International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 49 | Page 45

Day 10 Sadec / Cai Be
From the hamlet of Sadec, take a local boat along a channel off the main river, with much activity to be seen along the way. Visit a small community where the villagers grow, process and fashion water hyacinths into floor mates and rattan baskets — a real slice of life in the Mekong Delta. At the town of Cai Be, see the floating market, where people in boats sell their wares. Each boat has an object attached to a pole that shows what is being sold. Then visit a rice “factory,” where varieties of ricebased candies are made. Rice husks are reused as fuel for the cooking process, and ash is sold to farmers for use as fertilizer. You’ll also visit a Chinese-style house built in 1838, and walk along local lanes to see loganberries being processed by the families who live there.

Opera House, the former city hall dating from 1908 and the Notre Dame Cathedral, a red-brick edifice with twin spires; and visit the General Post Office, designed by Gustave Eiffel. Continue to the Presidential Palace, headquarters of the South Vietnamese Government during the Vietnam War. The breaching of the gates by North Vietnamese tanks symbolically marked the war’s end. If you wish, end at the War Remnants Museum, which gives a strong view of the war through the eyes of the Vietnamese. The afternoon is free. You can book this trip for 2014 now, just go to http://www.adventurelife.com/cruises/ships/jahan-242/ along-the-mekong-river-2711/ and follow the instructions. Check out all the other destinations and trips too, I am off now to read through horse riding in Ecuador, well, it would be rude not too wouldn’t it? Contact Details http://www.adventure-life.com

Day 11 Ben Tre / My Tho / Saigon

Disembark Jahan in the morning in My Tho, and take a local boat to visit the nearby villages around Ben Tre. See a village where fish are raised before entering the palmlined Vam Xep canal. Stroll around the Quoi An fruit orchard, visiting fruit-drying kilns and a workshop for coconut candy and craftware. Then you’ll be poled along a canal before transferring to My Tho for a lunch of Mekong specialties. After a stop at the great Vinh Trang pagoda, transfer to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam’s greatest commercial center, and check in to the outstanding Park Hyatt, located in the heart of the city. In the late afternoon, meet with a local expert on Vietnam’s modern history.

Day 12 Saigon / Depart

In the morning take a walking tour of Saigon’s historic landmarks, which include a rich selection of fine colonial buildings. You’ll see the grand exteriors of the 1911

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