Mekong Delta Trip

Hello All,

Sorry the information has been slow. I will try to catch up.

We went for a nice day trip south to the Mekong Delta area and had a great time. In the map below you will find Ho Chi Minh(Saigon) where we stay and then to the south are the cities of My Tho and Vinh Long. This is where we spent most of our time on this one day long trip.We took a bus from Saigon for 1 1/2 hours until we reached My Tho.  After visiting the "Happy Place" (our guide's euphemism for bathroom) we -

 boarded the boat and headed downstream with our tour guide Phuk (pronounced took). He told us about how the Delta has 9 different rivers coming into it and how although the water looked dirty it is from all of the sediment in the water. Here is where Tony Jr. gave us a quick lesson about turbidity. The just finished a unit in school about water. Timely! 

We got of the boat and went to an area where they make rice paper and rice candies. They grind the rice in these large stones and then the slurry is poured on to very hot rocks to cook. After they are done they are sold for many different food preps. We tried them raw and cooked like potato chips. 

Grant having a turn at the rice grinder

This is where they cook the rice slurry. She would then carefully place them behind her on the bamboo to cool. 

Then we had a "traditional" vietnamese meal. I don't know how traditional it was but it was very yummy. It was part of the tour and was geared for the tourist. We had Elephant Ear fish that was flaked off and made into spring rolls. Other dishes were a spicy pork, some sort of greens similar to swiss chard, dumpling soup and  fried spring rolls. It's easy to understand i will not be loosing any weight! It was very good!

Elephant Ear fish

There were many small fishing boats and floating fish farms. The farms were simple floating buildings w/ nets holding the fish. 

We got back on the boat and headed to our next destination. 

There are so many different types of fruits here. I will need to try them all!

Grant taking a rest. We are still not used to the heat!

After a quick rest and visit to "The Happy Place," we boarded the boat for the next adventure. The boats move slowly and loudly down the large river and it is a great time to watch the fishermen and their nets and see all the other tour boats. This area is a big tourist destination.

Below are some pics and clips that I have not really previewed. They show the coconut processing from raw to finished product of a sweet candy. 

After sampling some nice candies. We boarded our next mode of transpiration! On this ride we shared w/ a young man who was looking to get a job with this tour company so he was trying out some of the various tours they provided. He spoke very good English and was great to talk with. 

After a nice ride we stopped for some refreshment and some nice traditional music. I plan to insert some video here when I figure out how to do it!

Then we boarded a smaller boat for a pleasant calm ride down a narrow canal. I felt bad for our host she looked so old and frail. All of the ladies that worked this section of the tour and rowed these boats were quite old. Tony and I helped paddle.

I love this picture that Christine took of the woman who paddled our canoe. 

Below are some other pics I will annotate later. We are off to Mui Ne for an overnight at the beach. The boys also have some other entries started that we will post next week. Thanks for taking a look and please send a comment or question. Thanks Jivy for lighting the fire. . . 

There is much more to see down here. I have heard you can arrange home stays where you spend the night w/ locals after your tour. I would love to do this.