Vietnam - The Mekong Delta

Hello readers,

Towards the end of my last post I talked about me visiting the Mekong Delta. A trip which was advertised in my hostel from day one, but I simply didn't have to courage to go on it alone.

Well, I did. This post is about my short visit there and boy was it a day to remember.

I can't actually recall how I got to the ferry to cross but somehow I got there. I think it was a shuttle bus, or maybe I walked. I honestly have no idea. It was a miracle I found the right boat since everything was written in Vietnamese.

I boarded the ferry and straight away noticed the seats were a bit odd.. they were sofas and chairs as you can see, but as you can also probably see they weren't secured to the floor.

The floor itself was also wooden so it was a slippery combination. The crossing wasn't too choppy but my chair still slid across the floor as did everyone elses. I tried my best to plant my feet on the floor hoping the rubber from my converse would give me some sort of grip.

The water I was crossing was murkey, muddy and smelt of sewage. One thing I quickly learnt there was they couldn't give a toss about global warming or recycling or any of that nonsense. Nope, just chuck it on the floor and some poor sod will sweep it up.

When I arrived on the other side I was immediately greeted by a guide who spoke basic english. I'd barely got onto shore before he brought out part of a bee hive and expalined that these bees are used to make a honey tea which was really nice to drink.

He asked the group if they wanted to hold the bees to which everyone said yes. I was last so I didn't want to be the only person to say no. I wasn't scared, I just didn't want to drop them and get stung. Afterall I'd no idea if I would have an allergic reaction or not.

Not to mention I was wearing shorts and a T shirt. Not exaclty bee keeper clothing. Still at least I could dive in the sewage water behond me if things went wrong.

Here they are

You can see I'm literally standing on the beach where we got off. I wasn't expecting this at all!

Speaking of surprises, the guide then put away the bee's a brought out a big snake from one of the cages. I'm ok with snakes and it was a Python. Probably one of the safest big snakes to hold. I'd held one back on Magnetic Island but this was a completely different experience.

One thing I took note of was the tiny cage he pulled the snake out of. You can see it in the background. Now I imagine this snake gets handled alot so it's used to people, however being kept in that tiny cage must surely make it uncomfortable/angry..

At first he hung it over my shoulders.

But then, without my permission he wrapped it around my neck.

Now if you don't know how dodgy this is, then you don't know how pythons kill their pray. They coil round and squeeze making the grip tighter and suffocating the prey.

This thing was wrapped around my neck so I tried to remain calm.

However you can see in this photo, the snake has tightened the noose, which is why I have my chin down to protect my airway.

The guide also noticed this and that's why he's taking the snake off.

I'm sure it didn't want to hurt me but when you have something that is purely made of muscle around your neck, you don't stand a chance if it decides to tighten. A bit of a dodgy experience but there we go.

A short walk to a shady shelter and the guide sat us down for a quick snack. I'm not sure what it was but the best way I can describe it is dried banna bread with sugar. We also got to try thr honey tea thanks to the bee's I held earlier. It was delicious!

Next up were the actual boats that took us down part of the Mekong River.

It was very narrow, tight and the murkey muddy water reminded me of the everglades. There was bound to be some sort of preditor in there. I didn't fancy sticking my hand in to find out!

It was also alot busier than imagined as you can see. Tourism really does ruin experiences.

They gave me a hat and off we sailed down river.

Despite the way I looked, I felt no sun on the back of my neck and it instantly cooled me down. It was midday so the sun was really hitting hard.

Time for a drink break...Snake Vodka.

The one on the left has snakes in, the one on the right has banana skins and other fruits in. Guess which tasted better...

Actually the snakes! Way nicer, I couldn't believe the difference.

Here's proof that they're real snakes.

A Cobra

I was very tempted to buy this one and take it home but in the end decided against it. Apparently the alcohol preserves the snake and illiminates the venom, but for how long?

You can see the head of the snake at the top of the bottle. Pretty cool!

From snakes to crocodiles!

I've seen a few crocs in my life but never like this.

They were all crammed in a metal and concrete cage with no vegetation or hides. Just an open box that tourists like me can look into.

This was a real life crocodile pit. Something I thought only existed in some sort of action movie but turns out they're real and as an animal lover like me, it's quite sickening.

There was a chance to feed the crocodiles some meet on a fishing rod. I say fishing rod it's a bit of bamboo with steing attached. The meat is tied in the string.

But the others in the group that fed the crocodiles kept teasing them. Waving food infront then quickly whipping it away when the croc went for a bite.

Video evidence:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/44EdPbbABQwxmfx3A

I lost count of how many times they did this but it was more than 10. You can see in the video the crocs below couldn't be bothered anymore, they just lay there. I wanted to just grab his belt and throw him over the edge to give them a proper meal.

After much consideration and seeing everyone else toy with the crocs I decided to pay and actually feed one. (Properly). I knew crocodiles could jump out the water but had never seen it in action. Up until my turn everyone dangled the meat on land but I chose to hang it right in the center of the water.

At first no crocs came over.

"You need to hang it over land" a tourist said.

"Nah, they'll get it" I replied.

I felt like saying the reason they wouldn't come over is because dickheads like you have been teasing them for the past 10 minutes so they probably think I'm going to yank the meat away so why bother? Smart Crocs.

I waited patiently with the meat in the middle. A big croc slowly made it's way into the water and crept up on the "prey". At this point more tourists came over saying I was holding it too high. "Nah, he'll get it". The croc waited for me to yank the meat away but when I didn't it realised I wasn't a dick and crept closer. Positioning below with it's mouth open. Then with enormous power it lept out the water and snatched the meat! I felt the power of it's jaws through the bamboo as it took a bite.

What an animal!

Best freinds!

We then had to make our way to a bus on the other side of the swamp. It was either go round the long way or take this bridge. Most people went round the longer, more secure way but I wanted to test the bridge.

I was on my own so that meant less weight. My main concern was what was in the water below? More Crocs? It was certainly murkey enough for them to hide. I walked across and sure enough people started following me.

Here they come. Baaaaah!

It was like watching sheep lol

I got on the bus and it took us to some sort of Bhuddist temple...

This was a complete shift in atmosphere. 20 minutes ago I had a snake round my neck, drank snake vodka and fed a crocodile. Now all of a sudden I'm at a temple.

It's as if I just went through a real life laoding screen. Perhaps this really is the Matrix...

It was weird to see a place with such presence in essentially the middle of nowhere.

The place was decorated in yellows and golds.

If I woke up here and this was red I would believe I was in China!

You can see the size of the statues.

Alot of money and effort went into building this place.

A random person offered to take a picture for me. They didn't speak English and I was hesitant at first. I didn't want my phone to get knicked this far into my travels. I took a good look at what he was wearing on his feet and thought...could I catch him.

I gingerly gave him my phone and stepped back. He backed up, then backed up some more. I looked calm but my mind and body were ready for a full on sprint if he took off.

Thankfully he didn't and this is the pic.

He had to back up to get the statue in frame.

This all sounds ridiculous but when I heard the stories from other travellers it was ard not to have my gaurd up the whole time.

Here's another statue 👌😅

And another

Smaller one's were scattered throughout.

Check out this mini temple.

As for inside, the place was spotless. I had no idea whether photos were allowed or not so this is the only one I took.

It was so odd being there. Af first everything seems so neat and clean but then I noticed the dirty rug that wasn't evwn laid out properly.

This place concluded the end of my Mekong Delta trip. I didn't get to see the floating markets like I wanted to but considering the poster in the hostel only had a picture of a boat on it, I think it was worth it in the end.

This taught me an important lesson in Vietnam. Never have expectations because you'll almost always be surprised.

But then again I think that's what makes this place so great! Everything is different. In a way it's the ultimate holiday destination!

People say they go on holiday to "get away from it all". Well if you truly want to escape. Come to a place like this. It will scare the crap out of you at first but you won't regret it.

I headed back to the hostel and grabbed a drink and meal en route.

Here's the menu

Erm?..