And the golden raspberry goes to...

...the one day Mekong Delta tour for being possibly the worst trip we have ever been on. Our reasons behind booking it were motivated by a desire to see the fertile plains and also, well lets face it, it has one of the coolest name in history. So on that rather ropey rationale we sat on a bus without air conditioning travelling to an area that whilst fertile, looked more boggy than rice paddy-like and arrived in a town that was as unremarkable as the River Mekong and the Delta itself. A boat trip on the murky brown waters took us to an island inhabitated only by a coconut candy production line. The candy itself was delicous admittedly and Beth purchased coconut skewers to try and salvage something good from the frankly disappointing start of the trip. Always the optimists, we looked forward to the rowing boat trip which was next on the agenda. This was atually the best part of the day as a lady wearing a tradional conical hat paddled along a narrow river channel surrounded by coconut palms on each side. Our enjoyment was short-lived however as we were taken to watch the waitresses, who had just served us a meagre portion of rice with vegetables that had obviously seen better days, sing traditional songs. Call us culture ignoramouses but since when did wailing hopelessly out of tune to music played by untalented muscians, teamed with a tourist who insited on playing his newly purchased coconut castanets to a non-existent rhythm, constitute easy listening? Don't believe us?? Watch the video here!

Giving ourselves a caffeine boost with the incredibly strong, incredibly sweet Vietnamese coffee we grimly waited to be taken back to Ho Chi Minh. But there was more in store for us. We were told to look round a bonsai garden but frankly the caged monkeys were a sad sight and we certainly didn't want to show any signs of encouragement to the owners. Glumly and after what seemed like a year, we were picked up and taken back, breathing a sigh of relief as we reached the safety of our hotel. After a delicous meal at what had become our local restaurant, our hangovers finally kicked in after two weeks of fun, frivolity and drinking with Will and Katie. We took to our beds and got an early night ready for our bus journey that heralded the start of our travels northward towards the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi via Dalat, Nha Trang, Hue, and Hoi An.