We decided to skip the 6.30am Tai Chi lesson on the Sun Deck this morning, but were all up and ready for breakfast at 7.30am, with a busy day ahead of us. This morning we will remain at anchor at Cai Be and and will go creuising in sampans to get a closer look at the village, including going ashore.
Our Ship - The Jayavarman
The sampan we will use for our village cruise
Yesterday we travelled 30 km from our starting point at My Tho and are now 90 km from the ocean.
Cai Be is a bustling village extending along the water line of a side stream to the Mekong. As with everywhere we have seen so far, water hyacinth is a widespread problem. Everyone has a boat, with many people living on them, and most are selling something. Apparently whatever product a boat is selling, is displayed on a bamboo pole at the bow of the boat so it can be easily recognised from a distance.
Boats anchored amongst the water hyacinth
Boats are of all sizes and one is never too young to help out
A load of Pineapples heading to market
And you can go fishing outside you front door
The house in the village are all on stilts, to allow for the tidal range, which is still about 1.5 m this far up the river, and also to give some protection against flooding which is an annual event during the wet season.
There is a lone Catholic Church in town
The river traffic is very busy
As we get further into town we go ashore to see a little bit of village life, but mainly to visit a touristy set up where demonstrations are given on making some local products from rice and coconut.
The first one is making popped rice which is then made into a snack bar by adding some sugar, peanuts and other flavourings.
The rice is tossed in a wok filled with hot river sand
When the trice comes in contact with the hot sand in the wok, it starts pooping immediately, separating the rice from the husk and expanding rapidly. The Sand and husks are the sieved out leaving clean white pooped rice. This is then transferred to another wok, a warm sugary micture added, and it is all mixed together.
It is then put in a mould, rolled flat and the cut into pieces for packaging.
Next was a demonstration on how to make coconut candy, followed by the manufacture of rice paper
which is widely used in Vietnamese cooking
Coconut Candy
Rice is soaked in water over night and the liquid poured over a silk or cotton cloth stretched over boiling water
After steaming with a lid on for a short time, the rice paper is carefully removed and hung on a bamboo table, and then transferred to a rack for drying.
We had a bit of spare time in the village to look around the touristy area , or have a cup of tea before going back to the ship.
On the way back to the ship we pass a number of rice mills and see many barges loaded up with raw rice, heading off to the mills to have their rice processed.
Rice on its way to the mill for milling
We also saw lots of fish traps, ans fisherman in boats and on the shore trying their luck to get some fish. it was very low tide so some of the traps were high and dry on the shore.
We haven't seen a lot of livestock
The local ferry
Unloading a load of pineapples
Cruising the Mekong !
Having the daily bath
Loading up some roof thatching
By 11 am everyone was back on board and we weighed anchor and set sail for our afternoon, stop, Sadec which is about another 30 km. Whilst under way, lunch is served from 12.30pm and we have some free time until 2.30pm, when the sampans will take us to explore Binh Thanh Island eventually stopping at a local village to wander around and see how people live and make a living. This area also has a lot of small fish farms in the river.
On the way to Sadec we travel under the Friendship Bridge, built by the Australian Government as aid for Vietnam.
Having anchored at Sadec just after lunch we are ready to get back in the sampans at head off to explore Binh Thanh Island. The first thing you notice is the density of water hyacinth in this area.
Harvesting the water hyacinth to dry and make into baskets
Small floating fish farms are everywhere
A fish farm in "dry dock" for maintenance
The farms are teaming with fish, in this area they are mainly red snapper
The fish are fed with dry food, some of which is made up of rice bran
The local fish market where live fish are sold in polypropylene bags with water and oxygen added
The waterways are very busy, but everyone seems to know the rules
We go ashore to explore a local village and are met at the temple by two local elders who are willing to talk about life in the village and answer our questions. They do not speak English so it is all done through our guide, but was nevertheless very interesting. It is amazing here how willing people are to talk about the war, the failed communist experiment that followed, and whilst still a communist state, how much better life has become when people are rewarded for their efforts. I hope the ALP and Greens are listening ! They seem very happy with their current situation.
The village elders and our guide,
Tai
The local butcher (note how well behaved the dog is)
Local transport
Some of the kids are quite shy
Others are working in the family business making mattresses from rattan reeds
Others are making baskets from Water Hyacinth
Village life is pretty simple, doing the daily washing in the river
We leave the village after a good look around and head back to our ship to continue our journey towards the Cambodian Border, on the way back we take in a few more classic sights of river life in this area.
We have to push our way through the hyacinth to get back into the main river stream
Back at the boat safely by around 4pm, we are soon underway to sail to our next destination Chau Doc, 35 km on the Vietnam side of the Cambodian Border.
Mike's favourite dish - fried spring rolls
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