Mekong: Vinh Long

Breakfast, bill paying; we said goodbye to Emelie, and got in a taxi to Vinh Long, a drive of about an hour and a half. We’re staying at a place called CoCo Riverside Lodge, quite a way out of Vinh Long in the countryside. When we got to the road entrance we were greeted by a very ebullient fellow with an American accent called Trung, who walked us along a long path to the main compound. I was expecting another relatively rough place, when we suddenly came upon green grass and landscaped gardens and large bungalows right on the river—with nothing on the other side of the river but palm trees.

We had lunch, then spent what remained of the day relaxing around our spacious bungalow. I lay on a hammock and read. Later we sat by the river on a swinging seat and watched the passing boats, and chatted briefly with the only other people staying there, an older English couple.

We had dinner—the food is good—and were in bed by 8.30pm.

A nice relaxing end to our little Mekong Delta excursion and the end of countryside experiences—it’s back to the big city tomorrow.

The booming and otherworldly cries of home karaoke are echoing over the river outside, like an ancient call to prayer, but terribly out of tune.