Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Cars and Boats


relaxing on the long-tail boat

people working, but no machines

We leave Saigon for Can Tho, with some stops along the way.  Driving alone takes about three hours, even though the two cities are only about 100 miles apart.  It's fun to see the countryside.  Many rice fields border the road.  I see people working, but rarely do I see machines helping to harvest.  




graves in the rice fields


Autumn, our guide, also shares with us that people are buried in the rice paddys.  You can tell how well off the family is by how nice the graves are.  If you have a roof over the tomb, it shows that you're wealthy.  





comfy cafe


Along the way we also see lots of cafes with no chairs - just hammocks!  So you lie back and rest in your hammock, and you have a little table beside you for your glass, etc.  I didn't see this at all in Saigon.




There should be warning signs posted here.

Then there are the electrical wires.  I can't believe there aren't more fires here.  Even inside the buildings they are tangled up like this. 








At the rest stop we have a few minutes to stretch our legs.  Tourists (including Steve), have fun crossing the traditional "monkey" footbridge.  They can still be found, in use, in Vietnam.

Look - no hands!  Okay, he's not ready for that yet.

There's also a pretty orchid display.  I love how they have all the pots hanging.

I wonder if I can do this on our balcony?

floating market
Then we get to the fun stuff of the day.  We first ride in a long-tail boat to see the floating market at Cai Be on the Tien River.  It's ending for the day, but it's still fun to see them all rafted together....just like we do at the Sailing Club!   They sell tapioca, sweet potatoes, papaya, etc.  Autumn tells us people personalize their boats with the painted eyes.  Because we're fairly close to Cambodia, and this area has been transferred back and forth between the two countries multiple times, there's a Cambodian influence in the shape of the eyes.  The Khmer (Cambodian) eyes are more round, versus the slanted Vietnamese eyes.

Is that a snout resting on the surface of the water?
Next we transfer to a canal boat for, you guessed it, a ride down a canal.  Autumn assures me there's no crocodiles or hippos in the water.  I wonder where she's getting her information from, because it looks exactly like where the alligators like to live in the southern US.  Maybe I should have asked about the alligators...

Our guide, Autumn, protected from the sun.





She is rowing us against the current of the canal.  She's very strong!

















Hat selfie!




We lose the breeze from the motorized boat, so I'm glad they give me the traditional hat to wear.  Steve has fun with bunny ears again.  We don't see any scary animals, but lots of fruit trees - loganberry, jackfruit, papaya, breadfruit, lemon and coconut. 








We arrive at An Binh Island and Steve immediately wants to jump into cooking.  I think he's inspired by our food tour and feels like he's an expert at preparing Vietnamese meals now.  He's a little disappointed to discover it's only a demonstration, not a participation activity.  She's making rice paper.  I'm reminded of crepes.  Yum, crepes....maybe for lunch!  Why does being on the water always make you hungry?  Back to the rice papers - these are used as wrappers for the fresh spring rolls.

spreading the batter
Out to dry...I wonder how they keep the flies away??



















Steve does get to engage in the next activity!  Autumn shows us the snake wine, and offers to let us try some.  This rates up there with the chicken embryo to me, so I skip it.  Steve decides to taste it.  He says it is not good.  I knew I made the right choice.  What a waste of alcohol.

Your choice of snake wine flavors.
Bottoms up!  He's not looking too enthusiatic.



















Just the thought of snake wine (and Steve's face when he drank it) has deadened my appetite a bit, but it's lunch time and we stop at a cute restaurant on the island.  They make up for some of the unappetizing sights earlier (more snakes are involved) with lots of cute "people" at our meal.

Extra guests at lunch!


I love the scarf around the neck - if you look back at my
picture you see our helmsman is wearing one!



 











Steve's ready for a post-lunch nap!

Those cafes have the right idea...
We continue on and make it back to our long-tail boat and a coconut to drink.  Steve agrees it's much better than snake wine!  At a plant nursery we try some of the fruit of the trees we've been seeing all day.  Some guava, which tastes like apple, jackfruit (still) tastes like bubblegum and then breadfruit, which  looks like grapefruit and tastes refreshing on the hot day. 

applying the pattern
Our last stop along the river is a brick/pottery factory.  The brick production is closed for the weekend, but they're making pottery - both pots and statues (what you might place on a deck or in a garden).  I always thought the pottery pots were produced by machine, but apparently not.  I never realized how the pattern was applied - she's pressing the stencil into the damp clay.  We asked Autumn how much they cost, and they sell at the local market for around $6.  They would be at least $40 in the US.  I'll need new ones when I get back to the US...too bad we can't get them now!

We visit the local market on the way back to the car.  There are lots of animals for sale that we don't normally eat in the US - frogs, snakes and turtles. Thank goodness she didn't show us any dogs.

Snake for dinner?  No thank you.  I've had enough of snakes today.

Nice view!  The sunset is pretty, too.
We drive the rest of the way to Can Tho, our stop for the night.  Here we're able to enjoy a cocktail at sunset over the Mekong River.  We walk around the small downtown for a bit, then eat at the restaurant Autumn recommends (no snake on the menu).  I finish the day with bananas foster prepared at our table.  That's how alcohol should be used!

Fire!  Fire!  I love flaming desserts.

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