Waterways

After Cambodia presented itself so beautiful but also emotionally challenging to us, we decided to take a little break and spend 3 days at the beaches of Sihanoukville to sunbath at the white sands with a cocktail at hand, swim in the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Thailand again, watch beautiful sunsets over the horizon and sleep in every single day.

The moment we got to Sihanoukville, it started pouring and thunderstorming and it didn't stop for two days. Being of the optimistic kind, we still had all the cocktails (but inside the beach hut), we still went swimming (but in the grey, raging sea that spit us out after approximately 30 seconds every time we tried), we still watched beautiful sunsets (in the movies that our beach hostel showed after 6pm as there was absolutely nothing else to do in the rainy dark night) and we still slept in every single day (with no changes to the plan whatsoever).
Finally, our good will was rewarded and the sun came out for our last beach day. The sea calmed down, the skies cleared up and we were in a picture perfect world once again. Getting up early wasn't hard at all that day and a morning jogg on the beach, a refreshing swim in the ocean and a huge french breakfast later we were sitting at the beach in the shadow of a palmtree with drinks, nice music and a good book. What more does anyone need?! Answer is pretty easy: someone who wakes you up when you fall asleep and you start looking like a lobster...We went back to Phnom Penh with a 'healthy' glow over all our body.

The next day, we switched from salt water to fresh water: We took a boat down the mighty Mekong river and got into Vietnam, the next great country on our list to explore. What better way than starting in the Mekong Delta with a boat tour? The border crossing was very smooth, the Vietnamese officials didn't even need to see us but only our passports (yeah, weird...but we're in, so who cares) so we could take a break and have our first tasty vietnamese lunch and then go on in a different, even nicer boat. We turned into the Bassac river and went back up to the boarder town of Chao Doc where we spend the night. We made a Moto-trip out to the nearby Sam Mountain from where we had the most romantic view over Cambodia at sunset - an awesome way to say goodbye to the one country and be welcomed by the other.

 The next morning we went on by bus to the touristic center of the Mekong Delta, Can Tho. Its beautiful waterfront, great cafes in the backstreets, rollercoasters and other rides in the city park, and a huge supermarket with french cheese and baguette readily available for a picnic on the roof terrace of our hotel made this place appealing from the first minute. It's secret, like everywhere in the region, lie on the water, though.
So this morning we got up at 4:30am and went out on the river with our private stand up rowboat (don't worry, we were safetly seated; it's the rower who stands up and rows in a very distinctive technique with crossed rudders) to witness the sunrise over the water. It was misty and calm and the mood was magic.

We went to see two floating markets, the first one being Cai Rang, the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta region and the second one being Phong Dien, a much smaller but also less crowded and less motorized place. Observing the lively doings and dealings and getting involved in some of it when buying a coffee or some fruits off the small boats was a real treat. These people live on and from the river; this is where they find food and work, where they bath and do laundry, where they can easily get from A to B - for most of them it is where all their live takes place. Truly amazing.

We went on into the backwaters of the big Mekong and visited some of the countless arms of the meandering river. Our way went through rice fields and other farming land and we even stopped at a place where rice noodles are produced to see the whole process.
Most of the time, the way went straight through dense jungle, though. Bananatrees, coconut palmtrees, gigantic ferns, mangroves, jackfruit-trees and the like line the banks of the canals and the hot, humid air seems to vibrate with the colorful dragonflies and the annyoing mosquitos while the sun is burning even through the layer of clouds and the leafy rood atop you. We got off the boat for a little walk on a small track and soon a lost feeling got hold of us every time the water got out of sight or a turn made it impossible to see what lay ahead. This was true wilderness and even though it felt very adventorous to visit it, I was glad to leave it again and to get back onto the river.

The water, salty and fresh, was beautiful and mostly very laid back. Now we are ready to hit a metropolis again. It's Hoh Chi Minh City (HCMC, aka Saigon) tomorrow!