Dear Readers,
Today we drove 2 hours south of Saigon to the Mekong Delta; another name that I’m sure is familiar to you. The land here is very fertile. We saw lots of fruit orchards and rice fields. Vietnam is the world’s 2nd largest exporter of rice. Guesses on the first? It’s Thailand. Were you thinking China? I was, but they have so many people to feed that they need their rice. Before some of you jump on me, yes, they do also export some of it.
Along the sides of the roads are also hammocks. If you get tired of driving, just stop your car & snooze for a while.
We drove to a town called Cai Be where we boarded a junk called the Cai Be Princess for an excursion on the Mekong River. There were the 2 of us plus 4 staff! Our guide, the boat driver & 2 others who served us fruit & water & helped us on & off the boat. Here we are prior to getting on the junk.
And here’s Marty relaxing on the junk.
We saw a floating market selling fruits & vegetables.
And here are some typical houses along the river:
We visited an ancient mandarin house dating from the 19th century. We stopped at a place where rice paper (for spring rolls) was being made. I tried my hand at it, but needed some more experience to get it right. We saw pop rice being made; similar to pop corn; delicious.
We had lunch at a lovely IndoChinese villa in a lush tropical garden. It felt very French.
It was a lovely day.
One more thing about Saigon. Marty wanted to see the American embassy. It’s gone, but there is an American consulate. We were driven by. There are policemen around it with loaded guns. You are not allowed to stop in front of the building. While the other consulates have police in front, they have no guns. I found it disturbing.
That’s it for today.
❤️
Irene
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