Today was spent riding and traveling through sections of the Mekong River. This was one of the days I was most excited for. Once we go to the river, we filed into a small boat that would take us from island to island. On the islands we did many activities from riding in horse carriages to slow canoe rides through mini rivers. My favorite part of the day was when we came upon a man holding a snake. I always try to be adventurous in life and I saw this as an awesome opportunity for myself. Feeling the scales on my neck was exhilarating and truly an out of this world experience.

Taking a step back, it’s quite interesting to look at the lives of the people from the region. In the area that we visited it seemed like a very heavy focus on tourism. There were many small shops selling foods and little goods to consumers who visit the area. The people live simple lives in more remote areas. In some ways this can create the most authentic people who aren’t affected by the outside world. Overall, the people who live there almost live off the tourism and as the rainy season approaches this could be a big hit to their sources of income. These people may need to find supplemental jobs during this season to make ends meet. Those not working tourism may be in the fields cultivating crops and making rice. Rice being one of the biggest products in Vietnam it’s no surprise it’s very popular along the Mekong. The preservation of the Mekong River is vital in the success the locals are able to have. Vietnam needs to protect its largest water entity and by doing that the people who live there will greatly benefit.