Hello,

My three day journey to Cambodia was an incredible experience. I started off by taking a bus many hours through small downs in the Mekong Delta. I then got on a boat and we travelled down the many of the canals of the delta towards Cambodia. We stopped at a village market on the way.

People live right on the river here. A common sight is families sitting in their huts waving to us as we pass. Clothes are hung out on the line and children are often swimming in the front. People use boats to get around from place to place. There are also big floating markets where people buy or exchange goods. You can buy fruits, meat, goods and just about anything. Basically, people pull up their boats to the other boats and check what they may have for sale.

The first day was going pretty smoothly, until the bus I as on had a flat tire. It’s hard to explain the struggles. Remember that it is very hot here and the means of transportation are nothing like home. The roads are bumpy, the air conditioning is far from cool and there are many smells. That said, I watched the guy change the tire and thought he was going to get run over. Drivers here don’t really care about people on the road or laws. Scooters passed by this guy within feet. It is just part of the normal chaotic life here.

After an hour, we got on the bus once more. We drove another hour and ran into a huge line of cars. We waited and waited. Then the bus driver told us that this was the line to get on the ferry and that we would likely have to wait three or four hours to pass. WE all decided to pick up our bags and hike to the ferry and cross by foot. After 2 minutes of walking, it started to ran. I had to laugh. because it was raining and the water on the roads was getting high too. Drainage is not a priority here, same as I noted in Saigon. Well, I was getting all soaked and for some strange reason was happy about the whole thing. That said, I had no clue what I was going to o on the other side of the ferry. All wet, we boarded the ferry and travelled across the water. This is not like a regular tourist ferry, but was the real thing… smells, heat, rain, and all that comes with that.

On the other side of the water, I realized that the only way to get to my home stay was by motorbike. I was with three other people that were going to the same place. We got on a carriage behind the motorbike and rode for an hour on bumpy roads. The best part…… people all around us were saying hello. They all smile like crazy. A little boy found me to be amusing and him and his Dad kept catching up to us and would laugh and high five me between our travelling vehicles. It was getting dark. I can’t tell you the feeling I had driving down the road in this foreign country at night with people smiling and saying hello all around me. I’m glad the tire went flat.

On that cart I met an older man. I was able to get a great picture with him from behind that motorbike. He was about 65 years old at least. He was travelling on his own. He told me that many of his friends started to develop health problems and he decided that he was going out and doing everything he could now, before he couldn’t any longer. He was a nice man and very inspiring. He reminded me of Uncle Ken in a way. Take a look at that picture.

We got to a boat landing. Three or four kids surrounded us and I played with them for a long time. I chased them, laughed with them, took pictures… They were great. We got on a small junk boat and went down many narrow canals of the delta. It was misty outside and dark. Old villages and fishing huts surrounded us. I was speechless as I travelled down that river. The only way that I can describe it… like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World. I wanted time to stop on that boat.

The home stay was in little fishing huts on the river. I got to eat with the family and quickly made friends with a young boy there. He wanted to speak English with me. He told me about his life on the river and then started to teach me Vietnamese. You will see him in the picture at the blackboard in the back of the house. He was such a nice lad. He was so keen about learning and life. I think North American kids will have a lot of trouble keeping up with these children.

The next day, we went through floating villages an more canals of the delta. We stopped in Chau Doc for the night. As we entered the town, I was amazed to see many children flying kites in a long construction site. There were hundreds of kites flying in the air as these kids ran through sand and around pipes to keep them up in the air. You may find this bizarre, but before I left on this journey, I gave myself the symbol of a kite. I was going to let myself just go where I was led. I wrote of this in my journal way back. For me, seeing all these kites was a signal that I was going in the right direction. Take that as you may.

We stopped at a mountain pagoda along the way and I have some nice pictures of that beautiful area.

In Chau Doc… go figure… became friends with a couple of the workers at the hotel and they took me out after closing. We went to a street cafe and had fruit juice shakes. These people are very welcoming.

The next day, off to the border.

Luv Gerry