Mekong Delta, November 2006
Here is the Saigon river in the fertile Mekong Delta region where most of Vietnam's rice is produced. |
A tour boat, very much like the one we would ride in sits on the river. |
A picture sitting in the tour boat looking out. |
Here are some homes and businesses along the river. |
Many of these homes didn't look like much. However, when we were in Vietnam we also saw some very lovely and expensive loking homes. |
Some rusty boats sitting along the river. |
Here is a brightly painted fishing boat. |
Some more brightly painted boats. |
Some more homes near the water side. |
More homes and businesses. |
A couple of kids swimming in the river. |
Some boats next to more expensive looking homes. |
Some homes and businesses were floating way out on the water. |
Long explained to us that many of these little shacks have TVs and everything. |
We saw people working here, as well as napping. |
Here is a resident who is cleaning some fish. |
Here is another home with boats nearby. |
A closeup of some of the boat paintings. Long told us that the colors are supposed to help attract fish. |
A dog resting in the shade on one of the floating homes. |
A man pulling in fishing nets on a boat. |
We were on our way to one of the largest islands in the delta region. There were four islands: Dragon, Turtle, Phoenix and Unicorn. We would be visiting Unicorn Island, the largest of the islands at 5km long and 1km wide. |
They hope to build a bridge from Unicorn Island to the city to help local students attend school. They only have local elementary and middle schools, they must go all the way to the city for high school. |
Here is a ship that was brought from Denmark. Many ships were purchased from there and brought all the way to Vietnam, so it still bears its old flag. |
Here we are arriving on Unicorn Island. Dragons often stand for power, phoenixes for prosperity, turtles for longevity, and unicorns for good luck. |
We had tea there that was flavored with honey, lime and bee pollen. It was very good. |
Here we are having tea: front- Erin, back row from left to right, me, Long, Lisa, Linda and Barbara. |
After havign tea we drove around the island a bit more to get to the canals. Here two people paddle a boat. |
Here we are at a different section of Unicorn Island. |
On the way to sample some local tropical fruits, we saw a really nice home. |
They had lots of chickens. |
Here is a small bridge over a canal. |
Some boats sitting in the canal. |
Another small bridge over a little creek. |
Here we are trying some tropical fruits. Left to right: me, Erin, Long, Linda and Barbara. |
Now it was our turn to take a ride in the canals in a sampan. |
The boats were paddled by two people, one on each end of the boat. |
Here another boat passes us. The canal was very narrow and could only fit about two of these boats side by side. |
It was neat to look up at all the big palm fronds above us. |
Here is a turn in the canal. |
Long takes a picture of me and Linda in the boat. |