Vietnam: Day 6

Today began with an earlier wake-up call than usual; we had to be on the bus by 7:30 in the morning to head out to the Mekong Delta for the day, an hour and a half drive by car.  On our way to the Delta, we stopped in a small village to visit a farmer and his cocoa farm.  We were given a tour around the farm, were taught how the cocoa was grown (planted, harvested, fermented, dried, and sold).  We were allowed to taste some of the chocolate made from the cocoa farmed on his plot of land (he let us sample dark, milk, and white chocolate, all of which were excellent), as well as had an opportunity to buy some of his cocoa products.  It was very interesting to see all of the steps that have to happen before any chocolate is made.  We also got quite a few good pictures around the farm before going back to the bus to continue our journey to the Delta.

Me eating the cocoa plant

CHOCOLATE!

All of us in front of some cocoa pods

The gracious owner of the cocoa farm we visited

Upon our arrival at the Delta, a lot of us bought conical Vietnamese hats for a buck a pop and wore them most of the rest of the trip.  To explore the Mekong Delta, we took a guided boat tour on the river, stopping on an island of sorts in the middle that worked a lot with coconut and sold a bunch of souvenir gifts.  We also stopped on the far side of the river to do a bit of exploring: there was everything from people feeding crocodiles to bamboo bridges to an old monk temple used many, many years ago.  After our share of being tourists, we returned to the boat to travel back to the dock at which our bus was parked.  Another hour and a half ride (and a lot of laughs) later, we were back at the hotel.  Just to verify, at this point my camera had died, and therefore no pictures are readily available for me to place up.  However, Austin and Laura did get a lot of good shots that I plan on stealing when they post them.

For dinner, we decided to go to a place called Kichi Kichi with some of the students from UEF.  It is essentially a “hot-pot” buffet, meaning everyone had their own pot of boiling water (which you had the choice of picking the kind; for example I got Thailand, which was one of the spicier pots).  In said hot-pot, you placed anything from seafood to red meat to vegetables to noodles and cooked them to your liking before eating.  Not to mention the food all came around on a conveyor belt, and you could take whatever you wanted that passed in front of you.  I enjoyed cooking my own shrimp, squid, clams, corn, and noodles, with the spicy water concoction adding a great flavour.  At one point, Austin tried boiling an egg, only to realise pretty quickly that it was no egg that we were used to.  Upon cooking fully, it was apparent that there was an entire unborn baby chicken inside of the egg, which was quite an interesting experience to say the least.  It was also Alex’s birthday, so we ate cake and sang to him while still at the restaurant.

Following dinner, we came back to the hotel to freshen up and change; we were going to a club (owned by Glass Egg Digital Media, our company visit planned for Tuesday) called Lush.  It was very cool—they had strobes, black lights, dancing, and a sick DJ who knew exactly what he was doing.  The beats were sick, the dancing fun, and the night overall a great success.  Now for some sleep; another early day tomorrow!