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| The coneheads gliding through the Mekong Delta |
We got an early start this morning, leaving Ho Chi Minh City at 7:30. Our destination was further south into the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is described as a vast maze of rivers, swamps and islands. Vast is somewhat of an understatement, it covers close to 16,000 square miles. By comparison, the Florida Everglades is around 750 square miles. It's where the Mekong River discharges into the South China Sea. Before reaching the sea the river, which starts in Tibet (China), passes through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and of course Vietnam. Our guide (Tan) told us the Vietnamese refer to the Mekong River as the nine headed dragon. The reason, once the river gets into the delta region it branches into nine tributary rivers, giving the appearance of a nine headed dragon.
On our way down we visited a unique temple. It was the place of worship for a local religion call Cao Dai. It's a hybrid mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Catholicism. It was a nice temple but to me that's a whole lot to keep straight.
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| Cao Dai Temple |
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| Inside the Cao Dai Temple. Tan shared with us that there are a large number of Vietnamese living in Austin and that there is a Cao Dai Temple there. He got a kick out of Austin's motto "Keep Austin Weird" |
We also enjoyed visiting a local market where they produced some unique foods and a very unique wine. The foods included coconut candy, which was so good we bought a little. There was also a popped rice treat that was made similar to the way kettle corn is made in the US,with the exception that river sand (and a very small amount of oil) was used to heat the rice. Once the rice had popped the sand was sifted out. A little caramel mixture was then added and they were cut into squares similar to rice crispy treats, although not as gooey or quite as tasty.
We were shown how rice was used to make a rice wine. We had a little bit of a taste and it was quite strong and not something I was interested in purchasing. Some of the locals take it a step further and add a little cobra to their wine. Yep. that's right, cobra. I guess the critters are plentiful in this area (thank God w haven't seen a live one) so they catch, kill and gut one or more of them. They are then put into a big container with the wine for consumption. I had to pass on trying that one.
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| Making coconut candy |
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| Used for making Rice Wine |
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| Our guide Tan, offering up a little Cobra Flavored Rice Wine |
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| No thanks! |
We took a short ferry ride over to one of the thousands of islands in the Mekong Delta where we enjoyed a bike ride through the local village, a gondola ride through the canals and a tasty lunch that included a nice presentation of a whole fried fish. It was a good lunch and cobra was nowhere on the menu...…….at least I don't think it was!
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| Crossing the Mekong River on the ferry |
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| Fisherman pulling in their nets on the river |
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| We weren't sure what kind of fish it was but it was good and he seemed to have a smile on his face |
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| Post lunch siesta! |
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| Mekong Rustic Lodge-our home for the night |
