Laid back life on the Mekong Delta - by Lucas
February 6-9
After Can Tho we came to a town called Vinh Long, but we didn't stay there. We took a small ferry to a peaceful island in the delta called An Binh.
Here we stayed in a homestay. A homestay is a place where a local family converts part of their land into a peaceful guesthouse. The rooms themselves were not that nice, but the grounds were great. There were hammocks all over the property and we used them to rest in each day and for reading our books.
There were plants and trees growing and flowers. Sounds great right?, but there was one downside - roosters. We weren't sure whether there were so many roosters because it's the 'Year of the Rooster' or whether the locals all want lots of them. But it didn't matter because the roosters managed to wake us up each morning at 6:30. The neighbours kept them in little cages only about 10 metres from our room. I found a way to evade them by listening to music, but my family didn't like my method, so they continued to wake up early whether they wanted to or not.
On our first night we ordered a big dinner and got to help cook it. The cooking part was very easy, and the cooks didn't know any English so it felt a bit weird, but the dinner was very good. The first course was what we helped to make - deliciously fried spring rolls and dinner crêpes. Both were very good. The second course was a completely whole, strange looking fish.
The fish was good, and although it looked pretty big, there was very little meat on it. The 3rd course was a soup. The soup was not my favourite, but my sister loved it. The final course was lemongrass chicken with a delicious sauce on top of rice. By this time we were all stuffed full and we couldn't finish the chicken or rice, but wait, there's more. Dessert was a plate of dragon fruit, watermelon, and pineapple. We managed to finish this, barely.
The next day we were woken up by the roosters- again! Breakfast that day was baguettes with jam and fruit, eggs, and coffee and tea. After breakfast we went for a short 30 minute bike ride around our 'neighbourhood'. We saw the school full of kids. Interestingly, the gate was padlocked so the kids could not get out! We also saw a church and a lot of chickens and chicks. When we got back to our homestay we chilled out for a bit, then went for lunch. Originally we were only planning to go for lunch, but our bikes had baskets so we thought we could go buy food and find a nice place to eat a picnic. Things changed and eventually we were on a 3 hour bike ride, a little bit lost. On this ride we saw lots of schools, a temple, lots of local homes, tons of canals. We were almost always riding beside a canal or crossing one on one of the 1000 bridges we saw, there were also plenty of crops full of different fruits. I'll be honest, we didn't know what they were, but we did see bananas. We saw lots of boats as well.
When we got back, we were completely exhausted, and just relaxed in hammocks by the fish pond. There is a pond full of catfish that we are allowed to fish for. Maya found some fishing rods and the hosts gave us some chicken to use as bait. After losing lots of chicken and 1 hook, I caught one! It looked like it was about 3 pounds. I pulled it out of the water, and called over a member of the family we were staying with. I thought she was going to take the hook out, then throw it back in, but she took it inside and we never saw it again. I think the family ate it for dinner.
We met two Australians at the homestay that were really nice and that night, we went to Ving Long for dinner with them and we ate some BBQ pork that was recommended to us. We think we got the 'extras' that they normally don't use, cuz it was pretty much just fat. It was gross! On the plus side we got lots of good fruit at the night market including rambutan, mangoes, and oranges.
The next morning the roosters were waking up the whole neighbourhood again but I had earbuds in in advance so I didn't hear them. We stayed around the homestay this day, I tried fishing again but had no luck, we played cards and blogged. It was a relaxing day, for lunch everyone went out to a 'Pho' place on the island, but I stayed and got spring rolls from our homestay. They were very good. For dinner, we went to the mainland and had a delicious spicy hotpot. Maya doesn't like spicy food very much so she ordered something else but it turned out to be spicy too so she didn't want to eat anything. But since my parents told her she couldn't have the cotton candy she saw earlier if she didn't eat dinner, so she gobbled up even the most spicy part of the soup. We were all surprised that she ate it and keep wondering whether she really doesn't like 'spicy' or whether she just says she doesn't. The cotton candy was worth the soup she said. Finally at about 9:00 pm we sat down by the river and got some Vietnamese iced coffee and tea. My dad was in love with the coffee at first sip because it wasn't so sweet like most of the coffee in Vietnam.
Once again the roosters crowed in the morning, but I didn't wake up, no earbuds or anything, I was dead tired and didn't wake up until my mom woke me up. We packed up and got out of dodge, but not before the delicious breakfast that I forgot to mention on the other mornings a Vietnamese dish with a baguette and fruit. It was very good and filling each morning. After that we hopped on a bus that took us directly to Ho Chi Minh City where we stayed for another night before getting on a plane to Hoi An.
After Can Tho we came to a town called Vinh Long, but we didn't stay there. We took a small ferry to a peaceful island in the delta called An Binh.
Ferry ride from Vinh Long to An Binh
Here we stayed in a homestay. A homestay is a place where a local family converts part of their land into a peaceful guesthouse. The rooms themselves were not that nice, but the grounds were great. There were hammocks all over the property and we used them to rest in each day and for reading our books.
Chillin' with my book!
There were plants and trees growing and flowers. Sounds great right?, but there was one downside - roosters. We weren't sure whether there were so many roosters because it's the 'Year of the Rooster' or whether the locals all want lots of them. But it didn't matter because the roosters managed to wake us up each morning at 6:30. The neighbours kept them in little cages only about 10 metres from our room. I found a way to evade them by listening to music, but my family didn't like my method, so they continued to wake up early whether they wanted to or not.
The neighbour's roosters that woke us up
On our first night we ordered a big dinner and got to help cook it. The cooking part was very easy, and the cooks didn't know any English so it felt a bit weird, but the dinner was very good. The first course was what we helped to make - deliciously fried spring rolls and dinner crêpes. Both were very good. The second course was a completely whole, strange looking fish.
Making Spring Rolls with the cook
Yuk!!
The fish was good, and although it looked pretty big, there was very little meat on it. The 3rd course was a soup. The soup was not my favourite, but my sister loved it. The final course was lemongrass chicken with a delicious sauce on top of rice. By this time we were all stuffed full and we couldn't finish the chicken or rice, but wait, there's more. Dessert was a plate of dragon fruit, watermelon, and pineapple. We managed to finish this, barely.
The next day we were woken up by the roosters- again! Breakfast that day was baguettes with jam and fruit, eggs, and coffee and tea. After breakfast we went for a short 30 minute bike ride around our 'neighbourhood'. We saw the school full of kids. Interestingly, the gate was padlocked so the kids could not get out! We also saw a church and a lot of chickens and chicks. When we got back to our homestay we chilled out for a bit, then went for lunch. Originally we were only planning to go for lunch, but our bikes had baskets so we thought we could go buy food and find a nice place to eat a picnic. Things changed and eventually we were on a 3 hour bike ride, a little bit lost. On this ride we saw lots of schools, a temple, lots of local homes, tons of canals. We were almost always riding beside a canal or crossing one on one of the 1000 bridges we saw, there were also plenty of crops full of different fruits. I'll be honest, we didn't know what they were, but we did see bananas. We saw lots of boats as well.
Cycling around An Binh on narrow roads which were used by motorbikes and scooters too
Cycling past the locals
This temple had some flowers or something being dried in the courtyard but we couldn't get close enough to see what they were.
A banana tree with the bananas still pretty small. You can see them just under the red flower
When we got back, we were completely exhausted, and just relaxed in hammocks by the fish pond. There is a pond full of catfish that we are allowed to fish for. Maya found some fishing rods and the hosts gave us some chicken to use as bait. After losing lots of chicken and 1 hook, I caught one! It looked like it was about 3 pounds. I pulled it out of the water, and called over a member of the family we were staying with. I thought she was going to take the hook out, then throw it back in, but she took it inside and we never saw it again. I think the family ate it for dinner.
Fishing with a bamboo pole
The family kept this catfish and ate it for dinner I think
We met two Australians at the homestay that were really nice and that night, we went to Ving Long for dinner with them and we ate some BBQ pork that was recommended to us. We think we got the 'extras' that they normally don't use, cuz it was pretty much just fat. It was gross! On the plus side we got lots of good fruit at the night market including rambutan, mangoes, and oranges.
The next morning the roosters were waking up the whole neighbourhood again but I had earbuds in in advance so I didn't hear them. We stayed around the homestay this day, I tried fishing again but had no luck, we played cards and blogged. It was a relaxing day, for lunch everyone went out to a 'Pho' place on the island, but I stayed and got spring rolls from our homestay. They were very good. For dinner, we went to the mainland and had a delicious spicy hotpot. Maya doesn't like spicy food very much so she ordered something else but it turned out to be spicy too so she didn't want to eat anything. But since my parents told her she couldn't have the cotton candy she saw earlier if she didn't eat dinner, so she gobbled up even the most spicy part of the soup. We were all surprised that she ate it and keep wondering whether she really doesn't like 'spicy' or whether she just says she doesn't. The cotton candy was worth the soup she said. Finally at about 9:00 pm we sat down by the river and got some Vietnamese iced coffee and tea. My dad was in love with the coffee at first sip because it wasn't so sweet like most of the coffee in Vietnam.
Once again the roosters crowed in the morning, but I didn't wake up, no earbuds or anything, I was dead tired and didn't wake up until my mom woke me up. We packed up and got out of dodge, but not before the delicious breakfast that I forgot to mention on the other mornings a Vietnamese dish with a baguette and fruit. It was very good and filling each morning. After that we hopped on a bus that took us directly to Ho Chi Minh City where we stayed for another night before getting on a plane to Hoi An.
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