A Trip to the Mekong Delta

I made a trip to the Mekong Delta on Monday and Tuesday (February 14 &15, 2005) It was a wrong time to travel on National Route 1A: people from all provinces in the Delta were rushing back to Hochiminh City for school and work after Tet. The traffic was horrible, huge buses and mini buses raced with motorbikes and all other kinds of vehicles. Two new things were easily noticed: All motorists were required to wear helmets, and the popular “xe-loi” was absent in many towns of the Delta.

I love the xe-loi so much that I spent a whole aftennoon looking for one to have the fun of riding xe-loi, and I was lucky to find some in the outskirts of Bac Lieu town. Xe-loi now is mainly used as a pick-up and it proves to be of great use on the country dirt roads  

Less and less people travel by xe-loi nowadays

For short trips, a xe-om is more convenient, for
longer trips people prefer minibus. This is a “xe-om station” on an
unfinished bridge - people take a bus to the foot of the future bridge then take
a xe-om to cross the current under-construction bridge

.

It might be the last time I rode a xe-loi as it’ll ultimately be restricted in all towns by June 2005. I hope by then they’ll have a xe-loi displayed in a musem as an illustration of the Vietnamese mind: how to transfer a motorbike (made for one or two riders) into a public transportation that can conveys as many as half a dozen passengers with hundreds of pounds of goods. Have a look at how nicely it is converted!

So my friends and I had a xe-loi ride to the beach where the remarkabe attraction was a restaurant!  

Surrounding the restaurant was a boundless mangroove forest (maybe I’m using the wrong term - it’s “cay mam” growing on the alluvian soil from the Mekong river). It must be a wonderful environment for fish and shellfish. There! “fishermen and clam-diggers” are returning from work. You can enjoy their “product” immediately served on the beach - 10,000 dong for a big basket of “so huyet”, a kind of small clams. The clam-diggers were happy to supply some floating wood for some extra money.  

Or enjoy a banh-xeo-tom (shrimp crepe)  

and some nothing-can-be-fresher springrolls (try to find a seat next to this graceful girl and pick up the springroll she’s just made!)  

The above delicacy was, fortunately, not in the terribly expensive restaurant, but in some no-name “restaurant” where the owner was also the cook and waiter (the unregistered trademark was the owner-cook’s name.) This didn’t neccesarily mean the seller was poor. Here’s an owner-waiter of a no-name restaurant in My Xuyen that serves the “bo nuong ngoi” specialty. Look at his gold chain!  

“Bo nuong ngoi” used to be beef barbecue on a clay tile, but now it’s barbecued on an inox one. It’s served with rice paper or rice noodle and lots of vegetables (mustard greens, lettuce, herbs, green banaba, pineapple, star fruit, ...) But the secret of gourmet’s appetizing is in the sauce made of fermented tiny fish “mam nem”  

A dish “bo nuong ngoi” is 12,000 dong. A few other prices for comparison: a dish of fish babercue in the restaurant: 120,000 dong; bus fare from Sai Gon to bac Lieu: 70,000 dong; and a bunch of incense sticks this man sold: 2,000 dong. (He made 500 dong/bunch)  

Many people live in huts like this one (in the burning sun)  

Thanks to this statue of Bodhisattva, this remote alluvian deposits “new land” attracted thousands of pilgrims and tourists during Tet, and several jobs were created for local people 

I have an aunt living in My Xuyen and an uncle in Vung Thom - about 60Km from Bac Lieu. Actually they are my father’s cousins. This is my aunt Hen’s home.  

And here are pictures of the wedding in Bac Lieu. (Well, the wedding - the reason for me to make the trip!)  

The Bride and the Groom.  

The wedding cake 

Grandmoms.  

A Pilgrimage

Today is the fifth day of Tet, the last chance to enjoy the holiday. Tomorrow schools and business will open. Thich Nhat Hanh is giving his last talk at Hoang Phap Pagoda at 9:00 am. I haven’t been to Hoang Phap pagoda, but I was told it’s quite easy to get there: “Go to Hoc Mon, anyone there can show you the way.” So I take a walk to Cho Lon bus station. It’s only 6:00 am, some breakfast stalls are just open, this “bun rieu” for example.

So I have a bowl of my favourite noodle soup and gain enough energy and faith for my pilgrimage.  

Then I take the Cho Lon - Cu Chi bus. The fare collector nods his head when I ask him to let me off the bus somewhere close to the Hoang Phap pagoda. A senior lady sitting next to me says “Me, too.” It turns out several passengers on the bus are going to the Hoang Phap pagoda, but few know where it is. Interesting chats make the trip on the crowded bus bearable. Finally, the bus stops at a place that looks like a “xe om” station with a dozen of motorbikes and drivers. For 3,000 dong a “xe om” happily takes you to the gate of the pagoda 

Be watchful! Police! But I’m calmed down by my companion: “They are traffic policemen” (Yeah! what a jam the traffic is!)  

Inside the pagoda monks and nuns are peacefully taking their walking meditation.

and visitors are walking excitingly everywhere.  

The Hoang Phap is a big set of rather morden buildings including a fake mountain with waterfalls resembling the “cave” one can find at many catholic churches around Vietnam.  

at 9:00 am Thich Nhat Hanh starts his talk by reading a poem he wrote in 1964 in the main auditorium full of people.  

Two other rooms equiped with big monitors are also filled with quiet listeners sitting on the floor. And more people sitting or standing on the lawn, in the yard and the garden.  

The only place is not full of people is the main temple where Buddha sits smiling with half-closed eyes.  

After the talk the crowds pour into souvenir shops to buy cassette tapes or CDs of sutra singing and Thich Nhat Hanh talks.

I also come to the shop and buy a couple of Thich Nhat Hanh’s pictures (There’s no way for me to get close to him enough to take pictures with my camera!)  

When it becomes a bit quiet I find this forgoten Buddha by the side of the pagoda.  

A Journey to Trang Bom

On the fourth day of Tet I went to visit my Aunt Tu and her huge family: five daughters and five son-in-laws, each couple has from two to five children, and they all are living in houses around Grandmom's. My aunt and her husband are over 70, he's still gardening, and she takes care of her dozen of grandkids. 

My newbrand computer! (Who else in the village has one? NONE!) 

How to survive in the era of avian flu? Hidden in an old barn, these speaking birds know - according to the proud owner - when to shut their peaks (when the inspectors were in the neighborhood)  

The REAL Roosters! 

Kids in the village. 

Suoi Tien 

The Tet Cake Party

It’s the second day of Tet, the Roosters go to town and find thousands of people gathering in front of the Big Theater. What’s happening?  

Let’s ask the carter.  

Oh, the celebration of the world biggest Tet cake  

Look!  

Attention, please!  

First, the Lions  

Then the Dragon  

But where are the Tet cakes?

I’m hungry!  

Well, Tet cakes are being carried to the party  

More!  

Hello, baby Banh Tet!  

And here’s the Grandmom Banh Tet!  

It’s certified by Guiness World Records as the world biggest Tet cake.  

Well, a plate for me, please!  

Help yourself!  

Got it!  

Here it is.  

Oh, is there any left?  

Let’s share.  

How is it?  

Eh, are you ok, Rooster?  

After the party.  

The Roosters go home. Good night!  

Good Lucks for the Year of the Rooster! 

Bong Van Tho are blooming! Once upon a time, I had mother. She came home from the market with two baskets of blooming marigolds on both ends of the pole she was carying on her shoulder. How bright her smile was! She put the flowers on the altar and taught me to pray for love and happiness on Tet.  

Going home for Tet 

Home in Sai Gon 

the night before Tet 

Tet!Tet!Tet! 

Just a minute! The Sun hasn't risen yet!

preparation. 

Hello, the Rooster!

Just a minute.

Salut! 

ready for the parade!