Meandering the Mekong

 

We have loved each and every region we've explored in Vietnam but there was something really wonderful and welcoming about the Mekong Delta.  As we've heard before, it is a favorite area for many travelers and we would definitely agree!  It is a world where boats, houses and even markets float upon the endless rivers, canals and streams.  The area is primarily rural - producing sugar cane, more varieties of fruit than you can imagine and....rice!!  I've read that the delta yields enough rice to feed all of Vietnam with a healthy surplus! Some other interesting facts:

• the delta was formed by sediment deposited by the Mekong river and the process continues today with silt deposits extending the shoreline by as much as 80 m per year.
• the Mekong River is one of the world's largest rivers - it originates high in the Tibetan plateau and flows 4500km through China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  
• at the delta, the river splits into several branches and empties into the South China Sea at 5 points.
• living on a flood plain presents some technical challenges.  Lacking any high ground to escape flooding, many delta residents build their houses on bamboo stilts to avoid the rising waters.  Many roads are submerged or turn to muck during floods; all-weather roads have to be built on raised embankments, but this is expensive.  The traditional solution has been to build canals and travel by boat.  And there are thousands of canals in the Mekong!!

 Most tours that are offered from Saigon are 1 or 2 days and take you to only the well touristed stops that barely go into the delta.  We did quite a bit of research and found a tour outfit that actually let us design a 4 day tour that took us deep into the Mekong and off the tourist track. One of the most important elements to us was the opportunity to stay with a family.  **This was by far the most meaningful, genuine and memorable experience of our trip to date.  I will dedicate the next entire blog to this home stay ... stay tuned! **

One of our first stops - a coconut candy farm ... DELICIOUS!!!

rice noodle factory

drying the rice paper to then be cut into noodles

brick factory ... we're inside the kiln

exploring the countryside

Couldn't believe how well Max did on the back of a bike.  We actually had a plan B for this excursion but Max loved the ride AND kept his toes out of the spokes!

nearing the end of our hike to our lunch stop we had to cross this "monkey bridge"

lunch is served .... elephant ear fish anyone?
We assembled our own rice paper wraps (fresh spring rolls) with some
flakes of fish, piece of cucumber and a slice of pineapple.  There were plenty of other dishes too!

Max loved being able to play with his food ☺

a typical Mekong dwelling

rice processing plant ... Stella's wondering if this batch will make it to Superstore?!

Max: "you're pulling my leg ... I'm not paying a dong over 42,000 for these fish!!" (english translation:  not paying a cent over $2)

... if this world only worked like it does through the eyes of a child ...

row, row, row your boat ...

the stilt houses that line the river banks

Cai Rang - the largest floating market in Vietnam

the way the local people trade

the pole ... indicating what items they have for sale on their boat -
couldn't find a cheeseburger if you tried!!

the kids really took to our tour guide Minh

guess who?  the lady paddling our boat made these for the kids

still smiling after 6 weeks!

I think this one picture kinda captures it all

One of our last stops was a crocodile farm  The kids were fascinated by the thousands of crocs ranging in size from babies just centimeters long to grown adults up to 4 meters long.  We had lunch here and guess what was on the menu?  Jeff ordered some grilled with 5 spices and to my amazement, the kids both wanted to try it!  I figured if they were brave enough to try it, then so could I ... tasted like ... chicken ☺just a lot chewier!!! 

A couple of days ago, we boarded a ferry boat to Phu Quoc Island - a small tropical paradise 2.5 hours away from the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand.  It's everything a tropical vacation should be .... white sand powdery beaches, warm turquoise waters, gentle surf, quiet surroundings, and lots of palm trees! We've picked a hotel that has a pool too so the biggest decision we plan to make this week is whether we hit the beach or go for a swim in the pool ☺

I planned to post this a while ago but Max has succumbed to some sort of bug.  Poor little man has a fever and is not able to keep anything down in the last 20 hrs - not even water!  A local doctor came by to check on him and right now, he's sitting up, asking for a snack and seems to be keeping it down.  Let's hope we're over the worst of it.  It's puzzling ... it sure seems food related having come on so suddenly, and yet, he ate the exact same things as us the last couple of days and no one else is sick?!?

Time to go ... Jeff just came back with a yummy looking pizza.  Gotta love take-out!