Lazy Canals and the Vegetable People

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Leaving the hassle & bustle behind for the gentle pace of the south

We leave Ho Minh City at 8am to travel the 3 hours south of the busy city to enjoy 2 days and a night in the Mekong Delta. During the drive we notice that the motorbike madness turns into the gentle pace of the bicycle, well almost gentle as there are still thousands of bikes everywhere. We reach our destination and we change from Mini Bus to water taxi for a tour of the Mekong Delta by water.

The Mekong Delta often referred to as the "Rice bowl", is at the south end of Vietnam is a vast and low plain, divided by the "Nine Dragons", the arms of the mighty Mekong River. The country most fertile soil is formed by alluvions and sediments deposited by the great river. This prosperous region produces close to half the agricultural production of rice for the country, with abundant harvests of fruits & flowers. It is a world of rice fields, orchards, arroyos, and canals, where water and earth are intractably interlaced, where in many places a boat is the most convenient way of transportation, where many people live on the water, depend on the water for fish and rice, and perform functions such as shopping and eating on the water. The insularity of the Delta has made it a refuge for minority religions such as the curious indigenous Cao Dai religion and the Muslim faith of the descendants of the Cham people.

We arrive for lunch to enjoy yet another feast for the taste buds and the eyes too. In all the time that l have been travelling l have never seen such beautifully displayed food each dish was garnished with Vietnamese vegetable people doing everyday farming activities from fishing to carrying the rice, all this in the most isolated location. We were provided with Elephant Fish, with Rice Paper, Spring Rolls, Soup, Rice and a Spicy Chicken Dish all of which were full of flavours and a joy to try.

Just across the bridge from lunch was a crocodile farm so we took a quick walk to see and were met by about 15 reptiles basking in the afternoon sun. We then re-join the water taxi to visit a brick factory, the brick chimneys are clearly seen in the distance and when we arrive we see the whole process from start to finish. The clay for the bricks is transported from rice fields in the south and is moulded into shape by a simple machine by a couple of woman. They take time to inspect the moulds before letting them dry on racks within the factory. Once air dry they are stacked in the brick kilns and are baked for 40 days in these hot ovens using the husk from the rice fields. The rice husks are delivered from the rice fields by huge barges on the delta every day. Once baked it takes about 10 days for the kilns to cool down before it is cool enough to empty. We saw a group of men and woman slide the bricks down a shoot then stacked ready to be delivered all over Vietnam. Even the broken bricks are used in foundation of buildings are collected in big baskets. It was interesting to see that even though rice it the biggest farming item in Vietnam that the whole plant is not wastes, the husk is used as fuel and even the stems are used in weaving and other uses.

We then transfer from the water taxi to Sampans which are small canoe, both woman and men paddle these low boats through small canals around the Delta. We pass small water villages of shops, School and Churches. The people we pass live very simple, but they appear to be happy lives. Each waving and say "Hello" as we pass. We arrive at a refreshment stop after about 30 minutes on these Sampans and change our form of transport to bicycles for a ride through the villages, which takes us over small bridges that connect the Delta and pass fruit trees and beautiful gardens along the way.

We then return our bikes to try some locally produce fruits, Jackfruit, Bananas, Longans, Rambutan and Grapefruit. A couple of us even get the chance to hold over our shoulders the giant Python that is kept in the garden of this stop over. Once refreshed we re-join the water taxi for the last time today to be taken to our Homestay for the night. The accommodation is on the water’s edge and is simple but clean and the host and his family made our stay an experience that we will always remember. The group shared two rooms with simple beds and before dinner we enjoyed a shower (Cold one again) and a couple of hours relaxing in the hammocks enjoying the life that passes us by on the river. Dinner yet again consisted of Fish, Spring Rolls and a soup and like the lunch earlier was a feast for the taste buds. Once dinner was finished the group retired for a early night as we were to leave the homestay at 7.30am the following morning.

Eggs, French bread, Jam & Coffee were served before we took the water taxi once again for a tour around this fascinating part of the country. It took us about 45 minutes to arrive at the floating market where famers from all over the Delta come to sell the produce to local people and market traders. This is all done on the large waterway and you can tell what each boat is selling by looking at the bamboo poles above the boats with the fruit or vegetable attached at the top. Once we come to shore at the busy village we are taken to visit a small family run business that produce Rice Paper that is exported to China and within Vietnam. Then we see another family affair that makes coconut milk sweets and Rice popcorn that is made into squares once it is mixed with a caramel mixture. We then stop here for some green tea and try some of these delights as wells as sugar ginger and chilli rice snacks. Before we leave the Mekong Delta is a quick tour of another family business that makes air-vents and cooking stoves from cement made from the silt of the rivers floor.

We return back to Ho Minh City for free time in the city before we leave at 7pm to join the Reunification Express Sleeper Train to Nha Trang.

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Comments

[Gloria Collins]

Dad
Hey Geoff, your Dad would have pooped himself had that snake been within inches of him, so well done you. When we went to Goa he would not walk on the same side of the road as any snakes or snake charmers!! Glad to see you are fit and well. Glo xx