Ain't no mountain high enough...

Day two at the 'hostage’ homestay. At 6am we were up & off on a boat for a 6hr trip to the floating market and who knew where else – we didn't,  we just went. It was lovely to watch the sunrise over the river as we headed off to the unknown. 

First stop a honey farm where we declined the offer to purchase honey/tea/things made of coconut. We met another couple from the uk doing the same trip.  Next the very disappointing floating market, then to a very tranquil stretch of water, spoilt only by the floating discarded rubbish. Our next stop – a business making/selling pop rice (like popcorn but made of rice obviously). We met the English couple again,  as we were talked through the production process & sampled the goods! We were also shown how they make snake rice wine, which is as you imagine it to be - dead snake in alcohol- left to ferment for 7mths. If you drink it before it's poisonous but after 7mths it's fine. Obviously we tried some – it tasted a bit like sherry! We chatted to the other couple before being put back on our boats & taken back to our homestay. When we got back we collapsed in a couple of hammocks, got the guidebook out to plan our escape! At dinner in the evening we talked with fellow guests,  all from France,  who told us that this homestay was recommended in their guidebook. We felt relieved. Maybe we will be able to check out & leave after all!

The following day we left - transported to the ferry on the back on a scooter along the narrow pathways with our packs on our back. It was an experience I hoped not to repeat however on the mainland we were back on scooters again for a 15min sprint across town to the bus station with our backpacks almost  pulling us off at times. Before we were even off the scooters our packs were being removed from our backs and loaded onto a local bus & we followed. 

The journey to Chau Doc took about 3 ½ hrs with stops along the way to let people off & on, deliver & collect packages, let on street vendors, even a man with a microphone got on at one point to do a loud/hard pitch to sell something. I was looking forward to a shower and a good nights sleep so imagine how I felt when We arrived in our hotel room to find 3 geckos just hanging around on the ceiling waiting for us! 
Day 2 in Chau Doc we decided to hire men on bikes again to visit the bird sanctuary and Sam mountain. I didn't find out the name of my driver but he was very sweet & encouraged me to sit closer to him!!

Tra Su Bird Sanctuary was incredible. I'm not sure what I expected but it was really special. We took boats – initially one with an outboard motor which  cut through the vegetation on the water & weaved in between the forest of sunken gnarled trees growing there. We spotted several birds – I have no idea which ones – save for 2 random moorhens that could have come from the lake in St.Albans! We changed onto a smaller, bamboo boat which navigated quietly through the trees narrowly missing them, with bird sounds and occasional sightings all around us. When we got off the boat we headed up many flights of steps to an observation tower where we got to see just how big the area is - 800,000 hectares apparently & (unusually) very unspoilt. In the afternoon we headed up Sam Mountain – a sacred place for Buddhists - built into the mountain with several caves & then took a very hairy ride to the top where we were treated to the most incredible views across the plains below – much still covered in water which is normal for this time of year – just as the sun was setting. You could see for miles – it was mesmerising.

We had a fabulous day and couldn't understand why there were so few tourists but it was lovely for us we only had to share it with a few people.