March 28, 2020 Update

March 28, 2020

Firstly, we are writing from home now. We arrived in Canada one week early - arrived on Canadian soil March 20th instead of our original plan of Mar 27th. Oh well, we are just grateful that we got home before Thailand closed it's borders. We are in our quarantine time, as of today we are 7 / 14 so halfway.

QUARANTINE - Hmmmmm - we are going to use this time to get caught up on sharing our experiences.

Wonderful shelter from rain or sun aboard our ship today March 1st / 20.- our only worry was sun 😎

Our TOP experience today - March 2 / 20. Trishaw Riding...you will see shots throughout our post today.

Just a few local shots as we head to the local market. We are in Tan Chau for this experience.

Notice Bob's position on the cyclo rickshaw now....you will see why in a bit.

This is what was being practiced in the market's exterior...Yes, Bob has convinced a local driver to pass over his unit to Bob...hope the video works...it's hilarious.

I think he was asking if I (Naomi) wanted a ride....hmmmm....No Thanks. He persuaded the owner to hop on the back for a spin.

We did travel into the market....the meat market was fascinating to Bob , disgusting and smelly to Naomi.

"Eyeball Soup" ????

Who knows, why ask? It's not like we were going to eat it.

We were able to easily identify some of the market fruits - like the apples above. Others we had no idea.

Like all the other places we have been....motorbikes are everywhere...very affordable means of travel for the locals.

Learned to enjoy Okra very much....our cooks on the cruise used it alot. Yummy.

The Vegetable Market.

Lots of gold for sale at this market...picture of the entrance below.

So, the Market and Trishaw riding in particular was a blast.

Naomi riding her Trishaw back from the market to the dock where we catch our tender back to the boat.

Ferries run for locals and tourists. The Mekong Delta is made up of many tiny islands.

Our guide got a puppy today when at a local island we toured. He named him "Bear".

Plastic really is ruining our world but helping at the same time...bottles versus plastic piping. This is in a local village that we toured .

Samples of local homes on Binh Thanh Island at Sadec.

These are two examples of older women still working at 73 plus years old. They said they would rather stay busy with something to do.

Grandma on the mat being weaved spends all morning squatting and then they trade positions in the afternoon.

Making baskets out of the dryed Water Hyacinth stems....they can't keep up with their rapid growth so a good way to use some of the Hyacinths.

Thought this was illegal...apparently not. Cock fighting cages.

She is finishing off the newly weaved mat...it is ready for sale once she is done. They sell them for sale to the markets.

Durian and some beautiful local flowers.

The local street that took us to a location where local elders met with us.

These kids were little parrots copying everything our group said in English. They will likely learn English quickly given our cruise line supports this village many more tourists will visit and speak with the children.

The brown bags hold Mangos. They will earn more if the birds, bugs have not gotten at them before arriving at the market. We encountered many Mango trees with fruit protected like this on our trip.

The elders gave a speech and our guide interpreted it back in English. She is widowed and 78 years old. He is 80 years old and very happy he gets a pension now....the age to get pension is 80 years old....she is excited only two more years to go.

They spoke to us in the Community Hall where they also have a altar.

Another cute parrot.

The Hall Gate.

Very Happy people....the unused rice below is the leftovers from a family. They never throw out rice, instead they put it in the sun to dry. Once dry they then sell it to the Fish farms who grind it up into their fish food.