Today was my favorite day so far! It started out with a long bus ride to get to the Mekong Delta. I was nervous to be spending a whole day out in the sun on the water, but it was way better than I expected! Luckily today was one of the coolest days since we’ve been here. We got on a boat for a short trip to the first island. Here, we sampled different fruits: mango, watermelon, pineapple, jackfruit, and finger bananas. We saw a performance from locals, who showed off their native instruments and folk songs. Then, we learned how chocolate is made, and we were able to sample some dark chocolate. Next up, we got to hold a python! I’ve never touched a snake, let alone put one around my neck. After the snake, we held bees and got to try honey tea with kumquats, which was delicious and the sweetest tea I’ve ever had. When we arrived back at the boat, we each got a coconut with a straw in it. I usually don’t like coconut water, but this was really good. We stopped at another island that sold coconut candy, ice cream, and other products. After sampling candies and buying souvenirs, we got in small carts pulled by horses and took a short ride to the water. It was interesting to see the little town that was set up on the island, but I felt bad for the horses the whole time. Once we got off the carts, we rowed small, canoe-like boats down a small river. We passed many people who were using the river as transportation in their daily lives. Eventually, we made it back to our original boat and went to another island for lunch. When we arrived at lunch, we were greeted by a whole fish sitting on the table. Some waiters and waitresses made the fish into several spring rolls and they brought out rice, noodles, chicken, and shrimp. I still don’t like shrimp, but I did eat a shrimp’s unidentified organ!
It was interesting to see how the tourism industry interacted with the other industries on the islands. Many different businesses came together for our experience today, from the fruits, to the coconuts, to the transportation. I didn’t think that the climate change and damming of the delta were evident today, because everything seemed to be running smoothly. However, we learned in class that the delta is only two meters above water level, which is expected to rise. This trip showed me that the rising sea level is a threat to the community, because we were very close to the water the whole time.
