Today was definitely the best yet. The amount of insane activities we crammed into one afternoon was unlike anything you could do back home. We started off with our bus ride to the Mekong Delta. For the hour and a half there, we sang our hearts out in karaoke. It was 8:00 AM, and those who tried to sleep were unsuccessful to say the least. Once we got there we got some tea and coffee and then got on a boat to ride to the other side of the river, passing fishermen along the way.

After our first boat ride, we passed through the marketplace which was calmer than HCMC, but the vendors still tried to take advantage of us unassuming Americans.

We tried honey tea and literally ate with bees; I had to save one from my cup.

After honey tea, one the workers brought out a python for lunch. Not actually, but we did all hold in on our shoulders until it started hissing at us. That totally freaked us out but the worker quickly swapped out the snake for his backup python which was much calmer.

After our python party we had mangos, pineapple, dragonfruit, and other traditional Vietnamese fruits. There was a band walking around that played us a traditional Vietnamese song and then a lovely rendition of “If You’re Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands.” Our second boat ride was my favorite thing we did. We had four people in each boat with two guides paddling through the jungle. It was so beautiful being under the palms seeing the sun come through the foliage.

We rode our little canoes to an island in the river where we had a massive lunch with eight courses. Anna and I ate fish eyes, but the sticky rice and chicken was the pest part. Once we were good and full from lunch we decided to jump in plastic bubbles to thrash in the river and sweat out our lunch. The peanut gallery might disagree, but Angus and I were the best at balancing in the bubbles. Everyone was dripping sweat after being in the bubbles so we cooled down by feeding the fish and alligators in one of the ponds on the island.

All in all, it was incredible seeing the juxtaposition between HCMC and life in the Mekong Delta. There were a lot of elderly Vietnamese working in the region. It looked like especially hard work given the humidity and amount of manual farming we saw. It was refreshing to have a day outside of the city and so fun being on the water with everyone. Now we’re on the bus heading back to the hotel. The plan is to swim and get some more good food to round off the night. Cu Chi tunnels are up next!