Geographically, Mekong Delta is an important region in South western Vietnam and west of Ho Chi Minh City. For a Glimpse of the Mighty Mekong, Cai Be -Vinh Long is a good choice. Cai Be (pronounced as kai bai) is a district in the Mekong delta, well known for its floating market and a gateway to the city of Vinh Long - a province of the Mekong Delta.
First stop was at an art and crafts center, managed by the Goverment to create employment for the handicapped.
Various crafts like Lacquer and Table wares, Paintings and Vases were made from egg shells for sale in a large hall.
The journey continued for another 2 hours to Cai Be pier whereby a motoRized boat awaited to ferry us to the famous floating market along the Tien River which was formed during the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century.
Cai Be floating market is a wholesale market whereby bulk agricultural products are sold on anchored boats to local traders daily from 5am - 5pm. When we arrived there at 12pm, most of the buying and selling actions were almost done. (Best time:8am-10am)
Each boat specialized in one or few vegetables or fruits. Samples were hung on a long wooden pole, pointing skywards to be visible to buyers. Wholesalers live on the river in their boats for generations. One boat, one family.
The French Catholic Cathedral with its towering spire against a blue and puffy white cloud sky formed an amazing backdrop for A picturesque water town of Cai Be.
The tour proceeded to Tu Dang Bee Farm for honey tea tasting.
Besides honey, tea and royal jelly are their specialties. There are other goodies like honey ginger, fruit candies and souvenirs for sale too. Purchase is optional. Bargaining is Power!
Busy Bees literally at work, making our visit 'sweeter'!
The Sleepy Snake sleeping soundly. Keeping a python snake in a cage? As pet? To get tips from tourists?? As exotic dishes or snake wine??? i wonder....
Walk over to a rice paper home industry. Vietnamese rice paper is traditionally made from rice flour, salt and water, varying in shapes and sizes.
The process: Ladle rice batter onto a flat pan, spread thinly and evenly to steam. In less than a minute, lifted to lay on a bamboo mat. She let us eat the soft rice paper dipped in fish sauce while tourists try their hands on making it. Not as easy as it seemed!!
Rice paper sun dried on bamboo grid.
Then packed for sale as wrappers for spring rolls.
Walk past a few houses to another home industry
Thanh Phong home industry- Let's Check it Out!!
Someone offered me a shot of wine. Mmm... nice, taste like sweet sherry.
"WhAT?? that's Snake Tonic Wine?? I was digging my throat when they laughed then revealed it was actually banana wine! PHew~~~
Even though i was convinced, i kept calming my upset tummy with Vietnamese lotus tea, kept warm by enclosing in an old coconut husk. Very Creative, huh?
The making of Coconut Candy - Coconut flesh extracted, grind and filtered for its milk. Boil it together with malt syrup and water.
Stir steadily until it solidified into a paste,
cut into squares, manually wrapped individually and packed for sale. WOW!
The making of Pop Rice - Rice grains fried in a giant wok with black river sand.
Stirred and flipped until it popped up and settled down.
Transferred to a wooden netting filter to filter out the sand while shaking it.
pOp it in your mouth!! CRunChY!!
Returning to the boat and wonder What's Next?
The Mazes of the Waterways......
Boating for about 50 minutes to Vinh Long, made enjoyable and interesting by the winding waterways, gliding under bridges, flashed by lush green jungle and barges and sampans loaded with goods passing by. The peaceful tranquil life of villagers on both sides of the river banks were also spectacular sceneries, an unspoilt time capsule.
Lunch was at a local garden restaurant in Vinh Long.
pork-chop rice set
vegetarian/halal rice set
It was already 1:15 pm, everyone was AS HUNGRY AS A HORSE when lunch was served. For more or other dishes and drinks, you have to PYO. (pay your own, it's ok..cheap cheap..)
According to Nguyen (tour guide), due to running out of time and the hot Sun, we were (disappointingly) not given bicycle riding around the village as stated in the itinerary. He played a game of pool with my father instead. (while waiting for others to finish their lunch)
Mother Jackfruit tree
Nasty durians
Cheerful Rose apple trees
Last stop was at an eco-tourism fruit orchard. Nguyen led us to different fruit trees around the big orchard. Surprisingly, no mozzies attack, nor Bugs hack..
Yahoo! It's Rose Apple Seascn!! Pick as many as you like. Very fresh, sweet and Juicy.
And sample a platter of different seasonal tropical fruits plus Vietnamese tea.
We could not resist the durian, so we bought one. And a box of sweet jackfruit for take-away.
Taking the boat back to Cai Be at 4:30pm. See my Sister? Well equipped with wearing long Sleeves, Sunglasses, Sun lotion, Umbrella (as a shield against the scorching sun and the splashing waves) and tagging a bottle of 1.5 liter Water (for prevention of dehydration and washing fruits/hands). A good checklist for those who are going on a Mekong Tour.
NOTE:
1. Some travel agencies and hotels only act as 'middleman' that combine their travelers and 'pass' them to the main tour operators - e.g. you have booked with AX Travel but are on BZ Tour the next day! (Don't worry, the tour guide will come to pick you from your hotel or inform you to assemble at their premises).
2. Itinerary stated may (disappointingly) not be the same agenda of the day. (especially in a big group or when time is running out or other unforeseen circumstances)
3. Private tour and group tour vary greatly in prices. (differences in transport vehicles, group size and time factor. If your priority is the Floating market, take a private tour)
4. Pre-book special meal e.g Vegetarian/Halal, during tour booking. (as they may arrange you on different group/restaurant.)
5. Accept a country's culture, don't complain!!
I like the sentence 'Bargaining is PoWer!'
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