Mekong Delta

One week ago we had our last day as a group in Vietnam.  One whole week.  Wow.  I write this poolside in Chiang Mai, our second stop after Ho Chi Minh City, a day before finishing the trip with a handful of days in Bangkok.  In some ways time has really flown.

A week ago we all boarded a bus and set out for a couple of hours away, stopping on Cai Be in the Mekong Delta region.  Our guide, Anne, had roots in the area, so we were in good hands.  Yes, I dozed off on the bus.  It’s one of my best qualities, napping in vehicles.  A real skill.

From bus to boat.  We boarded in Cai Be and set out for an island nearby.  There we disembarked and had a leisurely stroll around the island, stopping to admire gardens and homes and plants and handicrafts.  And yes, take a lot of photos.  So here you go…

Back on a smaller boat then, only a few of us on each one, to be paddled to another point.  I’ve lost track of when we were on which boat and whatnot, but we did end up in a small village - Cai Be again? - where we saw various products being made, sampled them, and bought a bit.  Mostly candy though I have a plastic bottle of potentially dubious rice wine.

Souvenirs purchase, it was time for lunch, a short walk down the road at Le Longanier.  A lovely place, but I do wonder about the celebration of colonial times in the name and design.  That is at odds with what we otherwise saw about Vietnam history.  Anyway, nice little lunch, and I had my one and only coconut of the trip as my beverage.  The fried whole fish was impressive, and I appreciated that they took the flesh off to make rolls for us.

From there it was back to the bus and a long ride back where, surprisingly, I did not nap.  Back at the hotel, we had time enough to freshen up and then go over to our new friends at The Alley, this time luring four of the group to come with us.  Pre-dinner drinks, and what good ones they were.  The others were delighted by the bar, and we we treated them to a round of drinks.

I don’t have much to say about the last dinner in Vietnam.  The restaurant was sort of French but included Vietnamese influences as in the tasty yam soup with shrimp.  The main, though, was a chicken breast that was, well, fine but unexceptional.  Fine.  Maybe a bit of a letdown after so much good Vietnamese food, and not enough of a break from Vietnamese food to be enjoyable as something else.  Ah well.

And then it was back to the hotel to pack.  We had an early check out for a morning flight, and things to get done.  Vietnam had essentially come to an end, save for an airport experience the next day.  What a good trip it was.

fish market and more

Good morning!  As usual, I am out of bed early, and having checked morning messages and social media and such. I am turning to the blog before joining our hosts for breakfast.  More of Vietnam to come, but I wanted to mix in the current vacation.  So… yesterday!

Our goal yesterday was to visit a fish market south of here to find something for lunch.  After breakfast (and some time giving the dogs some love),

we set out south with J-J.  He drove us past the market and to a village called Samaesan so that we could have a little walk around.

The village isn’t a noteworthy one for tourism.  No shops filled with souvenirs lining the streets.  It’s simply a fishing village with a very light smattering of tourism (scuba excursions, a few holiday rentals).  J-J wanted us to see local life, so we strolled down from the temple where we parked, along a main road, wandered out on a pier, and headed over to another temple complex.  We stopped to take photos and grabbed some water at the end but otherwise just strolled and mildly peppered J-J with questions.

The market came next.  One on each side of the road.  J-J had a preference, but we went through both.  Squid is the big catch around here, but we saw plenty of crabs (too much work to cook and eat, so we didn’t buy any) and shrimp as well.  And then there were all the shellfish:  clams and cockles and scalloped and various sea snails in swirled or spiked shells.  I love seeing all of the market produce.  Scallops caught our eye first, lovely pink shells.  Vanda likes squid, so we bought three of those.  J-J prefers fish, so we also came home with a whole snapper.  A successful shop.

Lunch was all of that seafood plus some shrimp.  

Most of it went on the grill, but Vanda broiled the scallops.  The squid was chopped into pieces after being cooked, and we dipped them into a green sauce so replete with raw garlic that I am tasting it 18 hours later.  The fish and the scallops were my favourites, though.  We had a cheese board and a blueberry cake and two bottle of wine, and you had better believe that I needed a nap after all that.  Our hosts are so generous and wonderful, but Conrad and I will looking forward to the next part of the vacation when we can control our eating much more.

Post-nap, we headed all together to a couple of stores in Pattaya,  J-J and Vanda thought we might find postcards there, but no luck.  We did, however, buy some durian, and I will get to enjoy that stinky fruit this morning.  

Dinner was a huge steak grilled at home, and bedtime was early again.

Conrad and I shall pack this morning and say goodbye to this lovely home and our friends.  On to Chiang Mai!