War museum HCMC

War remnants museum HCMC

Crater from bomb blast

Another entry hole to tunnels

Down the hole

Nasty traps

Tank display- Cu chi

Cu chi tunnels

Brock could fit down one if the holes- I wouldnt even try!

Mekong delta

On Wednesday (11 April) we had a full on day visiting the Mekong delta area. Our journey took us 170km from Saigon on a 3 hour drive to the fertile lands of market gardens and busy river trade of the Mekong delta. We boarded a boat and spent 5 hours touring. We saw fruit & veg being traded from boat to boat, then cruised to an area where candy and fruit wine was made. A very labour intensive operation in all aspects, we saw the distillation process of the wine (25-30% liqueur). I sampled a couple of the fruit varieties whilst Dean was brave enough to drink the snake wine! There was coconut crisps, toffee and popped rice candy for tasting / purchasing as well. These guys don't waste a thing in the manufacturing process.
After 45 minutes on our boat, the next visit was lunch at a tearooms where once again we were served too many dishes and ate far more than normal. Then onto market gardens, heaps of fruit trees and more food! (Adam pictuured with jacfruit) Cruising back to our car we were amazed at how the massive river supports so many people.
Our car journey home involved taking in more of the scenery and lifestyles of the poorer side of the population in some areas.

Trade boats on Mekong delta

Market garden, fruit trees

Tea room Mekong delta village

Crispy fish, salad, rice paper, spring rolls

Trade on Mekong delta

Snakes in tank

Coconut paper crisp production

Snake wine

Candy making - coconut peanut toffee

Goodbye Hoi An, Hello Saigon

Yesterday we said goodbye to our lovely resort and were transferred to DaNang for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. DaNang area has a lot of development going on, heaps of beachside resorts being built (including one endorsed by Greg Norman). DaNang airport is clean and modern, and a favorite place for the mig 21's to fly. Boys very excited saw and heard at least 10 take off in the time we were there.
Our flight was only an hour, before we new it we were in Ho Chi Minh City. Lots of traffic but roads wider so doesn't seem as frantic as Hanoi. In the afternoon we went for a small walk around surrounding streets but it was so very hot that we just found a place for the boys to swim for a while.
We are staying in an historic hotel, the Continental, been a hotel since 1880 -In the 1400's it was a palace!
The architecture is gorgeous, we had a beautiful dinner in the French restaurant downstairs last night.
Even at night it's a warm 25 degrees, but quite pleasant for an evening stroll to walk off dinner. We are right in the centre of the city so plenty of shops, eateries, bars open late.

Beautiful decor of French restaurant in our hotel