With Ivar's new hairstyle we drove further to the town of Long Xuyên. We were back in a homestay on an island on the Mekong. Thanh Truc and her family warmly welcomed us! There was delicious mango and pineapple.
Our room. I particularly liked the mosquito net. A dream in pink! Last week we were in the realm of coconuts and now in the realm of mangoes. There are mango trees everywhere! In the evening we cooked with Thanh Truc, her sister Ân and their mother. There were shrimp, green mango salad, tofu and much more. Ân then showed us how to make summer rolls without them falling apart again! Cooking with Ân and her mother The next day we had delicious soup for breakfast! Today we wanted to do laundry. The mother took the dirty laundry from us. Since she doesn't speak English, we communicated through a translation app. According to the app, she told us "Leave the laundry to mom and go outside to play!" Although there was our underwear in the laundry, which made us a little uncomfortable, but okay! So we went to play. In German. So take a walk. In the midday heat. Not the best idea. At a place where women were packing mangoes for further transport, we were given 3 mangoes. At some point we took a break and drank juice. There we were also given mango to eat and another mango. Of course we accepted everything gratefully, knowing that we would be carrying the fruit with us for a few hours! By the way, you can not only eat the ripe, yellow mango but also the unripe, green mango. It is a bit sour and is dipped in chili and salt. The island is very beautiful! We walked in the shade of the mango trees past fields where unfamiliar plants grew. Back at the homestay we were exhausted and slightly sunburned (despite SPF 30).
The next day, Wednesday October 25th, we got up very early. And at 4:30 a.m.! We want to go to the floating market in Long Xuyên. Departure was 5 a.m. There was a little wake-up coffee and together with Truc and Ân we set off. What a different world!!! There was already a lot going on! Everywhere the food stalls were already sizzling, people were drinking their cá phê (coffee) and we even saw groups of racing cyclists! No wonder they're already doing their rounds at 5 a.m. Later it will just be too hot! The market was already in operation. In order to know which boat offers which goods, a pineapple, for example, is tied to a long stick and stood upright. So you can see from afar where the pineapple boat is, the potato boat or the coconut boat. There were also melons. Either the melon seller forgot to tie melons to a stick or he knows that this is a stupid idea. There's pineapple here! We got coffee from a drinks boat and delicious pho from a soup boat.
Some people really live on the water and have their floating cabins there. Including dogs. A dog jumped into the soup boat, probably hoping for a snack. Then he cleverly climbed around on our boat and then jumped back to the soup boat. The people on the soup boat had a hard time chasing the dog back to his hut. The soup boat tried to row quickly away from the floating hut. The dog didn't give up so easily, jumped into the water and swam after the soup boat!
We do our rounds at the floating market and then are taken to the land market in Long Xuyên. There I bought something that looked like a green apple but turned out to be a melon! On the way back, Truc showed us a hut where the typical Vietnamese hats are made. Afterwards we ate some great Vietnamese pancakes (with loads of vegetables) and then took a rest. In the evening there was a real thunderstorm! Since the roof is made of corrugated iron, communication suddenly becomes difficult! We actually wanted to go out to eat. That's totally in the water. The mother of the house took pity on us and invited us for soup! So dear!!! A hat is sewn here The next day we had the typical Vietnamese breakfast again: soup (I just noticed that we eat a lot of soup... Haha). We packed our things and mom gave us fruit and water for the way! Today we left Quite long, but great little paths (without trucks!!). The paths weren't great now because the asphalt was pretty smooth. Haha, far from it! We've never been rocked like we were that day! The environment was brilliant! Rice fields, palm trees, rivers, lakes, fish farms and even more green rice fields with the first mountains in the background! Very nice! Rice fields First mountains in the otherwise very flat Mekong Delta
Apparently we drove through the realm of jackfruit. In any case, we saw many houses where the huge fruits were being loaded.
Our new accommodation was the cheapest so far! For 6€ (150,000 dong) a night! On October 27th we visited the nearby Rúng tràm trà sư National Park. More like a huge lake with lots of trees, aquatic plants and even more birds! A bamboo bridge leads through the park. Said to be the longest bamboo bridge in the world. We walked along the bridge in wonderful German until it suddenly ended after about 40 meters. We were told that it was currently being repaired. All right! The "longest" bamboo bridge in the world A boat took us further into the national park. We were allowed to get out in the middle of the park. There was also the other end of the bamboo bridge. We climbed up a lookout tower. The stairs were not installed on the inside of the tower as usual, but on the outside. The stairs were only attached to the tower on one side. As I climbed up, Ivar asked the wrong question "How do the stairs hold up?" Thanks for the thought process! Knowing full well that the tower was built by the state, my mantra when climbing up was "The tower has been standing for a long time without collapsing. So why now?.... Because at some point the material will get tired. Rest, brain!!" you have a great view! Unfortunately, the cool breeze that we had hoped for didn't materialize :(
A day later it was particularly hot and humid. We didn't do much. In the evening a thunderstorm passed over us. So we thought of watching a movie. But we only went with headphones because there was the typical corrugated iron roof above us.
Today, October 29th. we continued to Há Tiên. The way there was stupid: very straight, poor road conditions and it rained halfway along the route. We did make ourselves more waterproof with rain covers over our backpacks and ponchos over us. But fun is something else. In the evening it stopped and we went to the sea in the dark. Looking forward to seeing the sea in the light tomorrow! The woman was actually supposed to take a picture of us. Somehow she must have misunderstood me and thought we wanted a selfie with her! Communication is such a thing. I just wanted to record how we are slowly adapting: helmet (that's clear), scarf against burnt necks, long-sleeved tops against burnt arms (we also wear long pants) and I also got gloves against burnt backs of the hands.
