After a delicious breakfast, we headed off down the river at 8:30 for a local boat tour. Our first stop off was at a charcoal factory where charcoal is produced from the hard shell of the coconut. This has a range of uses – some for cooking, some medicinal for stomach complaints. A lot is exported.
Slightly Dickensian feel to these 2 photos
From there we went to a local market where we saw a wide range of fish, meat and vegetables on sale – these included bamboo shoot, tamarind and baby white aubergine.
We walked from there to a Cao Dai temple, built in 1964. The Cao Dai religion (Caodaism) is unique to southern Vietnam and was established in 1926. Cao Dai blends Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism. It is the 3rd largest religion in Vietnam and the temple we visited was absolutely stunning. The symbol of the religion is the third eye and its concept is to keep everything in good balance. We also saw swastika symbols on the tower, a symbol of peace.
The central panel depicted:
- Buddha
- Confucius
- Jesus
- Lao Tzu founder of Taoism
Victor Hugo even featured centrally in a painting at the entrance – he was admired for his humanism and his inclusion reflects the fact that Cao Dai merges eastern and western traditions.
We went back to our accommodation for a rest before another sumptuous lunch of chicken, rice, soup, fish and vegetable spring rolls and dips. We then got the boat to our coach and headed back to Saigon.
In the evening, we hopped on our bus and went to the street food area of Saigon. We thought that the roads were busy in Hanoi but this was something else. We’ve never seen so many motorbikes and crossing the road was a real challenge. When we got to the street food area, there was an amazing array of delicacies on offer and we followed Thin along narrow side streets with motorbikes squeezing through in every available space.
We sampled deep fried sweet potato balls, fried quail eggs with tamarind, nam vang noodle soup and even avocado ice cream. The quail eggs (Balut) provoked the most reaction as they are fertilized developing egg embryos that are boiled or steamed and eaten from the shell. It is commonly sold as street food, often eaten with salt and vinegar, most notably in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam and thought to have great health benefits.
That was quite a day, with an unbelievable contrast between our tranquil breakfast by the Mekong Delta and the hustle and bustle of Saigon street life!!
Enjoy the comfortable bed and all the food