Tan Chau

Today we are visiting a silk weaving workshop and a mat weaving workshop

we rode in on rickshaws, the photo is a bit blurry as my camera was fogged from going from the air con on the boat to the heat of the outside

silk weaving machines, old ones from the UK, the pattern mats have been moved to the top of the machine so when the floods come, the pattern mats do not get wet.

re threading the bobbin

the pattern mats

part of the main factory, there are 68 machines here, only two were working when we visited and the noise was amazing..no ear plugs being worn here!!

part of the shop filled with beautiful colour and goodies!!

off on the rickshaws to our next place to visit

fruit shop on the  way

and vendor

this lady said I could take a photo and then held out her hand for cash...sadly I didn't have any on me to give her.

mat weaving with reeds

a young lady sewing the binding on.

the track walking back to the boat

our next stop was to an island village, not a conventional landing place!!

river side living

we were invited into the house of an elderly gentleman and were told about his life, these are his beautiful grandchildren. He was one of three brothers,  the eldest was killed in the French wars in Vietnam, the middle brother was killed in the Vietnam war, so this man went off and joined the Viet Cong against his parents wishes. He survived and these days has tourists into his home looking for Vietnam vets as he wants to say that all is forgiven and he doesn't want the Vets to think of Vietnam as a bad place, he wants the Vets to come and see the place in peace time and he wants to extend the hands of friendship. He gave off a very strong feeling of peace and calmness.

In the afternoon the chefs gave a cooking demo

we were going to make fresh spring rolls, here are some of the ingredients

and here is my effort, the sauce was a bit spicy for me but otherwise it was yummy!

Ron, expat Kiwi, was the first to get up and make his roll.

Then the chef demonstrated fruit carving

a bunny

two tomatoes make a rose

and a water melon flower!

Now to get ready for dinner!

This afternoon we have gone ashore again to visit Sa Dec, we are visiting a temple

life on the river as we pass

houses on stilts so they do not get flooded out in the rainy season

the church we are visiting

young musicians learning..and entertaining the tourists!!

Love the colours inside this church

the all seeing eye

from the back to the alter

this is a caodai church.....combines all religions, so we added Geoffrey from Geelong ..what are the chances of a Geelong couple being on the tour with us!! He is also super interested in WW2 so bonded with hubby well!!

After the church we crossed the river and went to the market, some photos I have already shared, this lovely family were heading home after shopping.

chicken and fish I think!!

traditional wear

veges and fruit...aloe vera at the top

any kind of dried fish or sea creature you could think of!!

this is a busy place!!

Further up the road we went into the garden of a rich Chinese family and saw their collection of bonsai

and orchids

I so wanted to bring some of these home!!

love the urns too

this was out on the main road, love the little figures on the rocky base.

Off back to the boat now.

Bye.

Cai Be excursion (super photo heavy)

This morning we went from the boat to shore on smaller boats and had a visit to the local cathedral

these boats make up part of the floating market. At the top of the stick on the left hand side you can see what they had to sell...the eyes painted on the boats were to scare away the river monsters.

life on the river

the Cathedral we are going to visit

at the front gate

beautiful inside window

home for a colony of bats

tourists heading off to explore

these two cuties posed for a photo

the ice cream vendor rode past

we had to watch out for scooters and motor bikes , the zipped past pretty quickly.

We walked to a local area I am sure is set up for tourists

we passed these orchids on the way

huge fish in a not very big tank

coconut lollies being made

we had a taste of rice wine (kind of like a vodka shot) but then were given a taste of the rice wine with snakes in it...in the red jug is a small cobra...the venom is released into the wine and believed to have all kinds of healing qualities

and in here is a King Cobra in rice wine!!!! 😕😒

the guide thought this was extremely funny...thank goodness it was dead!!

many snakes in the rice wine

this lady was making rice paper for spring rolls

these fruit once ripened were used for food colouring

this guy is popping rice in black sand

these guys are mixing colouring from the fruit and sugar and the popped rice

pressing it into the mould

more pressing, then cutting then the ladies to the left bagged it up

our morning tea, jasmine tea and snacks.

sugared ginger slices, popped rice, sugared banana, popped rice with black sesame seeds and yellow things!!

passenger boats...heading back to the boat for lunch now.

Back soon.