Our Short Trip
to the Mekong
Delta...
to the Mekong
Delta...
| Our boat ride down the canals. |
December 4, 2007
No, it wasn’t the true ‘Mekong Delta’ experience. But it was a nice glimpse. And since I know I will be back in Saigon again in
my lifetime, I will wait until then to do the overnight and early morning floating market thing.
As for now, I will talk about our enjoyable day roaming around an island and taking a small boat down the murky brown canals
while donning the oh-so-chic Vietnamese hats.
Mai was our guide and she was great. She let me borrow her hat (before I knew we would be given ones to wear on our boat)
to do some photo-ops. So very kind of her.
As a girl with a constant sweet craving, I was not let down when we went to visit a coconut candy factory. Okay – ‘factory’ is
quite a stretch (that is what they called it) as it was more of an open area with a few different machines and women at the end
cutting and wrapping the candies up. We were given samples and I liked what I was eating. With the exception of the durian-
flavored candy that tasted just like it smells – like ass. Everything else was quite tasty though. But then I think I had one too
many samples and I was a bit over them. Better for me as it put an end to my wanting to purchase a bag of them. I left the
honors to Rose and Cindy.
We continued to walk around the island before arriving at our tropical fruit stop. A table of pineapple, papaya, pomelo, bananas
and jackfruit awaited us. My dislike of the jackfruit was once again confirmed and I have vowed to not let the stuff touch my
tongue again. After we were done, we were entertained by some Vietnamese music with different singers and instruments.
Nice for a few minutes….but none of us were budging to buy the CDs.
Then it was time for tea with honey, bee pollen powder and a squeeze of citrus. Also some more treats – candied ginger,
coconut and a peanut candy. But please my friend – keep those bees away from us. No, we will not be holding that
honeycomb.
And there was still yet one more sample – casaba, coconut milk, salt and green onions made up an oh-so-delish tortilla-looking
thing. This was where I took the bait and bought a pack.
Now we had grazed our way through the Mekong Delta and we had to nix the option to have lunch. I consider it as saving some
lives of the elephant ear fish.
Soon it was time to go. It was very brief. But my friends are on holiday and they are pressed for time. The real experience will
have to wait until later.
No, it wasn’t the true ‘Mekong Delta’ experience. But it was a nice glimpse. And since I know I will be back in Saigon again in
my lifetime, I will wait until then to do the overnight and early morning floating market thing.
As for now, I will talk about our enjoyable day roaming around an island and taking a small boat down the murky brown canals
while donning the oh-so-chic Vietnamese hats.
Mai was our guide and she was great. She let me borrow her hat (before I knew we would be given ones to wear on our boat)
to do some photo-ops. So very kind of her.
As a girl with a constant sweet craving, I was not let down when we went to visit a coconut candy factory. Okay – ‘factory’ is
quite a stretch (that is what they called it) as it was more of an open area with a few different machines and women at the end
cutting and wrapping the candies up. We were given samples and I liked what I was eating. With the exception of the durian-
flavored candy that tasted just like it smells – like ass. Everything else was quite tasty though. But then I think I had one too
many samples and I was a bit over them. Better for me as it put an end to my wanting to purchase a bag of them. I left the
honors to Rose and Cindy.
We continued to walk around the island before arriving at our tropical fruit stop. A table of pineapple, papaya, pomelo, bananas
and jackfruit awaited us. My dislike of the jackfruit was once again confirmed and I have vowed to not let the stuff touch my
tongue again. After we were done, we were entertained by some Vietnamese music with different singers and instruments.
Nice for a few minutes….but none of us were budging to buy the CDs.
Then it was time for tea with honey, bee pollen powder and a squeeze of citrus. Also some more treats – candied ginger,
coconut and a peanut candy. But please my friend – keep those bees away from us. No, we will not be holding that
honeycomb.
And there was still yet one more sample – casaba, coconut milk, salt and green onions made up an oh-so-delish tortilla-looking
thing. This was where I took the bait and bought a pack.
Now we had grazed our way through the Mekong Delta and we had to nix the option to have lunch. I consider it as saving some
lives of the elephant ear fish.
Soon it was time to go. It was very brief. But my friends are on holiday and they are pressed for time. The real experience will
have to wait until later.
| With the girls near the Mekong Delta. |
| On one of the islands. |
