Caution! Danger Ahead!

Saturday, September 15th was exactly the kind of day I usually only dream about. It was full of adventure and possible danger. Don't worry, no one was hurt. (DISCLAIMER FOR ALL MOMS: If you don't want to read what lies ahead of you, I won't be offended...)

I woke up in the Asia Hotel at 6:30 am to pack and have a breakfast of bread, an omelet, and iced coffee with milk in the hotel restaurant. We checked out and got onto our coach bus at 8:00. It drove us down the street to a dock where we boarded a squat, covered tourist motorboat. It was a long boat tour and I was glad I had remembered my DEET and my sunscreen. I took lots of pictures of the locals transporting goods in their boats and doing their laundry off of their docks. We visited the floating market and that was pretty cool. It's a bunch of boats that hang a sample of whatever they're selling onto a tall post on their boat. They congregate and when your boat gets close enough to buy something from them, they tie your boat to their and you visit each other and do your shopping that way. We stopped and got pineapple from this one boat and both the idea of a floating market and the actual fruit were pretty incredible. Two hours later, we had gone back down the Mekong River and were dropped off on the other side. We visited families living on the river and they had adorable kids who begged for our money and gum. I kept taking their picture and showing them, as seems customary for entertainment purposes. I also taught them how to do high fives and to say "I love you." Then the kids followed us as we walked into the market where our bus had taken the ferry across the river and was waiting for us. We said goodbye at 11:00 am and boarded the bus yet again.

We were on the bus for the next 45 minutes and arrived at yet another dock where the same type of squat, long tourist boat awaited us. We boarded for another 20 minutes and our driver took us to a small touristy restaurant. The owner was 77 year-old former VietCong soldier and was very sweet. His food featured little men made of cucumbers riding the fish and spring rolls. He took a special liking to me because I wanted to take his picture and asked him how he was in Vietnamese. Lunch lasted until I decided to get up and explore the neighborhood. We saw lots of birds and decided to turn back for fear of Avian Flu. We then took our boat to a brick and terra cotta factory. This was really cool because, although it was literally 100 degrees Fahrenheit with just as much humidity, the huge kilns and many rows of finished clay animals were mesmerizing. I took lots of pictures and observed people making lots of bricks out of clay.

Then our boat took us to a smaller offshoot of the larger river and we divided into groups of four to board smaller boats that were being paddled by the locals. We got to wear the famous rice hats and enjoy the boat ride through the jungle part of Vietnam. It was surreal and exactly like you see in the movies and that made me feel like I was on a ride at Dsiney World. We took lots of pictures of the wildlife and of the kids swimming in the river, which was their backyard. About half an hour later, we got off the boats and were greeted by three children and their parents trying to get us to buy stuff. I bought a gigantic bottle of water because I had never sweated so much in my entire life. I figured it would be healthy to try and replace the water I had been losing continuously since that morning. We walked about five minutes to a huge open patio with a cute bonsai tree garden and I immediately focused on a large fish swimming in the bottom of one of the bonzai tree's pots. As I was preparing to take its picture, it surprised me. Watch the hilarious video...

Needless to say, I quickly moved away from the aggressive fish and towards the rest of my group. When I got to the patio, they were eating fruit and taking turns holding a 50-pound python. Of course, I kissed its face and it licked my lips. I also got to hold its tail end! It was a good time for sure. Then we all tried shots of snake blood wine. It wasn't that bad, actually. :) I finished up our amazing stay at the patio place with some time eating fruit hammock.

After about an hour, we were forced to leave the patio. I would have stayed forever. Dangerous animals, fruit, and hammocks-what else do you need? We boarded the boat again, but it was hot inside so I sat on the bow with a couple other people. It started to sprinkle just as we got to our home stay in the town of Vinh Long at 5:00. We walked up the small plank to the house on stilts in the water and found a couple of rooms with cots and mosquito nets. I was so excited and immediately set up my stuffed animals (Matthias and Gorge) as well as my pictures of my family, Andy, and his family. Then I went exploring in back of the house with ZeeZee and a couple of people from our group. We went in search of ripe fruit in their orchard, but none of it seemed to be ripe. I went back to the house and found the kitchen, where three women and two men were preparing our dinner. I spoke to them a bit and they let me be with them as they finished their preparations.

Then our group gathered on the porch, which was a bunch of hammocks set up next to the railing and the river. They had invited a small band of the local people to come and play traditional songs from the Mekong Delta. They had some pretty funny actions and some interesting instruments. Most of the songs were about their daily life, like working in their rice field and having their wife bring them lunch, etc. After about five songs, they asked us to perform a song from America and we somehow chose "Summer Lovin'" from Grease. It was an interesting performance, to say the least. :) The band left at about 8:00 and we had a dinner that consisted of fish, rice, some greens, etc.

After dinner, I spent some time catching up on journal entries for my "Vietnamese Life and Culture" class. Then ZeeZee and I went down the dock to our boat and sat on the front to talk for a bit. After a while, people joined us to talk and I got tired. I went to bed at 9:45 with my stuffed animals, Spongebob Squarepants pillowcase, and my mosquito net.