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Day 08 - Snake Wine, Markets and Friendly Dragons

Writer's picture: SElliottSElliott

Updated: Jan 16

We awoke this morning moored in the river by Cai Be. The Mekong River is the longest river in South East Asia, originating in Tibet and flowing through six countries until it reaches the delta. This is the youngest delta in the world, only 6,000yrs old. At Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia which we will reach in three days’ time, the Mekong splits into two – the Hau Giang (Lower River) and the Tien Giang (Upper River). Before reaching the sea, these two rivers split further, explaining the Vietnamese name for the Mekong: Song Cuu Long (River of Nine Dragons). The Upper River, which we were sailing along, is a very wide river, an average of 1km wide but it can reach 2km wide. Strangely, to us at least, there is a lot of greenery floating along the river. Later we were told that this was Water Hyacinth, the roots of which are collected, dried and used to make such things as flip flops, hats and handbags.


Picture 1 – The Mekong River and Water Hyacinths


I continued with tai chi this morning on the sun deck before heading down to the restaurant for breakfast – turkey noodle soup.


After breakfast we headed to Cai Be (pronounced cai bay) by tender.


Picture 2 – Cai Be


We first visited a cottage factory where they made rice paper, rice crackers, coconut candies, popped rice and noodles and rice wine. The workers did not wear any sort of protective clothing and there was no guarding of any kind - HSE would have been appalled.


Picture 3 – Rice paper, coconut candies and popped rice/noodles


First we saw them making rice paper. This is made by spreading a rice water on a cloth over heat, after about 5 seconds a thin “pancake” is formed which is dried by laying it on bamboo mats in the sun. We then tried some coconut candy, which was a bit like toffee but really nice! Next it was to watch them make popped rice. First a big wok with black ashes in it was heated before white rice was added – then the rice started popping everywhere! It was like a fireworks show! Then the popped rice was sieved to ensure all the ash was removed before the popped rice was mixed with a mixture of sugar, coconut milk, water and flavourings to make the final product. It was nice but not something I would eat every day.


Picture 4 – Snake wine


Our next stop was to taste some rice wine. There was banana rice wine, jackfruit wine and snake wine which is what we tasted. The snake is killed and then left in the wine for as long as possible so that the wine absorbs the venom. It can then be used as an alternative to the vaccinations of the western world. It is also supposed to be good for arthritis.


After some retail therapy we returned to the tender and were taken back along the river to the Cai Be Catholic Church. Catholicism is the second most common religion in Vietnam, Buddhism being the most common. There is also Taoism and Confuciousism but these are philosophies, not religions. Many Vietnamese follow the local Ancestor Worship, this is where families have shrines to the last three generations. On the way to the Cruise Ship we saw gravestones in the middle of some fields. These were for the ancestors of the family who owned the land. They did not want their family to move because they did so they would have to dig up the graves and take them with them.


Picture 5 – Catholic church


We also learnt some details about the Vietnamese language. It was created by a Portuguese missionary so that the Vietnamese could understand them when they were trying to convert them. To create the language he used original Vietnamese and Chinese words but spelt them using the roman alphabet phonetically. Some words can have up to 6 different ways of pronunciation depending on the accidental above the letters, each different pronunciation gives a different meaning. For example:

·         Ma    ghost

·         Mà    which

·         mả     tomb

·         mã     horse

·         mạ     rice seedling

·         má     mother

We returned to the cruise ship by tender for a short refreshment break before heading to a presentation about the Viet Nam history and life along the Mekong. Then it was time for lunch.


After lunch we arrived at Sa Dec, the former capital of the Dong Thap province. Here, once we had reached the shore via the tender, we walked through the market, keeping a watchful eye for motorbikes. There was a wide variety of goods being sold – live fish, dead fish, sardines, live toads (with and without skin), turtles, River snails, tiny chicks as well as lots of vegetables and other greenery. Various types of rice.  And such a lot of everything. Outside in the open were the fruit stalls – durian (the king of fruit), bananas, bunches of rambutan, bunches of langan, pomolos and mangosteen (the queen of fruit), which we tasted.



     Picture 6 – Sa Dec Market


We also visited the home of Mr Huynh Thuy Le who fell in love with a French woman who was born in Saigon. As he was from a rich Vietnamese family and she was from a poor family, and foreign, they never married. She, Margaret Duras, later wrote a novel L’Amant (The Lover) based on this story. The house was closed for renovation so we were not able to see inside.


Picture 7 – Old House


The final stop (after a short sampan journey) was at a traditional Cao Dai temple. Knees and shoulders had to be covered and had to take our shoes off before we went inside. The temple was very pretty and colourful with lots of carvings – even some friendly looking dragons!


Picture 8 – Cao Daism Temple


Cao Daism is a relatively modern religion but already has a huge following in South East Asia. It is a mixture of East and West religions and contains elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, native Vietnamese spiritualism, Christianity and Islam.  It was officially founded in 1926 by the mystic Ngo Minh Chieu who had received messages via an Ouija board about the basic foundations of the religion. Aspects of the Chinese Yin and Yang are also included.


From the temple it was back to the cruise ship for the night.

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