This morning we woke up early for our travels to the Mekong Delta. After eating breakfast and checking out we boarded the bus for our 3-hour bus ride, further south. We stopped along the way at a rest stop / tourist trap place. It was much nicer than any of the other ones we have ever been to before. They had some great souvenirs, however many of them were quite pricey. I opted to wait until later in hopes of finding a better deal.
On the bus, we kept driving. I slept for part of the time and caught up on some journaling for part of the time. I’ve been very bad about journaling every day, and especially posting them online everyday. My apologies. I am making notes day to day to help me remember. A lot of times in the evenings I am so tired that I just go to sleep.
We finally arrived in the Mekong Delta. A woman greeted us in her mid to late 30’s. She was very beautiful. She had long hair and was short in height. She wore black flowy pants and a pretty turquoise blue top. She was our guide for while we were staying in the Mekong. She spoke excellent English, and we later found out that she taught English for several years. She has only interacted with English speaking peoples in Vietnam, and has never traveled outside of her country. She also has a 9-year-old daughter. Below is a map of where we were in Vietnam.
She first led us to a market and we were able to walk through and see all the fruits and vegetables. I’ve learned that most markets in Vietnam are very similar, selling local foods for reasonable prices. Something I hadn’t seen though were pets for sale. I saw birds as well as dogs in cages for sale. They were so cute it was hard not to pet them. I’ve had to remind myself numerous times not to pet the animals. It has been so hard, especially when they are so cute! After walking through the market, we boarded a small boat. I noticed that the river appeared to be very polluted because there were many leaves and limbs floating around and it also had a brownish color. Our guide later explained that it has the brown tint from the silt at the bottom of the river. She mentioned that in the summertime it is normally a clear blue. She talked about the Mekong in general on our boat ride. We arrived on the mainland initially and we would be spending the night and exploring the island across from the mainland. We arrived at a concrete platform on the island where we exited the boat. The tide was low for most of the afternoon so we had quite a step up (or down). There were concrete steps that would go down into the water, and the boat would pull up right next to them. It was scary each time! I was convinced I was going to fall in the water. Our guide had brought us to a local house for lunch. We sat outside where we were served many interesting dishes. We had elephant fish (standing up with the scales, eyes and fins intact), rice, and some other things. I didn’t try the fish; the eyes looking at me were enough to convince me not eat the fish. The rice was good as was most everything else I tried. After lunch, we laid in the hammocks surrounding the house for about 20 minutes. It was so nice to rock in the hammock and listen to nature.
After lunch, we got back on the boat and headed towards a fruit farm. We again had to climb out of the boat and walk up concrete steps before crossing a concrete plank type of thing to reach the garden. We saw many fruits and vegetables and how the Vietnamese people of the Mekong believed was the right way to grow the perfect plant. I also noticed many roosters caged up around the farm. They were very large, and seemed to be resting. We sat down at a table when we finished the tour to try some fruit. I tasted guava and some jackfruit. The jackfruit had an odd texture and taste, I couldn’t decide if it was good or not. Next, our guide from Ho Chi Minh City and our local guide started talking about the calabash fruit. They were talking about the good health it brought and how it was used as a type of alcohol sometimes. We were all given a tiny cup, a little bigger than a thimble and a taste of what they called the calabash wine. I watched, as one of my professors tasted it. He commented that it burned and did not taste good. We were all encouraged to try it. I thought, well, in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do. I tasted my small sample of the calabash wine, and thought I was going to be sick. It was very potent and burned the entire way down into my stomach. I was nervous it was going to make me sick. I quickly got some water to drink in order to help the taste go away. Never again will I taste calabash wine.
We loaded the boat again heading for another part of the island for our bike tour. I was excited to find that the bike I had chosen had a bell on the handlebars. I vowed to use this as my horn, and to be as annoying as the Vietnamese people are with their horns. It didn’t last long; I got annoyed with my bell before too long. We biked through the town on a narrow dirt path. We crossed many ‘bridges’ that were made of concrete and had no sides to them. They were more like planks of death. I was so scared I was going to fall into the (nasty) Mekong river water. Luckily, I never did. Throughout our bike ride, we passed many houses. It was apparent that all the families had at least two roosters if not more. Many had dogs as well. Seeing the homes that these individuals live in made me feel so blessed to have a home with doors, and air conditioning. After riding sometime, we stopped and crossed the road into a house where we parked our bikes. There was a huge snake in a cage at the house. I enjoyed seeing the snake, although it was sleeping and didn’t move at all. It was probably about 6 ft long (at least) and about the size of a large cup around. There were chicken heads on top of the cage, which we assumed was the food for the snake. I couldn’t imagine crossing one of those snakes not in a cage; I definitely would not like it then!
Next, we walked by foot down to the river. There were several small wooden boats waiting for us. Three to four people could fit in each boat. After all of us were in our boats a local guide rowed us through the canal back to our big boat. It was fascinating to see the backside of the houses. We learned that the river often floods. I saw where concrete walls had been torn apart from the force of the floods. To prevent the river from flooding again the locals have placed trees and limbs along the embankment and down into the water in hopes of making a stronger wall.
After arriving back to our boat, we began our journey to our home stay. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at our home stay. There were about four people per room. Our rooms were open air (like most typical Vietnamese homes). We had minimal lighting and one outlet per two people. Our mattresses were placed atop a wooden base. We had a top sheet, pillow and one towel. There was also a mosquito net. Although I was worried about catching malaria during the night, I was quite excited for the adventure that lay ahead. We were given some free time to hang out before dinner. Some of my peers chose to swim in the river behind the house. Remembering what I had learned about water in Vietnam I opted to journal a little bit and take a nap. Dinner was served around 7:00 pm. Many of the students helped the family we were staying with cook dinner. Unfortunately, when I woke up there wasn’t much left to do. We had red snapper, sweet potato fries, rice, spring rolls with a type of root in them, vegetable soup, and fresh fruit. I’m sure I forgot a few other dishes we had as well. I tried the red snapper, even though I really do not care for fish. Surprisingly I really enjoyed it. The sweet potato fries were delicious and fresh as well. I really enjoyed the meal at the home stay. At the end of dinner the local family and guide brought around the small glasses that were slightly bigger than thimbles. They served us ‘rice wine’. As much as I didn’t want to taste another strange Vietnamese wine, I did. It wasn’t as bad as before and had a slight taste of licorice. I was really only tasting it to be polite and I did not like it at all. After dinner, a local couple sang and danced for us while two others played the monochord and a banjo-looking instrument. They also had some sort of instrument to make drumming sounds. I really enjoyed the few songs that they played for us. They were love songs and it was so neat to hear traditional Vietnamese music.
Shortly after that, I headed to bed. I made sure to tuck my mosquito net in all around my bed. I also kept all my belongings with me in the mosquito net. I made sure to keep them zipped as well. I placed my towel over the pillow and shook the top sheet free of any creepy crawlers there may have been. I placed my bug spray by my head as well. I made sure to not only spray the bed with bug spray, but the net and me as well. I was determined not to catch any weird bug disease! Lying in bed, I found it very peaceful to hear the river and the sounds of nature. Within a short time, I fell right to sleep.
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