Mekong, Day two

Did you know that roosters crow well before dawn? Well they do in the Mekong. I woke up to the sound of crowing roosters....but it was more like 3am than sunrise! I managed to eventually go back to sleep but jumped out of bed when I saw some of my fellow travelers taking pictures in the early morning. I should have remembered to get up early for pictures....but the roosters did me in! I'll tell you, I don't feel bad about eating chicken anymore!

We had a traditional Mekong breakfast of cheese, bread, fruit, jam, and rice jellies that are dyed with vegetable and fruit juice. They're sort of like gum drops, but no sugar. After breakfast, we loaded back onto the boat to take a tour of the brick and pottery factory. The Vietnamese are very good about using all of the remnants of rice and not just the eating part (though you might expect that in a poor country.) The hulls of the rice are used for fuel, much like we would use wood. When they have finished burning, the ashes are used for garden fertilizer. The women do the firing in the plant, while the men make the molds and throw the clay. The firing is considered "light" work!

After the potttery factory, we went to Cai Be floating market to see how people sell goods from their boats. In general, the entire family lives on the house boat and their goods are outside. People "drive" up to the houseboat in smaller row boats and purchase what they need.

This was the end of our time in the Mekong. It was really peaceful and country-like, and our tour guide Suyen was fabulous! I'm back in Saigon for the night and then off to Nha Trang tomorrow. Tonight we plan to hit the town and really party it up!