We decided to do the first trip on the Mekong to get away from the hustle of the Ho Chi Minh City for the day. We booked a tour to take us to one of the floating markets. Now, when I say floating market, I picture ladies with conical hats in boats selling flowers and pineapples etc…NOPE! This was a HUGE out on the open water, with large boats, floating market. It was like wholesale for the tiny markets–basically the Costco of the floating markets, and definitely not as visually appealing, but still cool to see. Because there are so many boats, merchants display whatever they’re selling at the top of poles. You see the veggie you like dangling way up in the air, and you know that’s the boat you want to see. FYI: Buyers had to make some serious purchases of serious quantity.
The tour also took us through the process of making puffed rice, rice paper/wraps, coconut candy, and fed us a bizarro lunch, complete with live traditional Vietnamese singing. The fish looks kind of disturbing in the picture, but it was “crusted” with puffed rice, and was actually tasty. The fresh Vietnamese spring rolls were not my favourite, but Jon ate them–cucumber, pineapple, fish and all!
Fish with popped rice “crust”
Making rice paper
For me, the most interesting part of the day were the stilt houses on the delta, and the different styles of housing, methods of fishing, and strategies for gardening we saw.
Seeing a different lifestyle, and how it all just falls together made the day trip worth doing, even if being on a tour was slightly cheesy.
Happy Travels,
~j