Our visit to the Mekong Delta made for an action packed final day in Vietnam. We spent the morning traveling by bus for an hour and a half from our hotel in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City to a port in My Tho City in the Tien Giang province. The province is famous for its exportation of shrimp and catfish to the United States. After arriving at the port we took a medium sized boat to a small village and then had to finish the last ten minutes of the journey by hopping into smaller boats that each fit about eight people.
Luckily for us, our tour guide for the Ho Chi Minh leg of the trip, David, is from the Mekong Delta. His village is about two hours south of where we went today. Currently there are 25 million people living in the Mekong Delta region of southwestern Vietnam. David explained that the freshwater of the Mekong River is made up of two main tributaries: the Tien River (which we visited) and the Hau River. One of the interesting facts that we learned is that 90% of people in the Mekong Delta follow Buddhism. In addition, a lot of people here live in floating houses and raise catfish or tend to fruit trees for a living.
At the village we got to pick our own coconuts from the coconut farm by using the harvesting sickle or our hands. David showed us two different methods for cutting them up to drink from: one from his village and one from the Tien Giang province. The way from Tien Giang province only required three cuts but his version was more complicated and therefore more aesthetically pleasing. The coconut water was very refreshing in the over 90 degree heat. We were shown how no part of a coconut is wasted in the Mekong Delta. The outer shells are used as bowls or for making souvenirs and the dried strings from the inner shell are rolled together to make door mats for wiping your feet. The meat of the coconut is scraped out to produce coconut powder which is then squeezed to make coconut milk or oil.
Throughout the day we snacked on a variety of tropical fruits, tea, honey, and chocolate. While listening to people sing traditional Vietnamese songs we ate slices of mango, pineapple, jackfruit, bananas, and sapodilla. Later on we learned how chocolate is made by seeing cocoa trees and the inside of individual cocoa pods. We tried several pieces of delicious flavored chocolate, such as blueberry, chili, and orange. We then walked to a large tent where workers mixed for us a teaspoon of honey pollen, honey, a little bit of fresh lemon, and enough hot water to fill the small glasses. A couple people held the beehive frame and there were many bees flying around while we were enjoying the tea-like mixture.
For lunch we had a full spread of chicken soup with vegetables, stir fried rice with seafood, caramel chicken with ginger, coconut milk steamed rice, Vietnamese spring roll, a mini Vietnamese egg pancake called bánh xèo, and a fried fish that is locally referred to as elephant ear fish because of its shape. Some people in the group were big fans of the captivating display while others were quite shocked by it.
A couple GLCM students ended their time in the Mekong Delta by feeding the crocodiles and roaming around the tropical bamboo playground.
It was incredible to see part of the Vietnamese countryside but after a long, hot day in the marsh we returned to the traffic of Ho Chi Minh City to get ready for the farewell dinner and formal conclusion of GLCM’s amazing trip to Vietnam.
Blog written by Teresa Barrett