Today, we got to go to the Mekong Delta, probably the second-best trip of the program, shortly behind the day at Vung Tau. Once we got to the delta, we took a boat across the river, where we ate some of the common fruits in Vietnam which included finger bananas (sweeter than normal bananas, but very good), pineapple, mango, watermelon, and jackfruit. All of the fruit were amazing, but my favorite was definitely the pineapple. We also were given tea with the fruit, while enjoying a musical performance from the local villagers. It was a nice way to start our trip to the delta. After this, we then walked down a trail and went to a little hut where we learned how they make Vietnamese chocolate from cocoa fruit. I tried the cinnamon chocolate, which was some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had. We then walked behind the hut, where they had two pythons in cages. We took out one of them and took turns holding it around our shoulders. The feeling of it moving on my neck was really weird, but it was so cool and fun to hold. This was followed by a sample of tea with honey and a few brave people held a bunch of bees, but I was not going to go anywhere near the bees. We then learned how coconuts were turned in to coconut candy, and we sampled a candy that was a peanut wrapped in coconut. It was interesting to learn that they also use the wood from coconut trees for buildings and they had a whole souvenir shop full of things made from the wood, which I thought was really resourceful and innovative. The coconuts were then followed by a trip down a little water stream that splits off the river. We took little canoes down the stream, which was fun but it was really tiring to paddle. This was followed by an amazing lunch that included a full fish (it even had the teeth on it!), some kind of noodle stir fry, chicken, shrimp, spring rolls, fried rice, and sticky rice, which was possible the best meal of the trip.
Overall, the day was amazing, and I learned so much about the rural development of the country, while having an amazing time.