Working Women

We learned many farmers have a side hustle to bring in some extra income while the rice grows. 

Here are some hard working ladies of the Mekong Delta. 

This woman makes rice papers (spring roll paper) by hand in her back yard. She makes up to 400 a day which earns her roughly $20, maybe $10 profit. 

This lady works in a coconut factory. She peels off coconut skin (after it's husked and cracked). She's paid for the weight of peeled coconuts, which is usually 200-300 kilo by the end of the day. That means she will earn about $7. 

Here we have an older woman working at a pottery "factory." It's all done by hand so maybe workshop is a better term. She  ladels liquid clay layer by layer onto a sand mold and hand-shapes it into a pot.  She makes 20-30 pots a day and earns about $1 for every 6 pots. 

This happy woman owns and operates a tofu paper business out of her home. Large vats of liquid tofu simmer behind us. She sells them to a middle man that will use them for other foods. She can make 40 kilos a day and earns $2 per kilo. That's $80 net before costs and wages. 

This young woman is in a brick factory where clay is formed into bricks then fired in giant kilns. She's unloading bricks after a full month of baking. I have no idea what her earning potential is, but bless her for her hard work. 

The farmer pictured below (a man) is standing in his marigold flower field. It's nearly Vietnamese New Year so he will be selling his entire marigold crop to a wholesaler in 2 weeks when the plants will be fully bloomed. Each plant earns him $3 and I think he had about 800. That's roughly $2400 for half a year's work. The other half of the year he grows watermelon. 

Vietnamese Coffee: How To

Vietnam is the second largest exporter of coffee after Brazil.

Start with medium-ground beans -- Nyugen tells me there is corn and small green beans ground in with it also to make it smoother, but I can't see them so I'm just trusting him. 

Next you pour a small amount of hot water -- just under boiling -- to get the beans wet and let it sit for a minute. You add water a couple more times over the course of several minutes. 

Two quotes about this dripping process as stated by Nguyen. 

1. The slower the better.

2. The only thing slower than Vietnamese coffee is Vietnamese wifi. 

The final and crucial (and most delicious) step is the sweetened condensed milk.  You add as much as you like and then.stir it since its heavy and thick and sinks to the bottom. 

It's always hot here so often you'd put it over ice at this point. Typically, you just have one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Not 8 cups each morning because the caffeine would make you crazy. Also, more men than women drink coffee. "Tea is for ladies!" Thanks, Nyugen. 

Cu Chi Cu Chi Coo

Good morning, Vietnam! After a brief sleeping session at Alcove Library Hotel, we're on the bike trip! Also, the hotel gets two thumbs up for accommodations, breakfast and proximity to airport. Great choice if you're spending one quick night in Saigon.

The coffee is always the star of the show, but beautiful fruits deserve a standing ovation.

Above: mini banana, dragonfruit, rambutan, and rose apple.

It's technically winter here so leaves are falling in the rubber tree plantations despite the heat.

A 2-hr boat ride with someone named Bain brought us up the river to the Cu Chi area. 

A stop of culinary interest was a small operation making rice paper. The sheets paper (used for spring rolls) are laid out to dry in the sun and you can hear them pop-pop-popping.

This man works for the family that runs the place and was keen to have his picture taken. "Cahm Uhn" is thank you in Vietnamese. We say it over and over. 

The afternoon was spent exploring the Cu Chi tunnels - infamous for their role in the war. We were the only people there and I was shocked when we were able to go inside and crawl around. Not for the claustrophobic friends. The tunnel system is unbelievable. I cannot imagine spending an hour in there, much less years. It was an interesting, but sad stop.

Tomorrow we double our mileage on one bikes -- lots more to see! 

Dumpling Week - A Quick Return to Vietnam

Tomorrow I'm heading back to Vietnam! This time with my friend Sarah for a short trip of one week.  The long travel (30 hours) is going to killer for such a quick trip, but I have 4 printed pages of various foods I want to eat so it will be busy. Below is our itinerary. 

1. Saturday: Drive to O'Hare. Then fly Chicago to Tokyo. 
2. Sunday: Fly Tokyo to Saigon, land at 10 p.m. local time (+13 from home). 
3. Monday: Bike the Cu Chi district, including rubber plantations and infamous war tunnels. 
4. Tuesday: 60km bike ride though the Mekong Delta area. Homestay for the night. 
5. Wednesday: Bike the canal paths and see floating markets. Fly to Dalat at night. 
6. Thursday: Day trip canyoning (hiking and repelling down waterfalls) in Dalat. 
7. Friday: Cooking class and visiting the markets and local sites in Dalat. Fly to Saigon.
8. Saturday: Vietnamese coffee, massages and local spa, and a scooter food tour at night. 
9. Sunday: Fly back to USA. Have broken heart, feel sad that trip was too short. 

So I'm all packed up, including the customary sacrificial TOMS. This time, the gray pair will join, but not return back to the USA. They look overdue for a farewell tour, frankly.

Return Ticket

The trip is over and it's time to go back to America. I would like to stay for another month or six, but that cannot be arranged at this time. The flight home isn't as brutal since the wind is with us. Should be back in Madison soon! 

Not everyone that came to Thailand is making it home. Goodbye, red TOMS... I think you walked your last miles today. 

Back in Bangkok

...for less than 24 hours. Nan wanted to see the sights so here's what we crammed in:

Chinatown for street food and general experience. Chinese New Year just happened so the laterns were hung everywhere. 

Wat Traimit, the Temple of the Golden Buddha, is a few-minute walk from our hotel. Cool story: during wartime some monks covered this solid gold statue in mud/plaster so it would be ignored. It worked! Many years later when it was being moved some mud broke off and the golden Buddha was (re)discovered! Lots of people go there everyday to pray and make offerings. 

Next, we took the river boat up to Wat Pho to visit the Reclining Buddha. Love Wat Pho - went 3 times.

The highlight of the day was a dinner party invitation from Bo and Pack in their Sukamvit condo. We arrived to a true Thai feast:

Pack spent the day cooking enough food for 40 people. 

About ten others were there and they all got to take home doggy bags. TSA doesn't allow bags of fish soup or pork lab so I had to stuff my person at that moment. Luckily we stayed for 4 hours and the feast spread was there the whole time and nobody judged me (out loud in English at least) for having 5ths and 6ths. 

Thank you Bo and Pack!