Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Mar 10th

Today we visited the Mekong River Delta. It is about 2 hours from Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon. We boarded a larger boat and took it down the river taking in the sights that are very rural and different from where we had been in the city.
Along the way we stopped at a local pottery factory where they make pottery bricks, pots and some very large urns. We got into the building via the water, had to walk off the front of the boat onto a concrete ramp up against the building. Very adventurous!
In the river were larger pieces of floating Water Hyacinth that we avoided in the boat. These are the clumps that the Viet Kong soldiers used to float under to hide during the Vietnam War.
We stopped at a local restaurant on one of the river's canals for lunch. We had a whole fish (called an Elephant Fish) and rolled our own spring rolls with the fish meat and vegetables. All the food was local and authentic. Had a fruit called a Rose Apple. They also demonstrated how they make their native candy from rice. Scott had the opportunity to demonstrate his skills at popping the rice using a huge wok urn and a giant wooden spoon. Check out the video and his new skill...
Then back on the boat for a quick trip where we had the opportunity to get onto a small 4-person boat. The Sampan boat was powered by a small Vietnamese woman with 2 very large oars. We took a leisurely ride on the Sam Pan through some very small canal off-shoots. It was just barely out of the water and we had to be careful not to shift around and dump us all in the muddy Mekong River water.
Then back to the larger boat back to the bus and ship.Read more