Today we departed Phenom Penh, Cambodia and crossed into the Mekong River for our journey into South Vietnam. We knew exactly when we hit the Mekong River as the Tonle Sap is much muddier than the Mekong. We didn't reach the Vietnamese border until around 4 pm so it was a very pleasant day of doing not much of anything.
Our Cruise director, Son, told us about growing up in Hanoi under communist rule in the 1980s and 1990s. It reminded me of stories of the depression in the US - no food, no jobs, coupons for every thing you needed. Any income under communism had to be shared with the community. If you killed a chicken for dinner, you had to share or pay a penalty. Lard was a delicacy, no toys, no car, no electricity, no TV. Hand-me-down clothes or if the government gave fabric to the community then everyone wore the same pattern. And yet they have overcome all that, have embraced capitalism while still calling themselves communist and are growing.
We we had an ice cream social, learned how to make egg rolls and laughed our heads off at the crew talent show. A good day!
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