Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 June: In the jungle...

After a quiet evening and a lovely meal at the Vietnamese restaurant at the hotel we had an early night. Tuesday morning was the start of our 4 day bike tour through the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. We were met by our tour guide Tang and our driver who took us out of the city and south for over 2 hours in a mini van. By the time we had finished our drive we had clearly left the city and were in a very rural part of the country. We had already passed many, many farms and rice fields. The road we were on contained lots of makeshift shops, cafes and workshops for motorbikes, as well as factories for lots of cottage industries. There were next to no Westerners and we were already becoming something of a curiosity for those passing us as we drove.

We pulled up outside a small cafe, where the bikes were prepared for us. We gathered a small amout of things, as the rest of our kit was to be transported ahead of us. We were given a fresh young coconut each with a straw before we started and the fresh coconut water was both delicious and refreshing, not to mention the high levels of natural electrolytes it contained, which would be great fuel for our 40km cycle that afternoon.

We set off on some local back roads near My Tho, the last town of any notable size would see for a while. These roads were nowhere near as crazy as the ones in Ho Chi Min City, but they were still pretty hectic with motorbikes, mopeds, the occasional car and trucks zipping backwards and forwards. We lined up in formation with our guide leading the way. Our first stop not too far away was the local ferry terminal. It was thriving with people going about their business. Many of them gave us strange glances. The Mekong River has numerous distributaries and to get anywhere in this area you need to cross them. Most need to be by ferry, which come in many shapes and sizes and nearly all of them would struggle to pass any health and safety standards in Europe.

After our first ferry ride we cycled along another small back road, before stopping to try an exotic Vietnamese fruit called Dorian. Dorian is a large fruit, not quite as big as a football, green and covered with hard, green fins sharp to touch. The fruit is cut open and the smell of the meat immediately hits you, its a strong odour to say the least, the best way to describe would be to say of a well used toilet. If you can get past that and eat some of it, it has a creamy texture that tastes of garlic, onions and gorgonzola cheese! I am not kidding. We all managed a couple of mouthfuls, as the locals looked on smiling. The locals love it and it is a Mekong delicacy and at a $1 a fruit it is too expensive for many people here. I am glad I tried it, but I won't be rushing back.

After our quick pit stop we carried on our way and now we pulled off the back roads and on to the jungle the rural paths of the jungle. The Mekong jungle is dense with plants and vegetation, apparently there are over 500 species of plants there including palm, mango, banana trees and bushes, vines and grass. It is also teaming with wildlife with lizards, snakes and spiders. As anyone that knows me will tell you, I am petrified of snakes and can't even watch them on the TV, so the idea of bumping into a Cobra, Green Snake or Python scared the crap out of me. I was constantly scanning the ground for slivery critters.

The rural paths were made up of anything from beaten down mud thoroughfares to concrete slabs about 5ft wide. There are literally hundreds of villages in the jungle with many houses built within the jungle facing on to the rural paths. Behind these houses the families that live there grow jungle crops, mainly fruit and raise animals, including hens, pigs and occasionally cows. The Government in Vietnam has been working very hard over the last five years to bring electricity and a road network to these villages and so have laid thousands and thousands of concrete slabs down to replace the mud-beaten paths. This makes these villages so much more accessible and motorbikes and mopeds happily drive up down these roads.

The homes varied in size, shape and style, many of them have been recently built, a sign of the growing wealth that has come to the Mekong with the growing role of capitalism in Vietnam since 1995 allowing successful farmers to make significant money on their crops. The more successful the farmer the bigger their house, some of those less successful have yet to afford to pay for a new house and so live in a traditionally made wooden and mud house, sometimes supported with corrugated iron panels. However, there were fewer of these than I expected. Our guide believes that at the current rate of economic growth and success the jungle communities will grow and grow in prosperity and become more and more modern over the coming years. It will be a very different place in ten years time. This can also be said of all of Vietnam and we saw this in Ho Chi Min City too, where tourism is having the same effect.

We cycled through many of these village communities, and in most at least one or two of the houses had set themselves up as local shops selling everything from ice cold drinks, cigarettes, fruit, bread and in a few we saw meet. I found it interesting that a lot of the canned drinks were the major brands such as Pepsi, 7 Up and Fanta, as well as the beers, such as Singha and Tiger.

The people of these communities were often very excited to see us, especially the children who screamed "hello" at us as we passed and offered massive grins and smiles. Our guide told us that where we were cycling many of the people there had not seen western people, except for on the TV. They took a particular liking to Rob, who is the palest of the three of us and many people giggled and laughed at his colour. When we stopped to catch ferries, people would come up and look at us, they would ask our guide questions about us including where were we from, could we eat their food, and why we were so pale. A few times people would put their arms next to Rob to compare colours, which would make them laugh. They all seemed genuinely pleased to see us there and were very welcoming. We didn't get bored of the hundred and hundreds of "hellos" called out to us as we tried to answer them all.

So we moved through these communities by bike and boat throughout the first day. We stopped for lunch at a local family house that had been turned into a large homestay and restaurant. As we moved through to our table and chairs I noticed a large cage in the shade to the left of the seating. I stopped dead. Within the cage was a massive, massive python. I felt my heart start to pound in m chest and despite being scared I moved slowly toward the cage to look closer. I was less scared than I thought I would be, but the idea of getting any closer didn't appeal.

We sat down for lunch and treated to an amazing Vietnamese feast, which was later described to us a simple family meal. We were given some rice paper, lettuce and mint, noodles and a whole deep fried Mekong Fish, otherwise known as an Elephant Ear Fish. The fish and leaves were then rolled up in the rice paper like a spring roll and dipped into fish oil. The fish was sensational, so light and tasty. We all agreed that it was the nicest thing we had eaten since getting there. We were also given shrimp and fried spring rolls as part of this course, and again both were delicious. We were then presented with pork cooked in coconut, rice and vegetables in a tasty broth, simply beautifully cooked food. After eating all that we were given some local fruit including Dragon Fruit. We were stuffed, but very satisfied.

After lunch the owner of the house got out the rather large python, and wrapped it round Stephen. Stephen initially looked quite relaxed and calm, but as the snake began to constrict around him and his head moved forward toward his face he looked a little pensive. From my very safe distance the snake looked a little unhappy and I could see why Stephen was a little nervous. Rob took some pictures and the snake was unwrapped from Stephen and placed on the floor by the cage. I then ventured forward and in a moment of complete bravery (or at least I thought so) I bent down by the snake (no where near the head) and touched it!! Not once, but twice!! I even stroked it. I never ever thought I would touch a snake. Rob took a picture so I can show everyone to prove it.

We cycled some more in the afternoon working our way through the jungle aiming to reach our own homestay house for the evening. At about 6pm we emerged through some the jungle trees to a large, newish, wooden home on the banks of the river. It was a beautiful home and we were greeted by the family that lived there, Mr and Mrs Ba. We were shown to our bedroom, a simple dormitory for the three of us, where we got showered and changed. It was good to be clean and refreshed and before dinner we climbed into some hammocks on the front porch overlooking the river and enjoyed a well earned beer.

The evening was great fun, as we and four other travellers staying at the Homestay were invited to help make the evening meal. We chopped vegetables, made spring and summer rolls and stir fry. We were also shown how to set a table for a Vietnamese dinner. We ate the food that we had prepared, as well as more food made by the family including more Elephant Ear Fish, this time steamed. I have rarely seen so much food and as most of you know I never struggle to finish off meals, but it was a such a struggle.

We also experienced our first major thunder and rain storm, which was spectacular to behold. The rain came down like a bathroom power shower, covering the whole jungle. The grey sky lit up with sheet lightening and rattled with cracks of thunder that shook the earth. It was another amazing example of Mother Nature stretching her muscles.

After dinner we were all shattered, even though it was only 8.30pm, so we went to bed and within in minutes we were all fast asleep.

We rose early in the morning at 6.30am, quickly packed before sitting down to a breakfast of eggs, bread and jam, fruit and some Vietnamese coffee. It was simple, but again, as with everything, very tasty.

Our journey today started on a boat, which took us down river for a short while, before dropping us off at a nearby small town. Once on the bikes we set off again through the rural paths of the jungle moving through more and more of the villages and the communities we had experienced the day before. They were much the same as yesterday and the people were still just as friendly. We cycled much further today than yesterday close to 70km and it was a very hot day reaching a high of about 35/36c. When we were cycling the head wind we created was cooling, but as soon as we stopped it was stifling hot and hard work.

Today on our travels we were given a glass of sugar cane juice, which was really sweet and refreshing just what we needed after a morning of cycling. The sugar cane juice is made by pressing bamboo shoots through a machine and collected at the bottom in a glass. Lovely.

For lunch today we had street food, a whole roast duck with French baguettes. The Vietnamese have been occupied by both the Chinese and the French during their history and our guide told us that a lot of the food they now eat is influenced by this, hence, the fusion of whole roast duck and baguettes. We sat on some tables and chairs in a small town on a main road off the jungle paths eating with our fingers. It was, as with everything else we've eaten on this trip, good food.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cycling, including moving through a coconut plantation, which was really interesting to see, however, we all looked up from time to time to make sure that none of the coconuts would fall on us. They can kill people falling from that height.

The end of our day saw us arrive in Vinh Long, the capital of the province we were travelling through in the Mekong. Tonight we stayed in a three star hotel where we ate another Vietnamese meal with our guide and driver. Tomorrow we have over 80kms to ride. It should be just as much fun.