The Mekong Delta is an lush agricultural area laced with rivers that was once part of the Khmer Empire (Cambodia), but was put under Vietnamese administration and unified with Vietnam in the early 18th century by the Nyugen emperors. When the French colonized Indochina in the 19th century, the Delta was recognized as part of Vietnam. The population of over 17 million in the area is a mix of Viet and Khmer people. Cambodia has not forgotten its one-time ownership of the region.
My Tho – we arrive in the town of My Tho on the Song Thein (Thein River) in the Mekong Delta about an hour and a half drive southwest of Ho Chi Minh City. My Tho is the origination point for a day tour of the culture, economy, and local products of the Delta region.
The Delta is a spider web of rivers and canals dotted with islands. The rivers are broad and tidal with fresh water in the monsoon season and brackish water when the river flows ebb and the tidal flows from the ocean dominate. The tides at My Tho are five meters – leaving boats high and dry at low tide and lapping the dock tops 6 hours later. To make matters worse, this has been a very dry winter and the water levels are lower than normal.
Thoi Son Island — We head first to Cu Lao Thoi Son (“Unicorn Island”) to visit a fruit farm growing a wide array of fruits and to be entertained with a selection of local music.
In addition to sampling the SE Asian fruit we know (pineapple, banana, dragon fruit, and papaya) we discover two new fruits: sapopilla and longan fruit (a relative of lycee). Sapopilla is soft like a ripe melon and very sweet. Longan fruit is a small round fruit that you peel to reveal a gelatinous round ball with a large seed in the middle. We also learn that sweet fruits (e.g., pineapple) taste better when lightly dipped in a mix of salt and chili powder.
Walking around the fruit farm, we see a couple of other new fruits: rose apple, milk fruit, palmello (grapefruit-like), and huge jack fruit that grow out of the base of the tree. The irrigation system is extensive.
A small group of Delta musicians and singers entertain us with regional favorites for the fruit exploration. The Dan Bau is a single-string, zither-like Vietnamese instrument with a tall flexible stick that is manipulated to create a slide transition between notes. It produces a sound that is uniquely Asian. The ensemble includes other string instruments that are played like a violin and a banjo — plus a guitar.
Bee-Z Bee Farm – We move on to the Bee-Z bee farm to learn about Royal Jelly and other products derived from bee culture and bee hives. Royal Jelly is special food created by worker bees to be fed exclusively to the Queen. It is believed to contribute to the Queen’s longer life expectancy.
Ouy Island — Cu Lao Ouy (“Turtle Island”) is next on our itinerary. A short boat ride takes us to the chocolate farm, where we see cocoa beans roasting and hear about chocolate making.
We move on to the coconut farm where we learn about making coconut candy. The coconut flesh is grated and pressed to make coconut milk and coconut cream. This is mixed with malt syrup and malt sugar and heated and stirred until it gets to a taffy-like consistency, It is then cut into small pieces and wrapped in edible rice paper and then that is wrapped in greased paper.
We also get to taste the snake wine made from alcohol infused with cobras and other little reptiles. What does it taste like? Alcohol. I’m not sure what the snake adds to it (other than a little sensation).
A Late Lunch — We finish a late lunch and boat down the canal to the boat landing to get our boat back to My Tho and the bus to Ho Chi Minh City.
The Delta specialty is whole deep-fried elephant-ear fish (Giant Gourami) with coconut. I am not ready to devour a whole fish for lunch, so I opt for the spicy chicken curry.
Next Up — Some Observations on Vietnam.