Ho Chi Minh City & Mekong Delta Experience

It’s been a while since we blogged and in that time a lot has happened for us. We needed to renew our Vietnam Visas, and with so many interesting countries close by to explore we chose Cambodia for a week’s travel for the visa run.

The family flew into Ho Chi Minh City which was a stark contrast to our small town of Hoi An. The hustle and bustle of a busy city with everyone in a rush took a bit to get used to. While we were there we linked up with Ian, Karen and Jess (from the Mornington Peninsula) and hit the markets/shops for some bargains. See if you can spot Alison!

The boys having fun buying watches.

We shared a delicious meal of Vietnamese treats with Ian, Karen and Jess after our afternoon of shopping.

Ho Chi Minh City night scape.

With an early start we began our two day Mekong Delta tour (yes we became real tourists) which was a combination of bus and boat that would take us across the Vietnam / Cambodia border to the capital city of Phnom Penh.

Along the way we experienced the rice paper making process, the maker being very skilled and quite quick, with each piece of rice paper being made in less than a minute.

Many people live on their boats, travelling up and down the Mekong Delta, transporting produce that is sold at various markets, including the famous floating market of Can Tho.

Refreshing coconut juice.

Along the way we experienced the Vietnamese rowing style which was a beautiful way of traveling while we explored a floating village. This village mainly farms fish and have big cages in the water under the houses that hold thousands of fish.

We made it to the Vietnam / Cambodia border and the first part of the crossing process occurred on a boat where our passports were checked. From there we had to walk about 1km to Cambodia across the official border and back on the bus again.