We arrived in Rach Gia after a 6 hour bus ride. Very interesting to see the sights along the way and watch the view change from crowded, noisy, honking, motorbike filled streets, to all the varying shades of green in the countryside. As we progressed further into the delta, we crossed more rivers. Houses on stilts line the rivers and are pretty spare and sobering - open air, corrugate metal walls, palm thatching, and whatever else was available to make a shelter.
One thing I must say is that there are lots of hammocks in the delta. We passed many restaurants and all were open air and had as many hammocks as tables. I think I would have been quite happy to have taken a snooze in one of those hammocks. My friend Kristi, who is also here with us is considering opening a hammock bar in Atlanta.
It's always amusing to see what people are able to transport on their motor bikes. They are ingenious and often have buggies, carts or other contraptions attached. A few of the most memorable so far: a guy with a washing machine strapped to the back of his motorbike. Two guys carrying poles that must have been at least 25 feel long -- one guy on a bike at the front, and one on a bike behind. A guy with 4 full size pigs going to market. The pigs must have been trained to be very still on the back of his bike because they were not moving... I wish I had pictures of these - they are fleeting images that happen so fast it's hard to capture unless you constantly have your camera in hand. It may become my mission to just document all the strange and wonderful ways of transporting things on motorbikes in Vietnam!
Once we arrived in Rach Gia we headed straight to the school and proceeded to unpack the multitude of boxes and suitcases full of donations. It's amazing how much can be accomplished in such a short time. Our hotel is not quite the Saigon Mini 5, but passable. An Chi asked if we could have room service and it's not an option here.
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