Friday: visiting the Mekong Delta

After a drive of about 2 hours we boarded a covered boat that held our group of 16, and headed to Turtle Island to visit an organic fruit farm. The river was wide and busy with fairly rustic looking fishing boats and boats transporting rice. Fishing boats have an area at the bottom that allow water to flow through, keeping the fish alive while the boats are at sea. The river banks were dense and lined with small “water coconut” trees. It was easy to imagine Viet Cong hiding in the brush and popping out to take out the locals during the war!
The farm we visited is owned and operated by a 65-70 year old couple who developed the property shortly after the war ended. We walked shaded paths to observe his jackfruit and coconut trees and each picked a coconut off a smaller water coconut tree, had it cut open and enjoyed fresh coconut milk. The owners also gave us jackfruit and homemade rice crackers.
From there we crossed the river to visit Coconut island where 3 of us boarded smaller boats (sampans?) that were propelled by hand: the woman in charge used a long pole to paddle the boat - for about 10 minutes until we got on small motorized trucks that took us to see the processing of coconut candy. It was a busy place with many tourist groups despite its seemingly remote location. We had a delicious lunch at a riverside restaurant where we ate “elephant ear” fish, huge prawns, salad and fruit.
After taking the first 16-passenger boat back across the river to our starting place, we drove about 15 minutes to visit the father of our tour leader, Henry. His dad is 87 years old, quite spry, and lives in a 3-bedroom house with 9 dogs! Henry has a bedroom there, though he also owns a 2BR condo in Saigon (that he bought for about $75K pre-Covid). Henry’s dad served us banana whiskey that he made from bananas on a nearby field Henry bought for him. He expressed deep appreciation for the support of Americans during the war. Over the course of our trip Henry has recounted many stories about his father who was an officer in the military for the South and was sent for reeducation for several years after the war.
Tonight, after supper, 6 of us went to The Rex Hotel and its rooftop bar, where American press gathered during the war. We enjoyed a drink, music (good live band) and a little dancing.Read more