We went for breakfast at the “club lounge”, was very nice and civilised.
We then checked out and were picked up by our guide at 8am for the 2 hr drive to My Tho.
We only stopped once on the way for a driver break and it wasn’t a tacky place, which was nice for a change, we spent the time, well Deb did anyway, taking photos of flowers in the grounds of the stop over place.
We arrived at My Tho around 10:00am and got on board a small river boat, and headed off for a cruise around 4 islands in the middle of the Tien River. They were called after the four magical animals. The Unicorn, the Phoenix, the Tortoise and the Dragon.
We had three(ooops sorry, Deb reminds me it was four) stops planned.
At the first place we tried tea with bees honey, its was nice. Then we(well only me really, Deb passed on this) had a t ry of what the locals call rice wine, it is really a distilate, and tases a bit like rocket fuel!!!  Then there was the banana flavoured version,  , it just keeps getting better LOL!!!! We walked around a little here and I found that they were selling snake wine, with real snakes in it, venom and all, and just for good health they also put the biggest scorpions I have ever seen in it too!!! Sorry to say but I left them there without trying it. 
The second was at a place where we could try the fruit of the area. We were served a platter of Jack Fruit, Pineapple, Papaya, Dragon Fruit and another that escapes me. They were all very nice, the pineapple is always served with a salt and chilli mix. You are meant to dip the pineapple in it to give you a sweet and sour sensation, with a kick J.
Our next stop was at a coconut candy making “factory”. It was an open shop where they really did make and pack the stuff. We were show the whole process and then given some samples. Very chewy and tasty. We bought a little to have on our travels.
Finally, we were taken to another place for lunch. We had Elephant Ear fish spring rolls(these were made at our table, similar to the ones we had in Hanoi), prawn spring rolls, pork spring rolls, beef and veg, pork strips and a soup of some kind. It was all very delicious.
We then got aboard a sampan, and were paddled through the small canals that run through the island, a very pleasant time, seeing everyday life on the island, and eventually came back to our boat to go back to shore. The boat owner and his wife and young son lived on the boat, the wife (mother) and her child(son) were so wonderful to watch and interact with. We gave the boy a couple of balloons and his mum blew them up for him, his smile was worth bottling , as was hers. We gave her a little US$ as we left, we felt that they could use a little, J, and they gave us so much joy for a short time.
When we got back to the mainland , we got back in the car and drove to Can Tho for the night at our hotel, the Victoria. The drive back was pretty standard for over here, about 1 ½ hrs, all except the last 15 mins. We finished our drive with a car ferry trip across the river. There are 10 ferries that service this one crossing and its very busy. The whole crossing went like clock work, drive on, 10 min sail, drive off. They raise the on and off ramps by hand and then only just high enough to clear the wharf.
Another fascinating day in this fascinating and always enjoyable country was over.
No pictures today, we want to save as many as we can now for Sien Reap | 