See The World

with BILL'S EYES

Day 11 Cambodia and Vietnam

We awake to be in the Vietnam portion of the Mekong Delta area. A 20 or so person boat takes us along the river to visit a floating fish farm near the village of Tan Chau. 

We stop and walk the plank off the boat onto what is essentially a floating tin shed, some 10 meters wide by 35 meters long with about two-thirds of the long side having sheet iron walls and the rest of the structure open to the elements. The floor is wooden, and sacks of sweet potato are stacked on the side we made access from.  A 2-meter tall and about one and a half meter diameter stainless steel container is located against an opposite wall, and there are also bags of pelletized rice husks which are stacked against another wall. There are many bags of fish protein (ground up fish bones -the result of filleting earlier farmed and caught fish which are processed in the Mekong Delta region). All these ingredients are used to make fish-meal, and which needs to be cooked in the stainless steel container and once ready the substance is forced through what looks like a giant sausage machine, and the output drops into one of two square holes in the floor of the shed.

Below the shed and about 5 meters deep and just shy of the inner dimensions of the area of the platform is a cage full of fish. There are 7 thousand fish in the cage, and the fish farm has more floating platforms with cages, and two types of fish are grown (catfish and perch). The fingerlings are placed into the cages and over six to seven months grow to a commercially acceptable size. 

The catching of the fish in the cages is interesting with two of the workers jumping into the cage and using a large flexible net placed on the floor of the cage and then stringing it to the sides of the length and breadth of the cage at the water surface level. The two swimming workers then move the sides of the net ever closer to herd the fish to the openings in the floor and then the fish now in a very confined space can be easily extracted from the cage. 

They are transported live by boat to the nearby fish processing plant, with the crushed bones of the processed fish then sold back to the fish farmer as fish protein. Nothing is wasted especially when there is a buck to be made. 

The river near the farm is a popular place to fish for the soon not to be free, river fish since the fish meal escapes through the cage walls and attracts the wild fish to the area.

Large export incomes are generated by the fish ending up on plates in many countries of the world. It seems that hormones of any type are prohibited and a good deal of government scrutiny ensures that that is the case.

As is part of daily life on the Mekong Delta there are boats of all sizes making their way along the river and its tributaries. The style of the boat determines the task that it is being used for. 

For example, a long narrow boat with the almost as long a propeller shaft deftly used to steer the boat, is used by men and woman as a base for fishing and transporting the family and goods. 

The relatively speaking large and broad boats that seem to be so low in the water that if a decent wave were encountered, they would be sent to the bottom of the river are used to move sand that has been dredged from the river floor. 

The sand sourced from the bottom of the river and tributaries of the Mekong Delta is ideal for use with cement when making concrete and is sent all over the South East Asian area.

Our short small boat ride to the village is slightly delayed as the ferryboat backs out of the village riverboat and ferry mooring. 

The ferry is laden with motorbikes and their riders and their passengers and lands of everything under the sun. The ferry operator sits in a cabin at the rear of the ferry boat above the passenger area and commands a grand view front and rear of the boat. However, they only have to worry about where the front of the boat is when docking, unlike the ferries I have seen in Australia, which require guidance for both ends of the ferry vessel. A dear and long-time friend of mine is currently a ferry boat operator, and I take lots of pictures of the movement of this ferry and later pictures of more ferries as they seem to be a very important element to Mekong Delta microcosm of Vietnam. 

Rickshaws await our arrival, and the drivers are eager to accept our one person per rickshaw arrangement since it is not uncommon that there will be a family of four perched on the single rear bench seat and shiny steel platform which comprises the passenger-carrying portion of the rickshaw.  Getting on them is a tricky undertaking, as we do not want our weight to up-end the driver or the rickshaw, so for those less skilled in such mountings, a step is provided. 

A procession of rickshaws makes its way along a narrow riverfront road, and the motorcycles and sometimes old ladies on their pushbike calmly pass by us, with inches to spare as the occasional truck causes the rickshaw rider and us to sway as they pass by.  

The village is busy, and as I take pictures with the phone I am using as a camera, it is positioned close to my chest and not at arm's length, since opportunistic passing motorcyclists have been known to swipe a phone from the hand of its then former owner.

The pink ears and tail of a fluffy white dog strolling past my rickshaw which is going in the opposite direction require quick reflexes to photograph, as we approach the entrance to a large market hall, some 15 minutes after we started our rickshaw experience.  

There is a gold jewellery merchant near the entrance, and we are advised to be wary if we buy gold items. The carat may not be what is claimed, and the cost of the gold will be inflated, and that the large and respected merchants in the larger cities are a better bet if it's gold you are after. 

I thought it curious that the workmanship of the jewellery seemed a very far second in the value of the item. I think the sentimental value will always out-weigh the value of the gold.

This market was much like others, but the variety of foods ready to eat was surprising, and it is also a fish market, noticeable for the live fish flailing in shallow buckets to allow the prospective purchaser to inspect the possible meal for tonight. 

Fake money was available as well in many of the market outlets as were fake iPhones and iPads. In Cambodia and Vietnam, it is better to bury your relatives as fake millionaires than with the real stuff, but it is all to assist their journey to the Buddhist afterlife.

I have some time to wander the whole market place trying not to get lost or at least figure out how to return to the starting and later to be meeting place at the allotted time. I even set the alarm on my watch to alert me when I should start making my way back. 

I do my tour and bump into one of the people on the cruise, and they have lost their partner., this happens a lot with those two. I venture on but then spy the other half of the couple in the distance walking towards me and then run to get the attention of the first of the couple who has gone off in the opposite direction. They eventually meet up, and all is good.  

I still have time to exit the market hall and walk across the street to a row of shops, a motorbike repair shop, and a clean and empty lunch and dinner establishment. I do not expect such a high standard of establishment in this small village, so that is the reason it stands out to me.  

The market visit concludes, and the group make their way on foot a 150 meters to the wharf, so the rickshaw ride was a planned long way round to the market place. 

As we leisurely walk along the street, we pass a corner shop that has two very small Buddha type statues on a cardboard display box on the footpath in front of the shop. The fat and happy looking Buddha is a token of happiness for the shop; a second fat and reclining Buddha is a token of good fortune. 

I hope I have recalled their meanings correctly. I did not see this type of display before but have seen many more since, using the same and other Buddha gods each with their special meaning. It pays to take notice of such things, as the rewards are infinite.

Back on the riverboat and our guide provides a talk about the Mekong River Delta and after lunch we are going ashore at My Anh Hung village to be entertained in the home of a typical family. 

Walking from the riverbank to their home we walk through a rice paddy field and then pass by a pond surrounded by mesh standing at least 2 meters tall to keep in the farmed frogs in the one place. Cannot imagine that sleep is easy to come by for the nearby residents. 

The coconut trees in the back yard have green coconuts ready for harvest. We then walk to a small tributary which has to be crossed to get to the village. 

A bamboo bridge one plank wide such that only one person at a time can use the bridge is ready for us to walk across. Some brave souls walk along the first section but we are not expected to walk across the bridge, and those that venture onto it have some great pictures taken.  We actually walk a few hundred meters along a path beside the bank of the tributary and cross a much more sturdy and traffic-able bridge. 

We are taken to the home of a villager and into their sitting room. I note that in the Vietnamese villages the floors are tiled, as are the porches, which are much easier to keep clean. A guitar (but not as we know it) is played by one gentleman, and another gentleman sings a traditional wedding song. It seems a very sad song, and we learn afterwards that many Vietnamese marriages are arranged and the song is dedicated to the girl that missed out on the boy of their dreams. 

We walk through the living area of the house and then walk in the adjacent gardens and along a path to the village.  The young children of the home (presumably the grand-children of the gentleman) run about and one young lad of about three or four years of age seems to enjoy walking beside us then running away laughing and shouting to his brothers and sisters. 

Just as we are leaving the grounds of the home, a table has been set-up with a selection of fruit. We are shown and told what each fruit is and allowed to taste the fruit, all of which is locally grown, what great opportunity to taste and smell Durian fruit again (NOT).  

As we walk along the river-bank which is flanked by many homes and the ever-present home shops, we come across a volleyball match on a dirt court being fiercely contested by local villagers. I know it is hotly contested since one large and imposing player remonstrated with the other side's players when one of them allegedly touches the net as the large player spiked the ball forcefully over the net. Things seem to calm down, and the game resumes as we walk away, glad we do not have to play that team.

On the return to the house where we listened to music, a special treat awaits in the form of a local dragon dance troupe. Their show is loud and spectacular, and many great pictures are taken. 

The riverboat crew have set-up a cocktail bar on-shore, and one of the crew is quite the DJ, so the music soon has the staff, some of the crew and many of the passengers moving their groove in a paddock in the middle of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.  

The local children run about collecting flowers (weeds with flowers) and hand them to the ladies and a few men - very sweet. Soon the sun is setting so we return to the vessel and dinner awaits with more food and drinks served by the smiling and lovely staff we have just been dancing with.