I woke up this morning to the sound of a rooster. Normally, this would be quite unusual for me, however, a rooster has somehow managed to always be near any room I am staying in while in Vietnam. I was surprised at how well I slept with my bare necessities. While I did get a little cold during the night, I overall enjoyed the peace that comes with sleeping without all the lights and buzz of a city or dorm room.
After brushing my teeth and throwing on a t-shirt and shorts I headed to breakfast. We were served omelets and fruit as well as Vietnamese style coffee. The coffee here is more like liquid chocolate coffee ice cream, but hot. The Vietnamese drink it with condensed milk as ‘creamer’ and normally no sugar (its sweet enough already). After breakfast I headed back to the room to make sure I had packed up all my belongings.
The group boarded our small boat that we used to navigate the delta and headed to a floating market. The floating market was really cool. I was expecting to see a market that was much the same as every other market we’ve seen so far. However, the floating market was much different. Each vendor was anchored in a different spot around the shallow cove. Every boat had a flag pole with the type of good they were selling posted high into the air. To buy a good, one must approach a vendor’s boat and negotiate a deal. While we didn’t buy anything, it was still cool to see how the people living in this area acquire goods that they need.
We docked the boat not far from the floating market and got off to explore a small village. Our guide took us to a salt making business. While it was a small family run business, it was still so neat to see how they obtained the salt. They used a process of boiling water from the river and sifting the salt out of the water, and then letting it dry, to obtain all the rice. The refinery was located in a building without air conditioning, and was only about the size of a normal fast food restaurant. The most interesting thing I noticed was that no machines controlled the work, only people themselves.
Across the street we were able to see candy was made, and packaged. Again, there was only manual labor. We even got to taste some of the candy, which was very delicious! It had the consistency of caramel, but had different flavors like coconut! We also got to learn how rice was used make the rice wine we had an opportunity to taste the night before. It was so interesting to see how they produced this drink out of rice! It takes a relatively long process in about a weeks time to produce only a little bit of the rice wine. We were able to smell the small bottle of rice wine that was being produced, and it was clear it was very concentrated. Our local guide told us that at the beginning and end of the process the wine has fermented more. Next, she showed us a large jar. The jar was probably about the size of one that you would either get cheeto balls from Sams in, or one of those popcorn tins at Christmas. Inside were a dozen or so different snakes, all dead of course. They were mixed in rice wine. Our guide explained that the venom from the snakes after they die combined with the rice wine produces a ‘snake wine’ that helps treat many joint problems and other illnesses. She asked if anyone wanted to try the rice wine and two brave students decided they would. I was hesitant because the snakes were a) snakes, and b) poisonous. I was worried that I would poison myself tasting it. The guide reassured me and I thought, ‘When in Vietnam, do as the Vietnamese do’. I tasted a small sample of the snake wine, and while I didn’t like either sample from yesterday, this one was not as strong. I still did not care for it at all. I had someone take a picture of me, and my facial expression says it all. Although all three ‘wines’ I tasted were honestly, disgusting, I am glad that I did so. How many people can say they have tasted ‘snake wine’? Oh, I forgot to mention, snake wine is sold everywhere in Vietnam. It is typical to see a glass bottle with snakes in it being sold, as commonly as normal wine is sold in America.
After the snake wine experience, we learned how to make rice popcorn. It was neat to see all the work that goes into making sure the huge pot is not too hot, or not too cold and how they give different flavors to them. Rice popcorn tastes like Quaker Oats rice cakes. We were able to try a few different flavors of rice popcorn and candy before we were given an opportunity to shop around. There was a small store selling many handcrafted, reasonably priced souvenirs. I was able to purchase some conical hats and a few other little souvenirs before it was time to go.
We rode the boat back to the mainland and boarded our bus for Ho Chi Minh City again. Along the way, we stopped at a rest stop area that we stopped at on the way in. We had lunch at the restaurant there, which was very nice. The ride back to Ho Chi Minh City seemed shorter than the ride to the Mekong Delta.
After arriving back in the city, a group of girls decided to walk back to the market. I was adamant on setting a meeting time and place so I would not get left again. We decided to stay for about 45 minutes and then meet back up. I had a lot of souvenir shopping to do. I purchased some great things at some reasonable prices. For some reason I feel like I’ve spent more money on souvenirs here than I did in China, but I think, I am getting about the same kind of deals. Vietnam definitely has a lot of clothes to buy and not many purses at all. They also have many stands selling artwork and novelty type of items. We met back up and another girl and I decided to stay 30 minutes longer to finish shopping for some last minute gifts. After that, we headed back to the hotel.
I was exhausted and thought that a group of people would be going out for dinner later. I waited for my roommate to return, hoping to go with her, however when she got back she told me that she had already had dinner. After checking with some others, I found the same thing too. I was so hungry and called the restaurant we ate at before the Mekong Delta to see if they would deliver. It was 9:30 and they closed at 10:00 and said it was too late for delivery orders. I wondered around the hotel looking for a vending machine, but couldn’t find one. After showering and packing, I headed to bed on a very empty, hungry stomach. I hoped that morning would come soon so I could have a good breakfast!
No comments:
Post a Comment