Ấp Nhì

Another early morning as we had to drive out to the Mekong Delta (pronounced may-kong). It took about an hour to get there and then we were ushered onto a water taxi. The delta hosts many islands and we were about to embark on the first one, Unicorn Island. On Unicorn Island, we got to try a variety of fruit that grows there, such as pineapple, jackfruit, mango and two fruits I’ve never seen nor heard of (one was like a lychee/grape hybrid and the other was similar to jackfruit). We were also treated to a traditional musical performance which featured a one string guitar and a two string violin. The musicians were so impressive!

After eating out fruit sampler and drinking tea (we are served small glasses of tea almost everywhere we visit), we were led to a local honey producer. The bees here look more like wasps as they are very small. Lucky for us, they were “friendly bees” as the locals kept telling us, as they hung out with us while we tried honey tea and royal jelly (made from honey, a noted “cure all” paste).

Next on our tour was a local chocolate producer. This was particularly neat because the cacao pods were growing right outside the shop! We really wanted to bring some chocolate home, but we were pretty sure it would become a melted mess in no time!

We were whisked away to another island to take a small boat tour down the delta. This was the absolute highlight of the day as the water coconut fronds created a beautiful canopy and it was so peaceful as we made our way down the water channel.

We arrived at a small dock and disembarked only to be taken on a tuk tuk tour of the whole island. The “road” that we drove on would barely be considered a sidewalk at home and it was quite a winding path! After that harrowing ride, we went to a coconut candy making facility. We got to try many varieties of the candy as well as sample rice wine, banana wine, and snake wine. To be clear, we draw the line at snake wine. Yikes.

Lastly, we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. Brad had howling fish, which is apparently catfish, and I tried the local specialty of lemongrass chicken. They also offered us a whole fried drumfish, but considering we could see fish in the pond around us, it seemed a bit unappealing.

We got back on our water taxi and were treated to fresh coconut water and some karaoke. They love karaoke here! Anyway, we got back to our bus and made our way back to the very busy city.

After cooling down at the hotel, we decided to try our luck and see if we could get a walk-in spot at the only Michelin starred restaurant in HCM. The restaurant was located on the oldest wet market street in town. The front was camouflaged by stands selling all sorts of fresh seafood, cigarettes, and other wares.

Luck was on our side and they sat us upstairs at Anan with the caveat that we needed to be done by 7:30. We started with a fermented rice Prosecco cocktail and a jasmine IPA. Then, we had shrimp and pork spring rolls followed by a banana flower salad (unreal!). Next, we had a crab fried rice and garlic butter shrimp (complete with the tiniest shell on shrimp and regular sized shrimp). Our final dish was a “pumpkin” flower salad, which was full of tiny zucchinis and zucchini blossoms. Everything was delicious and we enjoyed the French/Vietnamese cuisine!

We had a quick pint at Pasteur Brewing and then wrapped up our night at East West Brewing by having the “king flight.” We had a great last night in HCM and Vietnam and we will be sad to leave tomorrow.Read more