ultimatevietnamcambodia2015: Saturday 31st October. Saigon to My Tho and Can Tho

The We headed south at 8.30am after an enjoyable stay in Saigon that probably boosted the local economy with our group's 'retai therapy'. The drive to My Tho was relatively short and on arrival we boarded a wooden Mekong boat with our local guide Tuyet for the cruise to Unicorn Island. This island is the home of coconut candy so we were able to taste the different types and watch it being made before continuing on to a morning tea area for a herbal brew and fresh fruit. I was pleased to be able to finally get to taste durian fruit which has been described as eating heaven in a public toilet. Durians are banned in hotels but our particular piece wasn't too bad. I liked the sweet taste and different texture but would much rather have a good mango. We transferred to 2 much smaller wooden boats for the trip up a creek to a local farm. It was a very low tide and our boat bottomed twice before reaching our destination.

The farm house was well laid out with a number of bonsai plants near the entry. Lunch had been set up with elephant ear fish and sticky rice balls on the menu. We were served 4 deep fried spring rolls and then pork and a large prawn. The big sticky rice balls were cut up and served like crispy crackling while our waiter stripped the fish and made rice paper spring rolls. The owner also encouraged people to try his snake wine because of its supposed viagra properties. A few people tried it but most were turned off when they saw the wine jar literally full of dead Cobras. We weren't done with snakes however as the piece de resistance was their big Python which a few of us managed to drape around our shoulders. Overall a pleasant Mekong lunch.

The drive to Can Tho only took 2.5 hours and we were ensconced in the classy Muong Thanh hotel by 5.15pm.

Some of the rice padi fields on the way to the delta. Tinh calls the graves 'second homes'