Mekong Delta

     The second day we left for our overnight Mekong Delta trip that we did through Semester at Sea. This trip was SO much fun!! We took a three-hour bus ride before transferring into these smaller boats with a thatched roof overhead to keep out the sun. Once on the boats we took off down the river towards one of the smaller floating markets while the tour guide explained the difference between a houseboat and a selling boat and how to tell what products the sellers are selling. After seeing that we got off the boat in a small village where we witnessed how they made coconut candy, rice paper, and popped rice. It was incredible to see how they did this because they were truly so sustainable! For fuel to make both the rice paper and popped rice they used the shucked rice part and ground coconut shell, therefore nothing was wasted. It was incredible to see the way they made each product, how diligent and patient they were throughout the whole process.
     The people were so hospitable and allowed us to have samples of all of their products, after which we had the opportunity to purchase some if we wanted. While watching the rice paper get made, they informed us that the woman making them worked all day long for only $2 per day. To put that in perspective, most of the t-shirts we all bought in Vietnam off the streets were $2. When we found that out we all thought only two dollars, that’s a steel we can buy more than! To us it was absolutely nothing, to her it was a full days work. When I thought about it that way I felt terrible, she worked so hard and made so little. After seeing all three of these things made, they poured us all tea and allowed us to try a few different kinds of snacks including fresh ginger, more popped rice, and a few other things.
     After enjoying their snacks we hopped back on the boat where we got to try an array of fresh fruits such as jackfruit, dragon eyes, mango, mini bananas (I forget what they are called) and even coconut milk! The coconut milk was nothing like I expected, very sour and nothing at all like milk. After enjoying those fruits most of us ate our boxed lunch from the ship because we had an hour boat ride ahead of us until we reached the fruit farm. Here we saw how they grew and farmed these tropical fruits and what they looked like naturally. After that we were given more tea and got to sample even more fruits! They were delicious and afterwards we were all stuffed!!
We took a short ride to the other side of the river and hopped back on the bus and then transferred to a ferry. The tour guide did not warn us of where we were before we got off the bus – which was the middle of a busy street. Deirdre stopped walking at one point which caused her to almost get hit by a motorbike which stopped just in time but then another bike almost crashed into it and a third bike had to swerve around those two and us. The noises that came from that interaction were both terrible and frightening. After that we had to walk into this caged in area where motorbikes were almost running us over left and right. When we finally got up as far as we could we had to wait until the gate opened. Once it did, it was a free-for-all with the bikes speeding off and the people trying not to get hit. Finally we made it outside and onto the footbridge and walked until we reached the ferry. The ferry was jam packed with cars and people and moved at a snails pace – I have never seen a ferry moved so slow yet finally we reached the other side.
     Next we hopped back on the bus for less than five minutes before reaching our hotel. We checked in and met our roommates and then had an hour before dinner. Deirdre, Kerry, and I went exploring for foot massage place for Kerry. When we couldn’t find a place we headed back to the hotel and went to their facility. The hotel’s facility wasn’t generally for foot massages, generally it was for men, so they thought it was a bit weird for us to be there but they said she could give her one. When we came in the women were wearing extremely short outfits and giggling at us. The whole atmosphere of the place was actually quite funny so we were cracking up the whole time. After she was done we waited in the lobby for everyone to come down and then headed out for dinner. We went to a restaurant down the road that had a set menu, which was nice because it allowed us to try many traditional Vietnamese dishes. There were about seven courses. We had fish in clay pot, garlic green beans, soup, rice, spring rolls, fried pumpkin and a fruit bowl for dessert. It was all delicious, even the ominous fish in clay pot.
     The next day we had breakfast at the hotel. Apparently the traditional Vietnamese breakfast is something similar to what we see at dinner with fried rice and meats and all types of dinner food, which I thought was interesting. However, they provided us with a traditional western breakfast of eggs, toast, yogurt etc. as well, which was very thoughtful of them.
     After breakfast we took the ferry back over to the boats, which took us to the famous floating market. The floating market was a spectacle definitely worth seeing. The entire extravaganza seemed so out of the ordinary to me. The houseboats that were selling things had “flags” on them to show what they were selling. These flags were made of a large bamboo stick with the fruit or vegetable they are selling hanging from it. This allows buyers to decide whether they want that product or not before reaching the boat. It was interesting to see how the people who live on these houseboats not only live on them but work there as well. The front of the boat is dedicated to selling their products and the back is their home. The amount of days the people spend at the floating market is directly related to how quickly they sell their products. It is considered really good if they sell all their products in one or two days. It is bad to be there for three. While living on the boats, parents with children older than four have to leave the kids with their grandparents back at home. However, if the child is four or younger the parents will use their children to sell more products. We had many boats come alongside ours while at the market where the kids would be yelling hello and staring at you holding out the fruits or drinks or whatever their parents were trying to sell. We were told we were not allowed to buy from any of these people because it only encouraged exploiting their kids.
      After leaving the floating market we got to get off at a local community where we were able to see how the boats were made and watch how broken rice was made in an old-school factory where the machinery was made of wood and very little metal was used. When we arrived at this village two little kids ran up to us and were more than happy to pose for us to take pictures. It wasn’t until we were leaving that I realized they were not saying hello but were actually saying moneys instead. The children in this area were used in all sorts of ways to help the families out, it was quite sad.
     Next we went back to our hotel to check out and then have lunch. Once again we were given a set menu, which was incredible because it consisted of all things I never in my life would have tried but most of which was delicious. We started again with spring rolls, then we had green beans in garlic, then sea bass in sweet and sour sauce, then shrimp in fish sauce, pumpkin fritters, rice, soup, and finally fresh fruit for dessert. After lunch we got back on the boat to take a four hour bus ride back to the ship where we decided to have dinner and lay low for the night.