Today was lunar new year and our last day in Vietnam with our tour. It was the official day to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Today was also the day for us to cross into Cambodia. We started out the day with breakfast before loading onto sampans for the short journey to the city of Tan Chau. 
We exited the boat and made our way to a city square where we boarded what was called a Xe Loi. This contraption is similar to a rickshaw, but way less comfortable and only built for a single passenger. We were cycled around the city, merging with the Tet festival locals for about 30 minutes. We got off these rides at the Cao Di temple.
Caodism is a combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. It was “invented” in the 1920’s and is an established religion. The temple has features of Catholic churches, Buddhist temples, and Confucianism. The main belief is that there is one God and each religion is God’s way of communicating His message. The temple was very colourful and eclectic in its design.
After the visit, we made our way to the sampan dock and were ferried to Evergreen Island for a look at what life is like for the farmers on the island. We sailed down a canal that had numerous barges and fishing boats. All were parked due to the holiday. 
We landed at a dock and walked around part of the island looking at the agricultural offerings. They were growing corn, okra, papaya, bitter cucumber and spicy peppers.
Looked to me that these were hard working people. We stopped at a local house where the lady gave us information about daily life on the island. After the visit we returned to the sampan for the 30 minute return to our boat. The end of the boat ride was also the end of the tour for our guide who had been with us since Hanoi. We said goodbye to Ha and then headed to our room to get ready for lunch. The afternoon was for relaxation as we were cruising up the Mekong. We passed the Cambodian border with no issues as our tour company had organized our visas. I laid by the pool for most of the afternoon then returned to our room and watched Cambodia go by.
The Mekong is still huge here and has numerous fishing villages and large barges. We headed to the lounge before dinner for the nightly port talk then joined our regular group for dinner and lively conversation. Another wonderful meal. While we were eating, we sailed into Phnom Penh. We then went up to the pool deck for disco night.
It was fun, but my knee wasn’t enjoying the dancing so we made our way back to our room and actually turned on the tv for the first time.
This featured blog entry was written by Basebrown from the blog Southeast Asia Adventure.
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