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    Audrey Scott and Daniel Noll serve up a scatter plot of observations from rapidly changing countries on their journey around the world. Tune into Uncornered Market for human stories, engaging travel photography, street food reportage, and insights into personal growth. Read more…

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    • China (southern)
    • South Africa
    • Madagascar
    • Botswana
    • Namibia
    • Zambia
    • Mozambique
    • Tanzania
    • Uganda

      Full itinerary here...

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  • Reading

    Buy From Amazon and Support Us The Art of Worldly Wisdom

    The Art of Worldly Wisdom
    Author: Baltasar Gracian
    Beautifully translated, this collection of timeless, universal chunks of insight into human nature easily transcends run-of-the-mill personal and professional management wisdom.

    Shantaram: A Novel

    Shantaram: A Novel
    Author: Gregory David Roberts
    Administering first aid in a Bombay slum, selling fake passports and running guns to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Technically a novel, but closely linked to the Author's own experiences. Fantastic read.

    Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition

    Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, New Edition
    Author: Jared Diamond
    An admirable crack at explaining why the world is the way it is by way of an anthropological macro-history. This book probably comes up the most in conversation as we travel.

Floating Life Along the Mekong

Cai Rang Floating Market - Mekong Delta Like other destinations in Vietnam, Cai Rang dials up the activity, color, and sound a notch to the point of overstimulation. Duelling long-tail boats float by and sell everything from turnips to steaming hot soup. At the Mekong Delta’s bazaar on water, transactions take place at every turn and boats jostle for the next deal. To appreciate the scale at a bird’s eye perspective, we hopped onto the roof of our boat. As with the streets of Vietnam, we had to step back for it to snap into view in some mysterious way, snatching order from the jaws of chaos.

The remainder of our Mekong Delta tour included…

Long Beans - Cai Rang Floating Market, Mekong Delta

  • Boat trip from Saigon to My Tho
  • String of shameless buying opportunities in the form of coconut candy, honey and tropical fruit production outlets on an island near My Tho. This is the epitome of Vietnamese conveyor-belt tourism
  • Short lunch visit on the island of Ben Tre. Terrible, tasteless, overpriced, and totally inauthentic tourist slop not included in the price of the tour. Note to tour operator: this is a disservice to your country, its culture, and the fabulous cuisine your country is capable of serving in its sleep.
  • Overnight in Can Tho. Hot water shut off and all staff mysteriously unavailable to turn it back on.
  • Cai Rang floating market
  • Cai Rang market on land with a tour of a rice noodle production (one of the other factories was already closed for Tet - darn!)
  • Chau Doc with a visit to near by floating fishing villages
  • Cham village – a minority Muslim ethnic group
  • Boat to the Cambodian border and on to Phnom Penh

 

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Practical Details

We don’t particularly enjoy organized tours, but the Vietnamese make it very difficult to piece together a 2-3 day Mekong Delta trip on your own using public transportation. Organized tours are easily booked at any travel agent in Saigon (Pham Ngu Lao backpacker neighborhood has dozens). Choose whether to return to Saigon or continue on to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Breakfast Boat - Chau DocWe booked our tour with Kim Travel, combining two tours in one to give us the maximum amount of time on water. The tour cost $43 per person, including two nights (basic) accommodation and three days of transportation, tours and tour guides (there were times we wished the last two points were not included). It was a commodity tour for that price - not great, not awful and it got us to where we wanted to go.

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