The Vietnam Interjection - Day 1.

STARTING OUT....
We (Anne & I) excitedly arrived at the bus stop at 7am to catch our 7.30 bus, which finally left Phnom Penh at 8.30am. The first person we met was this lovely young Lady, Gaile. She is French, and was travelling over here for 4 weeks, by herself. She joined us for part of her trip. We had breakfast together, at a cafe nearby, while we waited for our bus to arrive. Apart from saying a few hello's, the 2 hour bus trip to our first stop was relatively uneventful.

OUR BOAT........
This is the boat we caught for the second leg of our trip. Although dodggy looking at first sight, it had a certain charm. It was pretty comfortable, open, and a lovely cruise down the river. Run by a very efficient husband and wife team. (at least that's what they looked like)
At this stage we are still all pretty reserved, and keeping to ourselves. Just the polite smile etc. That was to change as time went on. Anne is standing in the orange 'T' shirt. We started out almost strangers, and came home mates. The chairs in the boat were not bolted down, so they could be removed if need be, I suppose.
LANE & ANNE.........
You all know who I am...... (the fantastic, good looking lady in the white) ha ha!! Anne is on staff at the Citipointe Church, Brisbane. She originally came over for 4 weeks to work in the office, and put some policies and procedures in place. She is staying on now for another six weeks as Acting Project Supervisor, while Becc is back in Australia. She also had to leave Cambodia, to renew her visa.
THE SCENIC RIVER CRUISE.........
This is a typical village setting. Life revolves around the river, so typically everything is built close to it. Leaving it vulnerable to the rises and falls of the water level. It is safe to assume that, in the wet season, the water will rise right up to meet these houses.
Still in Cambodia...This is some sort of logging mill, I think. I know the men were very busy whatever they were doing. But I learned that in Vietnam timber is very expensive, because it is not a natural product of the country. It is imported from Cambodia, and has to be floated through the Mekong Delta river system to do so.
Transport.......
These boats carry everything. From people to goods and services.
A close up of the motor and rudder that does so much work, day in and day out. I think this particular boat may have seen better days though.
OUR BORDER STOP....
Of course, we had to get off our boat at the Vietnam border to do the "official thing" with passports & visa etc. From there we continued our river cruise on a different, slightly more modern, boat. I think it was owned by the Vietnamese Tourist company that was responsible for us for the rest of the trip. We continued our VERY RELAXING river cruise.
This tree, we discovered in the grounds of the border immigration office. We were all intrigued by it. It had no leaves and these great pods on it. I have since found out that the pods contain, a fibre similar to cotton. I have heard of it, but can't remember the name. When the pods break open, it even looks white and fluffy, like cotton. (Coming from Moree, have seen cotton grow and I know what cotton looks like in it's raw state.). In the dry season the leaves fall off the tree, and I suppose so the pods use all the nutrients to grow. A khmer man (sitting beside me right now in the internet cafe) told me that they also make insence out of the leaves. He can't tell me the name of it in English either. Can anyone enlighten me??Noel..? Carol..?
THE HOUSES........
Well. I think they speak for themselves, don't you?


I think it's washing day. Although, if it is anything like the house I am living in, EVERY DAY is washing day.
And...as in every household..... the dishes need washing ....in the lovely clean water of the Mekong Delta...!


And the buffalo need somewhere to cool down. It was quite a privilege to catch the sight of these buffalo having their morning dip.
Now back home for some tukker and a kip eh!!!!!
Arriving in CHAU DOC......

Our first night was sent in the town of Chau Doc. A bustleing, quite modern town. Our hotel was very basic (No - this is not it!). Anne and I teamed up with another Australian lady, who was travelling alone, to share a room for three. Her name was Simmone, and she came from Victoria. We were lucky, apparently we got a good room compared to the others. But what can we expect when we pay only $6 - $20 per night.

This was our entry point to Chau Doc. The park in the next few pictures, runs along the river bank for quite some way. It is the lovliest part of town.

This statue of three entertwined dolphins, at least they looked like dolphins to me, was really spectacular. It would be well placed in Coffs Harbour actually.

This fountain was in the middle of the park. Locals use the park for entertainment and exercise. They just walk laps. Everyone seems to go the same direction (they do it in Phnom Penh also). And if you go against the tide, so to speak, you get frowned at. I usually found myself going against the tide, but I figured I could get away with it cause I was an alien!!!! Seems to work.

this photo could be mistaken for one from a tropical paradise...

The town itself.

I roped Anne into mounting one of these cyclo's and doing a half hour tour of the city with me. It was a good way of seeing a lot more than we would have on foot. My driver spoke english, so he gave me a commentary along the way. When we finished we got a very quick (30 min) massage. One of the ones where they walk all over you, literally.

Some of our crew... This young couple were from The Netherlands (Holland). Jordie & Joanie. They were the only two from our original group to do the home stay with us, in the next leg. Which we all had a fantastic time at, but more about that in the day two blog. The guy in the front was from Belguim, I think. There were a lot different nationalities represented in our group. German, French, Dutch, Isrealie, Australian, Belguin just to name a few.
Well that's it for DAY 1. We all did our own thing in the evening discovering the city, but most of us were in bed reasonabbly early, ready for our next days travel. Keep posted for days 2 & 3 to come very soon ... it takes so long to do, I have to break it up into sections. Bye for now. Lane.