Can Gio Adventures

Ferry Ride to Can Gio...on the lookout

          Once again I am about a week behind in the blog. So here is Meg and Klaus’ life a week in the past. Pardon extra prevalent misspellings, missing words and other such typos they are most certainly the result of my current state of existence riding a bus through the countryside of Cambodia at terrifying speeds over “flat-ish” roads. It is kind of like being on an amusement park ride for five hours and simultaneously trying to use a laptop. Added bonus: fabulous Khmer music in the background =).

Last week we took a trip to Can Gio Biosphere (about 5 hr from Can Tho) along the coast of Vietnam. Life there was pretty tough. We stayed at a resort with a pool and along the beach. Somehow I managed to survive – barely =). I also had about one of the best meals I have eaten in my life. Started off with some white clams followed by crabs smothered in tamarind sauce, a dish of lemon grass stingray and some barbequed venison. Ridiculously fabulous. I know I have already discussed the eating style before but, I have to reiterate how much I love communal dinners. Usually 3-4 dishes in the center of the table (or floor) and everyone has a rice dish. You then just grab a little food at a time from the main dishes. The cool part is reaching over people is accepted and passing dishes is rude. Definitely getting people together for meal like this back in the states =).

            Can Gio itself was great too. We came to learn about the mangrove forest (this forest is just south of Ho Cho Minh City and was replanted following the war).

Mangrove Forest inside the shrimp farm (sorry no mud photos, I will try to steal one for a later blog)

Our ventures took us through the forest in waist deep mud. The more you struggled the deeper you got. We emerged at the other side of our transect completely covered with lots of swamp life crawling all over us. The final push was a slither along the tidal mud flat into the murky water for a mud war. I might just have to look into geology professions that involve deep mud…

            Day 2 was a trip to a shellfish farmer living on a platform in the bay. Really fascinating to observe an entire life out on a stilt house in the water. 

Shellfish Farmer House

Using the Facilities...there was no TP in case you wondered

They even had a dog. 

View of the harvested oysters (and the dog =)

We came at a particularly high “king” tide so the interior of the house was actually flooded.

Flooded Interior

During low tide the region is exposed and the farmers tend to the shellfish.

Oyster Lecture at the Stilt House

After this farm we continued on our boat tour to a shrimp farm in the mangroves. Here was another fabulous diner with the farmer on the floor of his living room. 

Dinner with the Shrimp Farmer

We rode back across the water in the dark with the entertainment of an incoming storm flashing across the sky. 

Different Storm but, same weekend

            Upon returning to Can Tho I crammed for a Vietnamese midterm, couldn’t understand about 70% of the exam, said goodbye to the homestay over a dinner of goat and headed off to Cambodia.

            That is about that for now. I’ll save the Cambodian adventures for another day. I hope life in the States is fabulous. Live it up!

=)

Other Random Shots: 

Making Friends

Monkeys at the Reserve

This reminded me: We took a stop at monket island too. Perhaps one of the most the most terrifying park experiences of my life. The island sells food to feed the monkeys. As a result, after years of feeding the monkeys now jump on the tourists, bit them, steal any objects available, etc. Quite horrifying especially on a deteriorating bamboo boardwalk with massive holes over a crocodile exhibit with 3m monsters swimming beneath you. 

Baby ducks on the ferry