Sai Gon and the Mekong Delta

After a long 12 hour layover in Delhi, I made my way to Ho Chi Minh City (or Sai Gon - "same same" as they say here). My first day there I explored the city and booked a 4 day trip on the Mekong Delta. It's an amazing city. Not only are there over 12 million motor bikes and scooters, but there are very few traffic lights and when there are, they are only a suggestion.
The city retains so much of it's French influence after nearly 100 years of colonialism. The city center is constructed like a European city with several traffic circles and parks. It was in one of the many green squares that I started being approached by young Vietnamese men. No they did not want my company at dinner, but rather, only wanted to use me for my native English skills. At one point, there were 5 of them sitting around listening to me. I felt like a guru.
I left on my Mekong Delta cruise on the morning of the 31 of January. The first day involved few activities (we went to an island where they made coconut candy via boat and had lunch) and then spent the afternoon travelling on the canals to my "homestay" with two Americans I met earlier in the day - Shuge and Amit. We expected to be dropped off at various family households and experience a night with the "real" people of the delta. We were sadly disappointed when we, all three of us, we dropped off at one location. It was basically a hostel on stilts. Our dorm room had canvas-sling beds and thin blankets. Food was included, so we had a decent meal of Elephant Ear Fish and rice before we were forced to bed due to the lack of electricity.
The following morning we went to the Cai Be floating market and went for a long bike ride through the small village towns on the island. After lunch I joined a new group of tourist and we made our way via bus and boat to Can Tho - the largest city in the Delta. My group was full of great people, mostly couples, but also a group of older (mid 40s to late 60s) Aussie men and another female solo traveller from Sweden.
Day 3 took us to the Can Tho floating market where hundreds of merchants and buyers congregate to buy and sell their goods. Most of the people involved live on their boats as well, so in addition to commerce, this is a grand social occasion. We spent the majority of the day in transit to Chau Doc, close to the Cambodian boarder.
We woke up early in the morning to visit a Buddhist temple built into a mountain (it also had a great view of the boarder). We then took 3 person row boats through a floating village, fish farm, and to the Muslim enclave of the delta. Once again we spent the rest of the day on the bus and boat on our way back to Sai Gon.
That night I was greeted by great news - Barak got a great (unofficial) offer from Haverford College outside of Philly. We're still keeping our fingers crossed that everything will work out well and that soon he will have an official offer from the dean.
The following day, February 4, I took a bus to Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh ( I would have taken one from Chau Doc if I knew I would have been so close). On the 5th I flew to Kuala Lumpur and met up with my friend Stefan, who I met earlier in my journey in Istanbul. More great stuff about Malaysia next time. Now I've gotta run and catch a speed boat!