Mekong Delta Vietnam

The border crossing into Vietnam was uneventful if a little slow.  We stopped overnight at 2 towns on the south coast Ha Tien and Rach Gia before moving on to Can Tho in the heart of the Mekong Delta.  The first thing you notice upon arrival into Vietnam is the improvement in the roads, i.e. fully paved and in fairly good repair.  However there appears to be ten times more traffic, with thousands of scooters weaving in and out,  the delta has a population of 20 million.  The roads appear to stretch on for eternity and are lined with houses and stores, it’s like the longest street in the world!  We are also the only westeners travelling on these legs.  There is very little English spoken – hello, goodbye and thank you are not helping much when trying to get from A to B, it all adds to the fun!!
We arrive in Can Tho and stayed at the Hau Giang Hotel, they gave us a lovely welcome and fab service throughout our stay.  We were up before dawn the next morning to visit the floating markets, apparently the biggest in the region.  It was a great experience and the early morning fog added to the atmosphere.  We are here at the end of Tet which is Chinese New Year, which this year happens to be my year – the horse!  The bus journey to Ho Chi Minh was a little chaotic as everyone seemed to be travelling back after the holiday, plus 2 hour delay, plus traffic jams, plus crazy driver – welcome to Vietnam!!!!