The Mekong - The Ultimate Jungle Cruise

We took a trip out to the Mekong Delta today. The trip was about two hours from Ho Chi Minh City but our super speedy driver got us there in about 2½ hours. This didn’t help Lucy’s hangover one bit. Once at the dock, we took a boat down the Mekong River and viewed some of the small islands in the delta. We got to Dragon Island and transferred to a smaller boat that was the Vietnamese version of Disney’s Jungle Cruise. The terrain was incredible and the more I took it all in, the more I kept wondering how America believed they could win a war in this country. It was hot, wet, jungle, mud and river. Taking this pleasure cruise through the area seemed wrong. I felt like we should have been wearing fatigues and camo gear, toting a rifle, and watching for a fleet of helicopters overhead dropping napalm to the beat of Flight of the Valkyries. We had our own swiftboat captain and he navigated our way to a hidden-away shelter area where we sampled coconut candy and fresh honey.

Another boat ride and we were at Unicorn Island where we had a basic Vietnamese meal at a strange “resort”. Our meal was enhanced by the funky 60’s elevator music that was played in a continuous loop. After lunch we had a walking tour of the island sampling strange fruits (like gross water chestnuts) and stopped to listen to traditional music played by two young girls. We were paddled around some scenic canals by two ladies who were covered head-to-toe in silk clothes. It was an awesome, peaceful way to see the beauty of the area. Lucy had recovered from her hang-over and was ready to take on a dare to drink an 8 oz. glass of the Mekong River for $1M. Clever negotiations got her down to $10. Although she didn’t do it, Lucy got a sense for how low her bar would be if she needed to make some quick cash during the latter days of her around-the-world trip.

Mekong Delta: The narrow canals through the jungle. We got a ride in one of these boats.