Now in 'Nam

The boat left the dock today for Vietnam, but not before a last-minute shakedown attempt by the cab driver that took me from the hotel to the ferry dock. He insisted that MY ears were bad and that we had really agreed on 5 dollars, not 1 dollar. I realize that these 2 numbers sound alike but considering that you can get a cab driver to chaufeur you around for 8 hours for $16, 5 dollars for a 5 minute cab ride seemed like a pretty shaky case. I gave him a buck and got out of the cab but was a bit worried that he would take off with my bag in his trunk so I left the door open. He didn't get out to unlock the trunk but the car was such a piece of junk I just opened the trunk without the key.

The ferry ride was amazing along the Mekong river from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc, Vietnam. Chau Doc is in the delta region there the Mekong splits into small channels and people literally live in houses on the river. They raise fish under their houses in suspended nets and feed them through trap doors. It makes them really easy to catch, you don't even have to leave home. Someone should tell the people in Newfoundland about this technique.

Paul