On our way to the Mekong Delta, we stopped by this Buddhist monastary. The statue outside was not the World's Largest, as we had seen before (twice!), but was certainly the World's Happiest Buddha. I missed the moment when the somber monk above touched Asher's head and evidently smiled as big as the Buddha outside.
The temple contained a beautiful array of altars and lovely outdoor gardens.
Our Mekong Delta tour began on this boat, which cruised down the Mekong past several floating fish farms like the one above. Vietnamese call the river "The River of Nine Dragoons."
Our first of many island stops was at this little village where we were treated to fantastic fruit grown in the Mekong Delta, the southern section of Vietnam where the weather is always tropical. Asher tries out carrying the fruit. And we were treated to some local musicians playing traditional instruments and singing Vietnamese folks songs.
One of our favorite stops of the day was at this village where amazing coconut candy was being made. Even people who didn't like coconut couldn't resist this scrumptious treat.
After sampling the candy, they offered samples of snake wine, banana wine and coconut wine. (We're not sure what was in the bottle with the scorpions.) I tried the banana and coconut drinks (very strong and diesel-like), but we all took a pass on the snake wine.
Our journey continued on horse-drawn carriages through the small streets of a local village.
Many of the dwellings were quite humble, but there were fancier ones, too, like the home pictured above.
Barek and Charis enjoyed holding a snake at our next stop! We all enjoyed the honey lime tea, made with very fresh honey and loads of squeezed lime. It was delicious and fortified us for our trip downstream in the small boats.
The day was quite hot and humid, and even the locals paused for a nap. The jungle was beautiful.
Some sections of the river were empty, and at other points many boats cruised past us. The kids helped out with the rowing.
At long last we stopped for lunch, which began with the large fish above. Our server cut the fish open and made wraps of mint and cilantro leaves, lettuce, noodles and chunks of the fish. The prawns (shrimp) were amazing. The meal consisted of many more courses than pictured here. Just when we thought we were done, they set up a chafing dish on the table and made some seafood, vegetable and noodle soup. Lunch ended with a dish we have come to love in Vietnam: fresh pineapple with a chili-coarse salt mixture for dipping.
Our Mekong Delta tour began on this boat, which cruised down the Mekong past several floating fish farms like the one above. Vietnamese call the river "The River of Nine Dragoons."
Our first of many island stops was at this little village where we were treated to fantastic fruit grown in the Mekong Delta, the southern section of Vietnam where the weather is always tropical. Asher tries out carrying the fruit. And we were treated to some local musicians playing traditional instruments and singing Vietnamese folks songs.
One of our favorite stops of the day was at this village where amazing coconut candy was being made. Even people who didn't like coconut couldn't resist this scrumptious treat.
After sampling the candy, they offered samples of snake wine, banana wine and coconut wine. (We're not sure what was in the bottle with the scorpions.) I tried the banana and coconut drinks (very strong and diesel-like), but we all took a pass on the snake wine.
Snake, alligator and coconut items were for sale everywhere.
Our journey continued on horse-drawn carriages through the small streets of a local village.
Many of the dwellings were quite humble, but there were fancier ones, too, like the home pictured above.
Barek and Charis enjoyed holding a snake at our next stop! We all enjoyed the honey lime tea, made with very fresh honey and loads of squeezed lime. It was delicious and fortified us for our trip downstream in the small boats.
The day was quite hot and humid, and even the locals paused for a nap. The jungle was beautiful.
Some sections of the river were empty, and at other points many boats cruised past us. The kids helped out with the rowing.
At long last we stopped for lunch, which began with the large fish above. Our server cut the fish open and made wraps of mint and cilantro leaves, lettuce, noodles and chunks of the fish. The prawns (shrimp) were amazing. The meal consisted of many more courses than pictured here. Just when we thought we were done, they set up a chafing dish on the table and made some seafood, vegetable and noodle soup. Lunch ended with a dish we have come to love in Vietnam: fresh pineapple with a chili-coarse salt mixture for dipping.
We took our original boat back to the bus. The woman who was the assitant on our boat dressed like many Vietnamese: totally covered up. We were hot just looking at her long sleeves, pants and socks, but she seemed perfectly cool.
Fruit is grown on the islands, but the mainland area of the Mekong Delta is the center of Vietnam's rice industry, with two or three growing seasons a year. We passed many rice fields on the way home.
Modest homes and fancier ones line the Mekong Delta, but most Vietnamese homes in the city are very narrow and often tall.
We met up with two other families back at the ship and went out for a dinner of Vietnamese wraps. The waiters thought we were nuts, but they enjoyed posing for a photo with the kids.
We walked down this street to an ice cream parlour for some great gelato before heading home.
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