Mekong Delta, Youkong Delta

On a whim, I signed up for a one-day trip to the Mekong Delta, specifically the towns of My Tho and Ben Tre. We leave tomorrow morning at 7:45, and we should be back in Saigon by 6pm.

Not sure about the company's reputation, because there are so many companies/cafes that offer tours like this one, but for $7 for the whole day, I figured, why not? It'll give me something to write about other than markets, my neighborhood, and the language barrier. Here's what the flier says about the trip, typos included:

"You'll take a short scenic bus trip to MyTho city where boats will bring you to some islands on the Mekong River to see scenery villages. Seeing the fish port, coco handicraft shops. Enjoying tropical fruits. Southerners' traditional music, and coconut candies. Taking rowing-boats in a jungle. Cruising in anothe small canal to see the bee-keeping family and enjoy natural honey tea, honey wine... you have enough time to see the daily life of the local people. Returning to MyTho and stopping at the small beautiful garden for relaxing. Arriving Ho Chi Minh City at 6:00 PM."

now my MST3000 version:

"You'll take a short scenic bus trip [ah yes, the scenic freeway] to MyTho city where boats will bring you to some islands on the Mekong River to see scenery villages. [Ooh, scenery villages! Is that like in Hollywood where they build the sets?] Seeing the fish port [well, I've heard of snake wine but that is ridiculous], coco handicraft shops. Enjoying tropical fruits. [Does that mean the shops are enjoying fruits and we get to watch?] Southerners' traditional music [Freebird!], and coconut candies. Taking rowing-boats in a jungle. Cruising in anothe small canal to see the bee-keeping family and enjoy natural honey tea, honey wine... you have enough time to see the daily life of the local people. [Cause I'm sure a bus full of tourists doesn't disturb their flow at all.] Returning to MyTho and stopping at the small beautiful garden for relaxing. Arriving Ho Chi Minh City at 6:00 PM."

Today I made it to the backpacker's neighborhood, which from my first impression was... well, like any of the other tourist spots but a little funkier, with more head shops and less brand name clothing. Actually I wanted to stay longer, but I got into a walking conversation with Jimmy, an African guy who was trying hard to get himself invited to my house, and I walked a little too far and got lost. But at least I got rid of Jimmy. I loved the vagueness of my answers, which he totally was not picking up on:

Jimmy: So, where do you live?
Me: Oh... [gesturing towards the setting sun].. that way.
Jimmy: Can I call you?
Me: No. I don't have a phone.

So then I was lost, and had to pay 20,000d to get back home, cause it turns out I had wandered quite far away. Hopefully tonight I'll meet up with Jane for dinner and then I'm coming home to go to bed early. Two bar nights in a row is too much for me right now. Plus it's National Day, and judging from the traffic, it seems like everyone remembered to take their crazy pills.

Love,
Jessica