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- Nov 4, 2018, 10:25pm
- ⛅ 82 °F
- Altitude: 16 ft
- VietnamHo Chi Minh CityXóm Chiếu10°46’5” N 106°41’33” E
Exploring the Mekong River Delta
November 4, 2018 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F
We got out of the city early today, as it was an hour and half drive to My Tho, the capital of Tien Giant Province. Our first stop was the Vinh Trang pagoda. There were several enormous Buddha statues on the grounds, as well as a temple, where monks live, learn, and meditate. While I was checking out the reclining Buddha, a young man (9 years old?) approached me, “Hello. I am learning English. May I interview you to practice my English?” He was so cute. Of course, he could. He then proceeded to ask me questions like, “Where are you from?” “What is your favorite color?” “Where are you traveling in Vietnam?” And so on. When he was done, he gave me a little box, as a thank you gift. When I opened it, there were several small origami figures. It was very sweet, and I was grateful that I had stopped.
Once I was done with the interview, we walked to the temple entrance. The temple interior has carved wood throughout the building. Dragons and lotuses popped out from the walls, while vines were carved up the pillars in front of the altar. The architecture is much different than Myanmar and reminds me of the pagodas I saw in Japan.
The drive was short from the pagoda to the Mekong River. We boarded a small wooden boat that ferried us across the river to one of the islands. There were several activities planned for us. First we toured a coconut farm and purchased some candy, similar to taffy but made from coconuts. Next, we took a horse drawn cart through the town, on our way to an amazing boat ride. The small boats are powered by (mostly) women, very similar to the gondolas in Venice, but without the Italian food. The boat meandered through a narrow channel that eventually connected with the Mekong. Along the way, water palms, which look like bamboo, created a wall along each side of the channel and provided shade overhead. When we arrived at the Mekong, our previous boat was waiting for us. The captain navigated us across the river to our lunch stop. We had an enormous lunch, which we were told was traditional Vietnamese. It started with a full fish, from which spring rolls were made. Those were followed by soup, one large shrimp in lime juice, then fried rice and morning glories (think spinach’ish). The whole meal was finished off with grilled coconut paper, which tasted like flat fortune cookies. Following lunch, we boarded the boat again back to our original harbor and on to the van for a return to HCMC.
We spent the evening in the park, watching games and enjoying the atmosphere. Russ had taken a seat on a park bench and soon he had two young women talking with him. When we walked over, several younger kids appeared and everyone wanted to practice their English. We must have spent at least an hour conversing with the kids, who wanted to grow up and be things like an astronaut, an economist, and a stand up comedian. It was hard to pull ourselves away from the kids; they were so appreciative and eager, but we still needed to eat. We left the park for an Indian joint, where we finished the night with some traditional dishes, before returning to the hotel.Read more
Traveler Wow! That’s incredible!