May 14th - Mekong Delta Day Trip

Today we went on a day trip to the Mekong Delta, which is about an hour south of Ho Chi Minh. The Mekong Delta is where the Mekong River empties into the South China Sea and it is home to many farmers and fisherman. The Mekong is seen as the lifeblood of Vietnam and provides a lot of the crops consumed by the country and the entire world. In the morning we went to a snake research center/zoo and then in the afternoon we took a boat ride in the delta itself.

At the snake research center and zoo we got to see a lot of different animals and we got a chance to actually hold a boa constrictor. There were many different kinds of animals such as alligators, monkeys, snakes, toads, porcupines, and birds. I definitely noticed that there were more animals per cage than in a U.S. zoo and the water in the tanks was not as clean as it may be in the U.S. Another thing that we saw there was something called snake wine, which was made by taking a live poisonous snake and submerging it into a alcohol mixture. Then they have to wait a couple years before they can drink it so that the poison dilutes out of the liquid. It was cool to see what zoos are like in other countries and see all of the different kinds of snakes.

On our afternoon boat ride in the Mekong, we stopped at a couple of islands and learned more about culture in the region. For lunch we got to try native elephant ear fish and it tasted like a stronger version of cod. We had it in a spring roll with lettuce and noodles and it was very delicious. The boats we rode in were very low to the water and the smaller ones we rode in were a little bit scary. To get to one of the islands we had to load into four smaller boats and travel down a narrow canal. When getting on and off the boat I thought that I was going to fall in the river, but I was able to stay dry. Another thing we learned about was the coconut religion, which many native people used to practice. It sounded made up to me, but we learned that they only eat and drank coconut and all lived together on one of the islands we visited. On the other islands we listened to native music and ate fruit that was grown there. Overall it was a great way to learn about native culture and I would definitely go back to the visit the delta.

Riding the smaller boats down the narrow canal. 

Posing with our new friend!