Monday, February 7, 2011

Vietnam's Mekong

Unexcited by the seedy underbelly of Ho Chi Minh, we opt for a two day tour of te Mekong rive by boat. On the itinerary is a visit to a local island where honey is the main business. We visit some small villiages, a place where ladies make coconut candy, have dinner by the river, and listen to some locals play music live (they weren't very good). On day 2, we visit a floating market, a rice noodle factory and a local market preparing for the festival of Tet. We had a fun time.


Vicky and I board our first boat after a couple of hours on a bus. Let the 2 day river journey begin!









We land on Unicorn Island.



Visit a local tea hut.



Cheers with new friends




The tea hut has a jar of snake wine... Also known as the Vietnamese Viagra (hahaha).




should I try it????



Eh... what the hey...



Vicky captures my immediate reaction.




This part of the river, running between 2 islands is to shallow and narrow for the larger river boats. Here we see a local traffic jam.



A fun 30 min down this small river to our big boat.











The Vietnamese often bury their dead in their yard. We have also seen many graves right out in the rice paddys.





I'm brave because he's tied up and lying down.



Chillin' on the bow of our boat.



A family makes their way down the Mekong.



This lady noticed I had my camera pointed at her and gave me a flattered smile just before I took this shot from our boat.



Some houses lining the Mekong River.












Business by boat outside of Cho Tho.















Mixing up the rice goo.



If you ever find a pit hair in your rice paper or rice noodles... You know who to blame!



The rice goo is cooked using the dried husks from the rice (rice is covered in a husk just like corn). Everything is used. Nothing goes to waste.



This lady takes about 20 seconds to spread the rice goo, and cook it into paper before putting it out in the sun to dry.



Rice paper drying in the hot hot sun. This can then be shredded into noodles if desired.









rice paper can be shredded into noodles





Finished rice noodles.






Is it just me or is this pig still smiling.



One cultural difference is how we like our cuts of meat (Mmmmmm... pig face with the eyes left in YUM!)



Everyone loves a good dictator



Next stop; Siem Reap, Cambodia and the temples of Angkor.

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