Ho Chi Minh and the Mekong

All the motorbikes at the light ready to go!

Sleeper bus #2... much better than sleeper bus #1. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was our next stop. Here we spent time in the Vietnam War, or American War as it’s known in Vietnam, museums. It was remarkable how little animosity there was towards us as Americans. When we asked our tour guide about it he explain it as it’s in the past, no need to dwell on it and carry on hate… He also said that a lot of the population is young (born at the end of the war or after), a lot of the older generation stayed mostly home, not around in the cities (as their family cared for them) so we weren’t interacting with them as much. It was heartbreaking to read about and see all the images from the war, definitely led to lots of questions and reading more to find out more about the war.

Floating down the Mekong

Our homestay dinner!  YUM!

After a few days in the busy motor bike filled city of Saigon we made our way down the Mekong river towards Cambodia. We spent two days touring the Mekong, making stops at the floating markets, rice noddle making factories and enjoying one night at a homestay (where you stay with a local family, eat and cook (some) with them). Doing the homestay is definitely a great way to see the daily life of the locals and enjoy some good home cooked local meals.

Happy lady at the local market near our homestay.

Early morning coffee while floating down the Mekong... no problem!

Floating Market... the pinapple on the top of the boat shows that they are selling pinapples :)

Most of our time in Vietnam was spent in the cities and extremely touristy areas so it was exciting to see the daily life of locals on the river as we floated past.

Happy to help make some rice noddles :)