Good Morning Vietnam

Woke up at 5am and went out on a boat trip on the Mekong. Watched the sun come up (with my eyes half open as I wasn't quite awake yet). We went to a local floating market where they all come with their boats filled with pineapple, papayas, coconut, jackfruit, loads of vegetables, etc. You just pull your boat up along side theirs and buy whatever you need. It was great. It is out of the way so we were the only tourists in the market...everyone was saying hello and waving and all the little kids were staring at us quite intently. It was so beautiful, I wasn't sure where to point the camera. Took loads of pictures.

Walked around another market where there were loads of wonderful older people...all smiling without their teeth and wanting their pictures taken. I obliged quite willingly and got some great shots.

Our boat driver and his wife bought fresh veggies at the market and they took us to the wife's mothers house and made us a great noodle lunch. Everything was so fresh and tasty. There were loads of little kids walking around and all of them were quite curious about us.

I got the wonderful experience of using a 'vietnamese toilet', which is basically 2 planks of wood over a small stream...there is about a 2 foot wall built in a square. You step inside, drop your pants, balance on the planks of wood and squat. Very natural...no? I had giant bullfrogs jumping up under me while I was tinkling and people walking by to work in the fields. Hello....you just have to laugh. It is a different world here.

We walked around his farm for a bit. He showed us the orange trees, the lettuce, lemon grass, rice fields, etc. And right in the middle of it all is a karaoke bar. He said "no problem...12 o'clock, drink some rice wine, go sing karaoke and then work again. Anytime, rice wine, no problem". Ha...I think we need to implement that work ethic back home.

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[Mi Martin]

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