Tien Talk (Day 2, Mekong Delta)

Yesterday we hit our first big snag of the trip. We cannot use our flat irons onboard the ship. They said if they find out you have one they will confiscate it.

Tien said that possession of the smallest amount of heroin can land you a life sentence, more heroin and you get the death penalty. I don’t know what the penalty for possession of a BabyBliss Pro 230 is but I’m willing to risk it. 

Yesterday he said we were outstanding but he meant we were standing out (bright life jackets).

Today he told a joke that went, “In north Vietnam they say ‘Ga’ in the center they say, ‘Ga’, but in the south (big finish) they say, ‘Ga!’  Then he threw his head back and laughed hard. 

We learned there are more than 55,000 varieties of rice in the world and then I think Tien tried to educate us on about half of those. I was bored but The Husband perked up when Tien started using word porn like “tons per hectare”.

We went with Beela, Omaha, Sweet-Pea and Spud to the bird sanctuary today which was beautiful and a bit savage. Half the time we went through the lotus covered water in a motor boat and the other half we went by canoe (rowed by a local). We saw several species of birds (none photographed), magnificent flowers and even the eggs of the yellow apple snail. 

Yeah, you heard that right. Yellow. Apple. Snail. 

We said goodbye to Tien today because we are crossing to Cambodia this evening.

We tipped him 1,000,000 Vietnamese Dong. Lest you think I’ve run off with a less frugal husband, that’s $38.62.