North Face Jackets Outlet In Nj

After our few days in Battambang, we finished our tour of the Tonle Sap are feints and briefly by Phnom Penh. From there, we took the direction of Vietnam aboard a slowboat to go down the Mekong to Chau Doc , Vietnamese town in the heart of the Delta "river of nine dragons" as the Vietnamese call. Upon our arrival at the border, we understand that if our trip was so simple and pleasant since we are in South East Asia, it will not be the same in Vietnam. The first contact with the Viets is consistent with what we had said, the Vietnamese seem now cold, not really nice, obsessed with order and completely psycho often the limit of absurdity. This is the only country with all our tour where our luggage was X-rayed at the border, amazing ... The Viets also the peculiarity of not issuing a visa at the border, so it must make a request in advance, in our case in Cambodia, which takes several days due to the efficiency of the legendary Communist bureaucracy. Although demand and pay for a one-month visa, we find ourselves inexplicably with a visa for 15 days, with unknown up there, and not scalable. So our visa ends on July 5, while our plane departed for China Hanoi on July 15, there is a small problem ... It seems that if too long overtaking our visa, in addition to the fine obviously harvested for the good of the party, you risk being banned for life in the country ... It's ultimately more fun than anything else, is after all quite unlikely that we come back!

Arrive in Vietnam down the Mekong

So, after the border crossing near orchestra in every detail by the Vietnamese head of our boat (limit if we were not bound by the hand to go the toilet ...), we finally arrived in Chau Doc in mid after noon. The first negative impression at the border crossing has been confirmed by attempts to scams of all kinds, the most since India! We did not linger and have immediately taken a bung minivan towards Can Tho famous for its floating markets. On the way back we came across an impressive columns of soldiers, nearly 500 marching in the opposite direction on the low side, some weapons of rocket launchers. It will not be the last time you will feel that the country is never really out of the war with the Americans and part of the collective unconscious and believes he always threatens attack by Westerners, the limit of paranoia. We also realized that our minivan drivers used their ceaseless shuttle to lend themselves to an impressive trafficking cigarettes from nowhere. During our short trip to Can Tho, more than 1500 euros is cigarette passes into the minivan, hidden in every nook and cranny, including under the clothing of the smugglers, who appeared in fact as snowmen inflated Michelin scene for less curious ... The Mekong Delta is a maze of canals and rivers, mostly from the huge river that ends in the South China Sea. It is also the most densely populated region of the country are grown here, therefore any parcel of land, especially fertile because of the river sediment supply. This region was well enough alone to produce enough rice to feed the whole of Vietnam, and a slight surplus for export. The boats were soon up the main and almost the only means of transportation in this part of Vietnam, even if the construction of roads and use more and more widespread of the bike to put an end gradually. The marches were therefore quite naturally on the water, and there are still some floating markets teeming with activity, localized mostly in the vicinity of Can Tho. We therefore hires a boatman to take us to see these steps Authentic at dawn, when the activity is at its maximum. We begin with the largest delta, the march Cai Rang . Large boats moored at the center of a channel, and the Vietnamese came to shop in their small canoes. Some vessels exhibit the goods they sell at the top of long wooden poles, so that buyers can more easily find what they seek. These steps are not lacking in color and give the opportunity to make great pictures!

Departure from Can Tho dawn The floating market of Cai Rang

After a short break to visit a factory of rice cakes, used heavily in Vietnam, including the famous coat spring rolls, we headed to another floating market, one of Phong Dien , smaller and quieter. We stayed there for a good time to observe the activity on the river, enjoying a freshly cut pineapple by our boatman.

Manufactures rice cakes Phong Dien Floating Market

Then we come home quietly in Can Tho, along small canals lined with coconut and fruit gardens. From there, we immediately chained with a minivan for Vinh Long, another Delta town half way towards Saigon. Arrived in Vinh Long, we spent nearly two hours to negotiate a boat to go to a small inn situated on an island in the river, or we had to spend the night. It is decidedly time to thwart attempts by scam and repel thieves and touts ... A nice pair of pretty Vietnamese ages finally agrees to take us to a reasonable sum, and we could spend the night in what is called a homestay , small pension which the owners are not the main tourism activity, in this case it was a property of the orchards. We had a delicious meal of typical dishes of the delta, a fish, fruits and vegetables. The next morning we again hires a boatman to take us to the floating market of Cai Be superbly by the cathedral dominates the village.

floating market of Cai Be Cathedral Cai Be

We then made our way back to Vinh Long, a new through beautiful canals lined with coconut trees. We made a brief stop in another homestay , history and taste some fruit taste the snake wine, liquor so obtained by soaking a large snake in the booze ... rather strong and quite strange! Vinh Long, one last ride minibus brought us to Ho Chi Minh City, as everyone still calls Saigon .

Back Vinh Long along beautiful canals