Today we woke up at 6:30am to have breakfast and pack in preparation for the journey back to Ho Chi Minh City. After breakfast we gave some of our gifts to the owners of the house we stayed in. We then got on a boat which took us along the Mekong River. On the way we passed the floating markets where villagers come to sell their produce from their farms. We stopped at a nearby village where we gave gifts to some of the children and watched the process of making rice paper, coconut candy and popped rice. To make the coconut candy, the husk is separated and the coconut is split open. The coconut is poured out; the coconut flesh is then shredded and compressed in order to get the milk. The coconut candy is a combination of the coconut water and milk which is then heated and left to set. The coconut candy is then wrapped in rice paper to stop it from sticking to the wrapper. Things such as cocoa, peanut and banana are added to create different flavoured candy. While we were there, some people got to hold a large python around their neck including Mrs Tattersall who was very scared!
After our stop at the village we hopped back on the boat to meet the bus further along the river. We drove for about 2 hours before we stopped for lunch. We had lunch at the Mekong Rest Stop which included a variety of different seafood dishes as well as Pho. We then returned to the bus and continued the journey back to Ho Chi Minh City.
Once we arrived at Ho Chi Minh city we checked back into our hotel and had a few hours to shower and get ready for dinner. At 6:00pm we all made our way to the shopping mall and had 30 minutes to look around. The mall was like a maze, it was very large and cramped. After the shopping mall we walked to the night markets where we were able to wander around and purchase dinner. The night markets were chaotic and we were encouraged to bargain hard as the starting price was very expensive. There were many different shops selling things such as bags, shoes, hand-made gifts, jewellery and clothes. After a night full of shopping we returned to the hotel for a good night sleep.
By Ellie and Imogen