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Published: October 14th 2012
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Mekong River Boat
Little tourist boat This was a full day's trek. It seems getting to places takes a long time, but they are usually pretty good when you get there.
The Mekong is muddy, wide and looks mighty deep. We saw many more stilt houses and many many houseboats. I don't think we'd want to live on one, they are pretty basic! Some are travelling shops e.g. come into the delta with load of pineapples, sweet potatoes, sugar can or whatever, hoist an example of your stock on a stick, and the punters canoe over to buy. It is a very busy market, like anywhere else, but all on boats. Ferries, canoes, cargo boats and dugouts all vie for space and there did not seem to be any accidents, despite the lack of safety equipment that we might expect.
So, off then on our private boat, and we chugged to an island where we were treated to a family enterprise which manufactured sweets, distilled rice wine, made rice paper for wrapping spring rolls in, liked snakes, alive and dead, and reared fighting cocks.
We clearly have to put our western sensibilities aside - cock fighting and snakes preserved in wine are something these
guys like and will probably defend their rights to continue to enjoy.
We saw yummy caramels made from corn syrup and coconut being made over a fire in a huge cauldron and popped rice made in a similar vessel, but popped in superheated black sand!! The rice paper wrappers are a delicate job, made by hand, one by one. Once laid out on giant wicker trays they are left in the sun to dry, while the roosters take pecks at them, and even walk on them. Yuk we said.
The popped rice was poured into a candy mix, rolled out on a huge tray, and like the caramels, cut to size, labelled and packed. Nothing was wasted, the fires were fed with the coconut shells and rice husks and even the ash from the fire is sold as fertiliser for the fields.
This workshop was a single family, with many members, doing a whole lot of very tedious and repetitive jobs, but good on them. There is a lot to be said for getting off a collective tail and getting on with it!
It is interesting to see a people who were pretty severely colonialised (and
Snakes preserved in rice wine
Dozens of snakes, a matter of great pride seriously brutalised) rise up as a rapidly developing nation of hard working people - without the safety net of social welfare. Perhaps having been colonialised is not an automatic recipe for generations of dependence and reparations (oh the delicious naughtiness of even thinking this!!!)
More chug chug on the boat, this time to a relic of French Colonial rule - a glorious country house, Vietnamese style, where we were treated to tea, fruit and a concert. Hmn. interesting musical instruments.
Lunch was a bit durian, as we say in these parts, deep fried whole fish, pork, the ever-present stock soup and very yummy spring rolls. No-one got sick, but the walk through to the loo through the kitchen was pretty grim. Flush loo - whew.
Dinner though, in Sai Gon, was the best ever, and a walk in. We were in a festive mood so dealt to French rose with a bit of a vengeance, and lapped up the yummy green mango salad, duck rolls and roti breads. Very nice indeed, will do a Trip Advisor recommendation.
This morning we are off earlier than we had expected and hoped (wanted another trip to the market) to
Rowboat
We had a little row up a tributary. Very relaxing and way out in the whops!! Hoi An, via Da Nang.
Hope the storm passes quickly and without any damage and that the Paraparaumu Countdown is ok - we heard there was a fire!!
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