The Mekong Delta is in the south west of Vietnam - it has 13 provinces, one city, and a total population of about 18 million people. Although the Mekong Delta is well-known for its rice, it is also the home of tropical fruit - and it was incredible!
A bus ride took us to Vinh Long which is the one city located in the Mekong Delta and from there the rest of our travelling was by boat.
The first thing I noticed, at least at our first bus stop anyway, was that they've stepped up a notch from the ones in Cambodia! Not all, but some of them even had flush toilets --- and here I am getting quite used to squatting!
After we got to Vinh Long we got onto our boat and began our day on the Mekong, and the many beautiful canals that that run all through Minh Island (where we spent the night).
Our first stop was at a candy "factory" (all manual labour) where they make all sorts of coconut candy and different types of candy made out of rice.
And they also made snake wine - which was incredibly strong!
And then it started to rain - and really, Toronto doesn't get rain like monsoonal rain!
Another stop was at a home where we listened to a concert featuring traditional instruments and songs.
And then we headed off to the place where we were spending the night but we ran into a little snag on the way. It was high tide and there was one bridge that we couldn't get under. The solution was that our homestay house sent a smaller boat to pick us up. We had to go in two shifts - when I say smaller boat, I do mean smaller boat.
Despite that little hiccup we arrived safely at our homestay.
This was my bed, in a room that slept 6 (and the other 6 in the group were in an identical room next door).
And this was the "all-purpose room" where we hung out and ate.
The host family invited us to help make spring rolls for dinner, and the main part of the meal was elephant ear fish.
In the morning we were back on our boat but only for a few minutes until we were treated to a sampan ride through one of the smaller canals.
After that we stopped at a bonsai farm
And then we went to the floating market. It's a wholesale market with hundreds of boats filled with goods. And you can tell what each boat is selling because they hang whatever they're selling from the long pole you can see on each boat.
On our way back to HCMC city in the afternoon with a stop at the Cu Chi tunnels on the way. The Cu Chi area is where some fierce battles were fought during the war and many of the Ch Chi people who became soldiers, as well as VC soldiers, tunneled themselves underground. Today many of the original tunnels still remain. During the war the tunnel system extended for more than 200 kms, all the way to the Cambodian border.
Here you can see a demonstration of someone entering into the tunnel system:
This is a termite mound, and the little hole at the bottom was an original ventilation hole into the Cu Chi tunnels.
This is a US tank that was destroyed during the war and has never been moved.
Back in HCMC again tonight and then tomorrow we start on our journey north. It was interesting driving into HCMC at rush hour ... just a bit different from rush hour at home.
Amazing post! Awesome pictures!!
ReplyDelete