Today, again, was so interesting and fun too. We drove 2.5 hours south to the Mekong Delta.
We were given bikes and these actually fit pretty well, basic bikes, but the seats could go high enough. We then took a ferry across to an island and started riding.
The weather was hot, but perfectly fine with the breeze and we were often in shade from the trees. We rode a lot of the island and all along the way we were behind houses and occasionally little shops. All of our stops were to visit women who were individual entrepreneurs – making their products by hand and then selling directly to the market.
Our first stop a woman was making rice wine. She gave us a sip (I smelled it) and it was like drinking everclear alcohol – not that I ever drank that, but the smell made me think of. They cook it longer and longer to make it less strong and more drinkable, and that product is sold more often. In the video our guide is saying that if you sell that super strong wine – it doesn’t go well.
Basket and bracelets made from the water vines/reeds that were growing all around the delta and tributaries. We each got a bracelet – so pretty.
Scene on the ride
Another scene – we saw roosters in several places in both Vietnam and Cambodia. As the Cambodian guide said, it’s outlawed in both places, so you just pay off the policeman. These roosters were gorgeous and you knew immediately why they were so well taken care of. Different lives and hard lives. I had to let it go, but didn’t end up having a snack sitting next to them.
Then nail files, so precise.
Tofu – first soaked for 4 days, then ground with water, cooked until most of the water evaporated, then drained through a basket covered with something like cheese cloth and a heavy pot pressing down until the water is mostly gone, then it’s cut in blocks.
Macrame weaving to make hammocks. She’s the last one making these on the islands. It’s too hard on the hands and hard work to begin with, and no one in her family wants to continue the tradition.
Our guide said that if he was to make one of these products, it would be making tofu, least hard on the body.
We then left the bikes and got into small boats (we’re starting to see a pattern) that were the same that the Viet Cong used to smuggle goods/weapons into Saigon. They were able to row into the reeds, lie down in their boats and be completely hidden.
Then lunch with a whole fish. Here, people eat the shrimp shells and in this type of fish, they also eat the scales. Pat’s up for trying anything and said the scales and tail weren’t bad, just really crunchy like fries.
Then we got into a larger boat that took us back to the ferry and back to the mainland.
There were large boats that looked like stationary houseboats, along the river.
Our guide said they were owned by the government and rented out for free of pennies to those who wanted a vacation, but couldn’t afford one. Bathroom? River. Our fish – where did they come from? Further out in the delta. We think.
The Mekong Delta actually has 9 tributaries, has a 3 meter tide and you can take a boat all the way up to Saigon or even up to Cambodia. Our island adventure was on Caí Be in the province of Then Giang.
We loved this day, but boy we were ready for showers by the time we got back to the hotel.
It’s incredible that every day has brought new, different, learning experiences.
Tomorrow, the tunnels.
Reb's Walks! 