Today we were treated on a day trip out of Ho Chi Minh City, to the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is a critical region of Vietnam because it is essential to Vietnam’s fishing and rice industries. Throughout our time in Vietnam, we learned so much about this region and even had our own lecture dedicated to it, so it was very excited to visit the area. We started the day early with a longer bus ride out of the city, which we spent shouting karaoke for a long time. When we arrived, we hopped on a boat to make our way out to an island where we would spend the first half of our day.
When we arrived at this island, we were greeted with bananas that were cooked with honey and tea that was made with bee pollen and honey. We sat down and enjoyed the snack while someone explained all of the ingredients we were enjoying. Then we were able to take pictures holding very peaceful bees and semi-peaceful large snakes. After our time with the animals, we walked down a market street to make our way to another snack with tea. In this market, we were able to see handmade crafts, bags, trinkets, and food that many of us bought. This market really allowed us to see how these families make their money in many different ways. The next snack was fresh fruit, including the best mango I’ve ever had, and tea accompanied by music. After the second snack, we moved on to ride in a horse cart to make our way to the river flowing through the island. The horse cart was a very interesting method of travel; it definitely kept us on our toes for the full ride. Then we got a nice, relaxing ride on the river back to our boats. This ride allowed us to really enjoy the beauty of this region and to appreciate the water that flows through it. After that we hopped back on the boat to head to another island for lunch.
When we got off the boat at the second island, we saw many exciting and beautiful things on our walk to lunch. We saw children swimming and laughing, and playing with the fish, which made this island feel welcoming. Our lunch consisted of delicious elephant ear fish, which is a very common fish in the Mekong River. We also had squid, shrimp, beef, pork, fried sticky rice, hotpot, and many vegetables. After our fulfilling lunch, we got to go around and enjoy the numerous things the island had to offer. Everyone wanted to try the big hamster ball bubbles on the water, which were extremely fun but also the most draining thing ever. We all would struggle to run and stand in them and continue to fall for a few minutes, and then we would get extremely hot and tired, and everyone would just lie there until the end of their turn. After that, I needed a break, so I watched others struggle until I cooled down and had some water. Then we got to feed small crocodiles and fish. After that, I walked around the island for a while, taking pictures and enjoying a swing that I found with some of the Vietnamese students. After that we left the island and enjoyed some coconut water fresh from opened coconuts and some more karoake before we headed back to the hotel.
