104.55.4 E 11.35.3 N
From Ho Chi Minh City we went on a tour to the Mekong
Delta. We travelled many kilometers by car and some by boat, visiting a variety
of things on the way; amongst others a coconut candy making factory and a
crocodile farm. We stayed one night with a family in their house by the water,
which was an interesting experience. We learned again more about the war years,
this time from an ex- Vietcong soldier. Our guide for this tour was a Vietnamese
who had fled to America and had come back, so his story had a different slant
again. We visited the floating market on the Mekong river very early in the
morning, this was an amazing sight. Our last night in Vietnam was in a very
comfortable hotel in Chau Doc. From there we took a fast ferry to Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.
Phnom Penh is smaller and has a nice friendly
atmosphere. Many people speak good English and are very friendly. We visited the
sights in town: the Royal Palace and the Genocide museum. This morning we
visited the "Killing Fields". It is absolutely shocking what the people in this
country went through during the Pol Pot regime. It is all very well documented
and presented. It was a moving and sobering experience to learn more about what
has happened here.
Tomorrow we go by bus further north to Battambang and
Angkor Wat. Denise will be with us till then.
