Delta, Cu Chi, and Dalat

Sunrise on the Mekong Delta

The trip to Mekong Delta was nice. Out of all the places we've been so far, I would say that the people were the most friendly there. I enjoyed the scenery and peaceful atmosphere (except for the roar and exhaust of motorboats). We had a 20-minute sampan ride at one point (like a canoe), in which a woman wearing the famous conical hat rowed us down a canal, and we also got conical hats to wear. Cheesy but fun. I was a little disappointed with the overnight "homestay," though, because it didn't feel like a homestay. It was more like a camping lodge or private bed and breakfast, at a stilt house on the River, with Western-style bathrooms and hammocks for lounging. Our group was split between two big rooms with wooden cots and individual mosquito nets. We met the man of the family, who smiled a lot, but never the woman. I guess she was in the kitchen the whole time making our dinner and then washing up after. We didn't talk to the family about their life in the Delta at all. Maybe we should have been more assertive in initiating that conversation, but our group leader could have initiated it, too.
On the way back to Saigon we stopped at the Cu Chi Tunnels, a woodsy area where some Vietnamese hid from American soldiers during the war (BTW, called the "American War" here). We went through a portion of the tunnels that had been widened for Westerners, with some lights installed underground, and it was pretty freaky to be in there for just 5 minutes, let alone days or weeks on end. At the beginning of the tour we saw a film from 1967 in the Visitor Center about how the Vietnamese people of Cu Chi area geniusly designed the tunnels and set traps and other things to defeat the inferior Americans.
After another night in Saigon we head for the mountain town of Dalat. The weather was cooler there but in general there was not much to see, though the town is popular with the Vietnamese as a vacation destination. Actually, it reminded me of Niagra Falls without the Falls. The region is known for its strawberries, avocados, coffee, and artichoke tea. I had all of the above and they were delicious. I even had an avocado shake. I didn't like it as much as the mango or custard apple shake I tried a few days before. These fruit shakes are probably my downfall, as I have had some tummy upset...
In other news, in the past few days I've had my first encounters with a squat toilet. I don't mind it that much as long as there is a way to wash your hands afterwards, but there often isn't. Yeah...
Also, many women here like to wear matching sleeveless pajama sets as daytime outside clothes. Makes sense. They look cool and comfortable. But I'm still seeing people wearing lots of clothes even when it's sweltering. They don't seem to sweat much. And they prefer to dress modestly - usually knees and shoulders covered.