Journal of our recent trip February March 2006
Wedding reception of Trevor and Ky
Chau Chuot and Dylan at Dam Sen
Long Binh - Ammo Dumo - Bien Hoa
Some responses I have received
Indochine
People from 2001 - 2003
The Imperial City
Old Postcards of Vietnam
2003 Trip
and
The Forbidden Purple City
2001 Trip
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Mekong Delta I took the 1 day tour of the Mekong from Saigon Tourist. They offer a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 day tour. Having taken the 1 day tour I would recommend at least 2 or 3 days. If you take the 4 or 5 day tour you may stay extra days in their hotels in the delta. Our tour went to My Tho and then by boat out into the delta. There was a lot of beautiful scenery and as always a lot of beautiful people. |
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The Boat One of the boats, just like the one we went on. |
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Houses on the river Some of the many homes and businesses that are built out over the water. |
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Making rice paper This lady is making rice paper. We are told that she can make 1200 papers a day. Today she makes a few for us to see, however it is raining and she can not make more since they must be taken outside to dry. |
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Puffed Rice The young man is stiring rice into a large wok that has sand in it. The sand causes the rice to hear evenly. When the rice gets hot it Puffs up. |
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Puffed Rice The sand and rice are placed in a sieve and shaken. The sand falls through, to be used again, and the puffed rice is poured off to be made into Rice Cakes. |
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Cooking Sugar In this large wok there is Cane Sugar and Ginger heating. The puffed rice is poured in and stirred. |
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Rolling The mixture is placed on this table to be rolled out into a flat sheet about 1 1/2 inches thick. |
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Cutting There are grouves on the sides of the table and the 2 young men use a straight edge and knives to cut the rice cake into individual cakes. |
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Floating market In the back waters of the delta are floating markets. Boats from a large area congregate and bring produce to sell. Each boat has a sample of what it is selling hanging from the mast. Some have watermellons hanging and others have a diverse collection of fruits and vegetables. |
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On the water More buildings out over the water. Some might think they are all the same but they are not. Each group has different people and businesses and a different feel to it. |
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The Skipper The man who piloted our boat for the day. He was such a happy, pleasent man. |
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Pier and the Woman After lunch we were left for a time to explore the area. Pier, Luca and I walked down the road and over a bridge. Then along a road that was getting muddier and muddier. It was very hot and a woman came out of her home and invited us in for tea. Because we looked at her chickens she went in and brought out the family dinner, she thought we were hungry. Pier asked me why I love Vietnam so much and I told him it is because this is the culture and the people, to see someone hot and offer them a drink, or see them hungry and give them food. Something very Biblical about that. |
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Girl Sewing The next two pictures go well together. Pier is attracted to life and life is attracted to Pier. We stopped for a moment and watched a girl at a sewing machine. Between her and us is a wire mesh. Pier is a photographer and seeing a good photo he stopped and composed this picture. His colors are beautiful. |
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Pier and the Girl Sewing As Pier, so carefully, lined up his picture I took this picture. I like seeing his photo and then seeing my photo. I often see a photograph and wonder who is taking the picture and what was going on around the Photographer. In this case we can see the Photographer and the other sewing machine girl and a little girl looking on. |
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Candy Making This is the press that they use to extract teh juice from the sugar cane. |
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Cooking Sugar Here they are cooking Sugar, Ginger and Coconut. The smell here is so good. |
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Cooling and Rolling The mixture is placed on a table and worked as it cools. Half is light and half is dark. They are rolled and then placed together. This lady pulls the mixand places it on a plock that gives her even width. She then cuts them just by sight into pieces that are very equal. |
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Wraping Each piece is hand wrapped in rice paper then in a plastic. They are bundled and a label is placed in each package. |
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Lady Wraping One of the ladies wrapping. |
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