Snakes in a bottle

Our group of six from Vy's guest house connected with the rest of the gringo train about 7:30 this morning.  We departed through the hectic and motorcycle-dense Ho Chi Minh City.  As our tour guide pointed out, Vietnamese is a tonal language and people drive motorcycles because they are much cheaper.  Women drive them, families of three and even three with a baby can be found on one, I saw someone texting obliviously while sitting behind the driver on one.  And don't even get me started on crossing the streets - it's quite a bit worse than San Salvador.  We mostly stayed on this block tonight!

Anyway, back to this morning.  On the road to the Mekong Delta - a coffee break with some delicious espresso to break up the trip, then we arrived and boarded the motorboat and began coasting down the Mekong River.  One of the first sights was the floating market, where a variety of foods and other goods are sold.  Rush hour had passed - vendors mostly chilling out as we passed by.  We continued on and toured some local industries such as coconut candy and poprice (yep, just like it sounds).  Oh, and snake wine - slightly fruity for skunkwater.  These businesses really know how to bring out the flavors in foods.  Back to the boat and onward to lunch, passing countless boats and beautiful scenery along the way.  Besides our standard included lunch fare of pork, rice, and beans, we split a fried "elephant ear fish" with a nice couple from Malaysia on their suggestion.  It was good and, again, enhanced by the ricepaper taco-type deal that they showed us how to create.  After a nap in the hammock and a gaze at the tour guide's python, we were ready to get on a rowboat commanded by a crew of women.  Dara sported a hat - yes, the kind you are thinking of.  All in all, we weren't ready to get back on the bus after a great ride along the river.  I'll remember that forever.  Tomorrow, Cu Chi...