Vietnam 5: Mekong Delta

We took a day Muslim Tour to Melong Delta. Our tour guide was a Vietnamese Muslim, a young man named Soleh. he spoke in Malay but pelat la jugak. Still comprehensible.

The journey to Mekong Delta took 2 hours.

Boat ride

We took a boat from the jetty (bot penambang macam kat Terengganu je), only us in the boat. The boat sailed (? awkward, it's not a ship) through the Mekong River. Kiambang float randomly on the freshwaters. 

Soleh said the Vietnamese eat kiambang with fish. "Best sangat!" I remember him saying that, and then he chuckled. 

Honey drinks

He brought us to a place where they serve honey drinks.

Basically, honey+pollen+calamansi(limau kasturi)+hot water

Nice. 

"Boleh sheping kat sini. Orang Malaysia suka sheping kat sini. Murah."

Pebende sheping ni? Shipping? Mustahil.

Okaayy, SHOPPING.

The Perahu Voyage

Then, we sailed in a perahu voyage through narrow murky waters. 

Two pengayuh each perahu, one in front, one at the back. The canal was very narrow, surrounded by nipah.

Boat ride in  canals of Mekong River

Then the horse ride. The kereta kuda was smaller than the ones in Terengganu. A very simple one. And the roof was low. My head was bumped to the roof all the way.

Horse-ride around the village

"Lepas ni, kita tengok orang nyanyi sambil makan bubur Han," Soleh announced.

Showtime! 

Okay. Then we were served with fruits; pineapple, ciku, dragonfruit and mango. Just like our local fruits. No difference.

"Bubur Han" --"

Semangat nyanyi tu!

The female singers took turns to sing. There were senior singers , young ladies and a little girl.All of them wore the traditional Vietnamese attire; a very tight and translucent cheongsam. Dangerous for men, but it's their culture.

They sang Vietnames first then Bila Rasa Gembira Tepuk Tangan.

And we just clapped our hands and shouted Hooray! And others... 

*when we returned to hotel, I just realised we didnt eat any porridge or bubur. Soleh had meant BUAH-BUAHAN and not Bubur Han! -.-

OMM. Oh My Malay!