Vietnam

On day 2 of our Vietnam trip, we stayed over night in Can Tho, where we had gone for a river ride the night before.  This city is on one of the two main arms of the Mekong River.  It was the headquarters for
 the IV American Corp. during the War, and primarily involved fighting on the rivers and canals in the delta. We started out the day with a river cruise.

Preparing to board from a not so modern boarding area.

Our guide and boat captain.  It was interesting that this boat driver was the same one who was driving the  boat on which we had supper the night before. 

Enjoyed the cool breeze off the water.

Almost immediately after leaving the dock a boat pulled along side selling drinks and treats.

The other half of our group on their boat.

I thought that it was quite ingenious that they don't use marine motors, but simply use  lawn mower motors or car motors and then add a long shaft to the propeller.  It gets heavy to keep it out of the water so they use their leg. 

Bigger boats bring fruits and vegetables from inland where smaller  boats make purchases for
 restaurants etc.

Crowding around a larger boat which is selling vegetables.

Note the small engines on the little boats.

Nice load of cabbages.

Heading to the grocery store!

Not a lot of day care here, so you just go along.  Some of the people actually live on  small boats.

We stopped and purchased pineapple.  It was really neat how they cut and cleaned them.  I've tried  it a few times since and it seems to work well.  The pineapples are longer with smaller leaves.

We arrived at an amusement park where we spent the majority of the day. The kids had fun.

A train ride. 

Kids got to paddle in small boats.  Most had never done anything like this, so it was
 amusing to watch them.

Enjoyed pig races.

Then dog races.

Kids got to "catch" a croc (or alligator, I'll have to ask Hunter the difference)

Animals snapped at the food on string and hung on for a few seconds.  The students really enjoyed this.

After a day in the fields and irrigating, Vietnamese pump the water out of the canal and then use
 these traps to catch fish in the mud.  They let 3 of our students dress up in traditional
 clothing, jump in and go to work. 

The guys actually caught about 10 fish. 

On the way to lunch a woman making some kind of pancake over an open fire.

Karaoke at lunch time.  They are not afraid to sing in public (some of them should be!)  All over
Asia karaoke is a big thing. 

The fish the boys caught were barbecued for lunch.

Back to Ho Chi Ming City for the night.  This is out the back door of the hotel which was
quite modern.  A city of contrasts.