We decided to do a trip along the Mekong Delta, so we booked a two day one night tour. It wasn’t my favorite excursion but it was still interesting to say the least. On the first day we started on a medium sized boat and visited four islands. On the first island, we were seated in a 4 person raft with two locals to paddle our way through a small channel of water lined with coconut trees that formed an archway over the water. It was gorgeous even though it was packed with small boats doing the same thing.

We stopped on another island where they make coconut candy by hand. I LOVE coconut anything. Just as I would lick the batter bowl at home when baking cookies, I got my hands on a huge chunk of leftover coconut candy before it was dried and individually wrapped by hand. The warm caramel like texture of the coconut candy melted in my mouth and was one of my favorite my sugar fixes I have had in a while.

The next island is where we had lunch and where I found a water buffalo tied to a palm tree. He was super friendly and didn’t mind everyone petting him, but I had to resist the urge to ride him the whole time. Maybe I can find a place to ride one before we leave. I am still in search of an Ostrich to ride, but I think the next town we visit has them!

After a few more stops, we got on the bus and headed to the town of Can Tho to sleep at a local hotel. The next morning, it was back to the Mekong again. Unfortunately, since it’s the Vietnamese New Year called Tet, many things were closed for our tour. One of our stops was the floating market. Boats and boats full of fresh fruit and veggies are for sale in bulk quantities. As we cruised around the floating boats full of veggies the “Starbucks Pirates” as I called them, came out of nowhere and latched onto our boat while we were driving to sell as many coffees as possible to all the tourists. The girl making drinks had the biggest smile I have seen in a while. At one point the Starbucks Pirate boat came unattached from our boat as we picked up speed. As we started sailing away from them, I could see them trying to keep up with our boat to give us the last drinks. Could you imagine a Starbucks employee chasing after your car as you were driving down the road to sell you a drink? It was a clever, unique, and hilarious way to sell goods on the river. The remainder of the day we visited a rice factory, a rice noodle factory, and rounded out the day with a 4 hour bus ride back to Ho Chi Minh City to catch our 11:45pm bus to Da Lat, Vietnam.

We arrived early in Ho Chi Minh so we had some time to kill before our bus left. We met up with some friends and headed down to the main strip where the fireworks were going to be shot off from. After a few drinks, and wandering the streets we found ourselves right in the middle of the busiest part of town imaginable. I asked Maggie to check our tickets for the time the bus left. She did and we were both wrong, the bus left at 11pm! We checked the time and it was 10:58pm. We had two minutes to get through hordes of motor bikes, people, street vendors, and New Year’s decorations. Imagine trying to sprint across Times Square one hour before the ball drops. After making it back to the tour agency where our bus left from, we were told the bus had left already by our favorite tour agent, Yune. Yune was the most friendly, helpful, tour agent that had a smile that never left her face. Her tour agency was right next to our hostel so we passed her multiple times each day and she would great us every time with a smile and a wave. Yune was too nice to just say sorry you are out of luck. Before I knew it, I was on the back of Yune’s motor bike as she weaved in and out of traffic, people, vendors, up on sidewalks, and to the front door of the bus agency. She talked with the little Vietnamese girl behind the counter and then said to me “Quick, I think I can get you on another one!” Zipping down the street back to Marge, we grabbed our bags and started running, yet again, to another bus. Yune, as sweet as she could be, grabbed my bag and started running with us. I took the handle from here and tried to give her a tip that she wouldn’t accept. I crunched up a bill and said “You better take it or ill drop it!” With that she fumbled with the tip as Marge and I raced ahead yelling “We’ll never forget you, Yune, Thanks for everything!” We climbed on the bus with our new tickets as flustered and sweaty as could be and ran into our German friends we had met on the Mekong Delta trip. The bus began to pull away, and as we passed Yune at the tour agency, we saw her one last time looking for us on the bus to make sure we made it. We started waiving and made eye contact with her so she knew we made it. As she stood there with the biggest smile, she put both arms up in the air waving at us to say goodbye. I wish I could have had a picture of her waving goodbye to us, but I have it imprinted in my mind forever. Without a doubt she was one of the friendliest, outgoing, and caring people we have met on our trip. Thanks, Yune, for making our first city in Vietnam that much more homey.