MeKong Delta

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MeKong Delta - The floating market was pretty dead when we saw it but still interesting. Each boat has their product tied to a pole sticking up off the bow. People live on their boats. Women work as water taxi’s taking people across on a small gondola looking boat with two paddles. They wear the traditional hat and an outfit that looks like pj’s. The delta is one place where people do not go hungry because the soil is rich and everything is grown. It’s huge. The Mekong delta runs from Vietnam to China. It is 4,000 kilometers long and has over 40,000 kilometers of waterways. So what we saw was just a glimpse. Again the resourcefulness of the people was impressive. We visited a factory that makes coconut candy, coconut cream, coconut milk, rice paper for spring rolls, rice wine and popped rice bars sweetened with coconut sugar. They use the rice casings as fuel for the oven and black sand to make the rice pop. We watched the process and were allowed to taste each item. Being allergic to coconut I had to pass on a most things but I did try the rice paper and popped rice and nothing happened. I have a feeling it would have been okay because the coconut was not processed. I haven’t had any allergic reactions so far (knock on wood) but I’m weary of pushing it.

Ancestor Worship: In the countryside you often see graves in the rice fields. It may seem strange to bury your family in the field you are going to eat from if you’re not familiar with ancestor worship. Ancestor worship existed before Buddhism came to Vietnam and now there is a mix of both. From what I understand families pray to the ancestors to watch over them. If their ancestors are happy, they will be happy too and will be rewarded but if they ignore their ancestors, they will have lots of problems. Every four years families dig up the bones of their deceased family members and clean them. They have to do it after midnight. In the city you can pay the cemetery workers to do it and just watch. Many of you have probably heard of or seen offerings in front of an alter. Water, oranges, incense, money, etc. In Hoi An I saw houses and money being burned to send to the ancestors. Here the offerings go to a whole new level. On our bus to Phnom Penh from Saigon there were boxes of paper items made to burn for ancestors. They were being transported across the border to sell. In the box were the following items all made of paper: gold watch, cell phone, cigarettes (with warning label), money, perfume and clothes. Interesting huh?

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