Did a day tour of the Mekong Delta with Water Buffalo. Their goal is showcase local people and daily activities so you're off the beaten path a bit. It was just us and our guide Jason (below) tooling around. Here are some highlights:
The Cao Dai temple was our first stop. Caodaists are pretty much only Vietnamese and their religion is like a mix of other major religions. It was gorgeous and the details throughout were incredible. There are yellow swastikas in the design-- an ancient symbol for longevity (Hilter stole it). The left eye (shown below) is the main symbol of their faith--like the cross for Christians.
Next, we walked through the small but intense Can Duoc market. Jason taught us a bit about the Vietnamese karma beliefs which was super interesting. Street vendors sold meats, fruits, clothing, live animals, you name it... This woman was showing off her English for the other street vendors by screaming what she had: STING RAY! EEL! CATFISH!
The My Loi ferry took us (and a ton of locals going home for the lunar new year) across the Vam Co river. This little girl rides the ferry back and forth all day selling lottery tickets. She clearly had a crush on Jason; here she is trying to get him to join us on the roof.
The hot green rice paddy fields in the remote town of Tan Hoa were awesome. Vietnam is the #1 rice producer so this is an important part of Vietnamese life.
Bikes are such a cool way to see a town since you're in sync with the pace of local life.
We rode bikes around and these kids did two. The kids learn basic English in school so they love to yell, "Helloooo!"
We were finally on the famous Mekong River. The river life of many people includes floating fish farms and clothes drying behind in the wind. It's pretty fascinating...
Across the river, the canal was too small so we switched to a small sampan boat. The lush and winding Tan Thachn creek was lined with coconut trees and felt like another world.
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