The river runs wild

Its funny how the days can just melt away when you are cruising your way from one country to the next along one of the most spectacular rivers in the world...3 days ago we left Saigon, busy and bustling, and were transported to a different world...one where villagers sell their goods from the boats they live on...where fishing is survival and where the great Mekong River splits itself into thousands of canals and smaller rivers, the lifeblood of the millions of vietnamese who call the 'Mekong Delta' home...

It's been an interesting few days as we've meandered through markets, both on land and on river, watched and learned how to make coconut candy (yum) and husk rice (who ever knew rice needed husking??). We have drunk rice wine infused with dead, feathered rooster and coiled snake to make us strong (it had a decidedly 'dead bird' taste that i wasn't entirely fond of and I felt particularly weak kneed afterwards rather than strong!) and eaten frog stirfry with rice. We have rowed through floating villages and tasted exotic fruit....We have gone out for dinner with new friends and sat by the roadside like the locals drinking mango fruit shakes. we've seen women washing their children by the river's edge and children washing their cows...and, many waterlogged hours later we have found ourselves in the capital city of Cambodia, Pheomn Penh...

The children, in both Vietnam and Cambodia have been a highlight for me...while their parents are sometimes stern and intent on making money from us, their children are full of big smiles and waves. At one point yesterday (i think...) while leaving a ferry (one of many...) I stopped to watch some children playing nearby, jumping off a high fence into the river, screaming, shouting and laughing...as I got out my camera to take a photo of them one little girl clocked me, shouted 'hello!!' and made sure i had the camera pointed at her before performing a spectacular jump...leaping out of the water she came running up and grabbed my arm with her river doused fingers to practice the english she must have learned at school...'hello, how are you? what is your name?' On the whole the children are full of smiles, they love to wave at the foreigners and they are just so cute!!

As for Cambodia...well, it has been a very long day lazing around on boats (tough life..) and tomorrow will take care of itself. Perhaps we will visit the museum and, more dauntingly, a visit to the 'Killing Fields'.

Stay tuned. xx