh Long, a larger town a little off the tourist track. We all immediately warmed to Vietnam and were amazed at how friendly people were. Everywhere we went people would smile and say hello to us, pointed us out to their children (some cried, others said 'HELLOOOOOO' and then would get really shy). They just seemed genuinely interested and excited about our presence. It was also a relief to have 'hello's' that were not followed by 'you want to buy something...'
We took a boat tour of some of the islands around the town as well as had a lovely hot pot supper. The hot pot supper could have been a disaster if not for the help of and extraordinarily friendly Vietnamese fellow who helped us through every step (it would have been a horrible supper had he not helped us. The man did not speak english but seemed genuinely excited to hang out with us, he didn't want us to leave and might have offered to pay for our meal. But, sadly, we had to leave. I must say, the island lifestyle has a genuine charm to it.
The next morning we took a bus ride to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), I am not even going to bother trying to describe how terrible and frightening the bus ride was... we were certain that at any point during the bus ride we were about to get into an accident or that someone was going to puke... thankfully, niether occured.
Saigon was a wonderful city, the tourist area is particularly well designed. There was a beautiful park very close to our hotel where tons of locals could be found jogging, walking, playing hacky sack, playing badminton or just relaxing. We were fortunate to meet a few local Vietnamese people who were looking to practice their English. Talking with the local people is one of the best parts about travelling. They seem to especially be interested in our perceptions of them and their country.
Saigon also presented us with a new learning curve for crossing the street. There was too much traffic to wait for a break (we tried and it never comes.)The only way to cross the street is simply to walk out into traffic slowly and not make any sudden movements, but keep moving, if you stand still in the middle of the street people will honk at you. We simply had to walk and just trust that the people on the motorbikes and in the cars would first of all see us, and second that they would go around us... a few close calls... but I think we got pretty good at it.
Due to the chaotic traffic, Paul and I could not resist taking a moto taxi ride through the city. It was quite a rush with only a few close calls...
Another interesting thing we did in Saigon was visit The War Remnants Museum, we found it quite interesting to see the war details described from a different point of view.
Southern Vietnam has been truly delightful.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, the USB ports are not working, we'll try to put some on later.
Much Love*