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Friday, April 10, 2009

Vietnam Mekong Delta - Vinh Long

High School Ao Dai(traditional vietnamese dress)
Fruit vendor cutting Vu Sau, literally means breast milk. Go figure

If you end up in Vinh Long, do grab hold of the opportunity to do a homestay here. Just across the main town is a fertile island, not just for the numerous fruits trees that they bear but also the opportunity to stay in one of those rustic and basic homes. For those on a luxury budget, head straight to Cuu Long tourist office and arrange for a private stay with other programmes for about US$40+. For the rest, don't bother to bargain too much with the private tour operators, the price they offer are in the same league as Cuu Long and any bargaining wont get you below the other operator Mekong Travel. Itineary and price for Mekong Travel

It is also here at Mekong Travel that i finally met the first and only person who did not say i am from Korea or Japan or China or anywhere else! Finally someone who could tell i am from Singapore!

Fruits plantation

Gas station for boats
My homestay room with a toilet that looks like it was pulled out of a hotel. It really looked out of place in this surroundings of trees and soil
Exploring the island reveals a whole series of fruits including pomelo
Papaya
Star apple
Longan
Bananas and i am sure many more that i did not get my lens on

Dinner was prepared by the lady owner of the house who did not speak any english. There was only 2 of there, me and Sebastian the cook from germany. He had booked the tour from Saigon and on his itineary, there is a cooking class... we ended up cutting the carrots. There is no charcoal, no gas to cook. They depend on cut wood and branches for fire. The dinner was fabulous in any case. Dinner being cooked
Traditional methods
TADA!
Breakfast next monday was not too shabby either

Included in the day program is a visit to the cottage industry where we will see how local products such as pop rice(something like pop corn but rice), rice paper, and coconut candy is made. The whole experience feels strangely familiar. 1 and a half year ago, i had come to vietnam(HCMC) with my family for a week holiday. At that time, we were brought around in tour buses and i did not had any idea where i went. What i do remember is being to a cottage industry like this.

Rice paper
Pop rice
Rice paper

Because we are part of the tour(even though there are just 2 of us), we needed to wait for the rest of the day trippers to come so we could leave together. With spare time, sebastian and i decided to explore the island a little. What we walked into is a local wedding! (Is anyone counting the weddings i been to?)Fortunately for me, he blocked several glass of the potent rice wine for me
Sebastian with the newly weds
Lunch was again very familiar with the elephant fish which i clearly remembered i had it on my last trip to vietnam. It still retained its delicious taste i had back then
With the fish flapping its tail in the tummy, you could either cycle around the island
or laze in the hammock
Lastly for the tour is a short sampan boat ride
Our lady at work
I am proud to say i rowed for half the trip!
And sebastian while trying to figure out how to row did 10%

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