Cruising Down Mekong River

Mekong river is the world's 10th longest river. It's amazing how it runs from the Tibetan Plateau through China's Yunnan province, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam. We took the opportunity to check it out with Hoa (she has been on this trip n times!). :D

A storm was brewing and we prayed hard for it to be a passing shower so as not to dampen our excursion. *.*

The day trip schedule was as such:
1) Visit rice paper making factory
2) A taste of Mekong's lunch
3) Visit to the honey farm
4) Mekong's music appreciation
5) Horse cart ride
6) A taste of tropical fruits
7) Small boat ride down the mangrove swamp
8) Visit to the coconut candy factory

It was overall boring... *.*

I must say the lunch served was much better than the one Victoria & I had when we did a day trip to Halong Bay. :) The star dish for the local dining experience was a fish with flaky & pointy scales. It was deep fried till golden brown & crispy. The waiter then sliced the fish and rolled them in rice paper with veg & vermicilli for us. Pretty good. :)

In addition, we had marinated fish fillet that went well with a bowl of steamed rice, marinated pork which was crispily yummy, deep fried spring roll, stirred fried morning glory and cabbage & minced pork hotpot (the minced pork was kind of tough?).

After lunch we were brought to Sinh Cafe by boat to enjoy some Mekong honey & traditional music.

I was very happy Hoa came with us. ^.^ For such trips, the more the merrier!

Together with the musicians playing traditional Mekong musical instruments, the lady with her powerful vocal gave a simple but pleasant performance. . :)

There is a need for the locals to improve on the design of their handicraft so as to entice higher purchase from the tourists. Many times, the products are frivolous. Needless to say,we didn't buy anything other than some local food produce.

We were initially thrilled to ride in a horse cart. But the sight of skinny horses having to carry 5 - 6 adults doesn't seem to be a good idea... :( Thank goodness the distance was rather short. Otherwise the 3 of us were prepared to stroll.

Hoa & the two of us became guides to 3 Japanese tourists sitting at our table. We were introducing to them the various tropical fruits and they were gamed to try everything. ^.* I wonder if they would eat durians...which weren't served that day.

The little boat ride down the mangrove swamp was fun! :) It did felt like we were on some adventure to uncover treasures...

The last stop was the coconut candy factory. Nothing much at all...

Rarely do we get close to nature. And so even though we found the trip boring, we were glad we took time to catch a glimpse of the Mekong river. These snapshots will add to our bottle of experiences & memories. :)