Wow. It's definitely been a crazy past few days. We spent the last night in Phnom Penh having dinner with Tim, a German guy who is interning for the Khmer Rouge tribunal. It was fascinating to hear him describe his lunches with the judges and how Duch is staying just behind the courthouse. Though he isn't allowed to say much about it, I can't wait to hear his stories over the next month.
After Phnom Penh we took a fairly easy bus ride across the border into Saigon. Upon arriving we headed straight to the market where we were accosted by many Vietnamese women trying desperately to sell their products. Our bargaining skills work here, too, though Carly was called "stingy".
We quickly came to the consensus that we wanted out of the big city so we booked a 3-day trip to the Mekong Delta. We opted for the boat ride south where we were packed like sardines into a tiny speed boat. The Delta is a maze of rivers and canals where almost all the boats have two red eyes on the bow (a Buddhist superstition, I think). First we visited a honey farm, tasting honey tea, delicious treats and even snake juice (tastes a lot like whiskey actually). Then we took long boats to a coconut candy "factory". The process for making the candy looked backbreaking but man they were delicious! Those of you in the bay area will get to snack on the pack I bought!
After the island and boat rides we got caught in a massive rain storm where the streets flooded to our knees. We had to wade our way into the hotel and to dinner where we ate "hot pot" - a type of soup that you cook at the table.
The next morning we headed off to see a fish farm and a rice noodle factory. Both were pretty interesting but the best part by far was the luxury sunset cruise. Unfortunately we were sunsetless because of the clouds but we met two amazing Dutch boys who we shared a game of hearts with. After the two hour boat ride we arrived at a floating hotel. The hotel was incredibly romantic with lanterns everywhere and mosquito nets over the beds. Tim, Jorin, Carly and I took our iPods to the top of the boat and listed to jazz as we looked across the calm and quiet Mekong.
The next morning we woke up early to visit a place where they make silk scarves. I bought one before visiting a Vietnamese mosque and before we knew it, it was time to head back to Saigon. Carly and I thought we'd be able to catch a night bus but it was booked so we ended up catching the Holland-Brazil game at a massively orange bar in Saigon. I accidentally wore blue but the Dutch are so nice they didn't seem to mind. The bar was going crazy. I've never watched a soccer game where a hundred people are oohing and ahhing at each play. Jorin and Tim filled us in on how to say a few catch phrases like "come on!" and "yellow card ref!" so we felt like we fit right in. After the win there seemed to be endless dancing and I'm definitely feeling a bit tired now. It's probably for the best because we're about to board a 24 hour bus ride up to Hoi An. It's supposed to be a beautiful French-inspired town known for it's tailoring. Maybe I'll get a dress made for Eric's wedding??
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