Monday, March 12, 2018

Monday – March 12, 2018

Today we are docked at Phu My Port, Vietnam. This is the port nearest to Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). Most of the shore excursions are to the city an hour and a half away, but because we had done a pretty thorough visit on the 2016 World Cruise we opted to take an excursion here near Phu My Port titled A Local Life Experience. This started at a beautiful Cao Dai temple. This religion started in 1926. Its colors of red, blue and yellow represented Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Peace and Harmony are its principles.

Next we stopped at a traditional ancient Vietnamese home. This home was over 100 years old and had been passed on through many generations. It featured a large central room with a family altar dominating it. It also had beds and seating for the family to gather. It had been added on to with additional bedrooms, a kitchen and something like a very small family room with a TV. Our host was the eldest occupant; He was very cordial although he did not speak English. Our guide spoke excellent English. She provided insight into the family structure and customs.

We boarded our coach and set off to learn about making rice paper and rice wine. As we made our way through the town we were struck by how clean and orderly things were. This was a great contrast to the state of Ho Chi Min City we experienced before. We learned later that Ho Chi Min City was still dirty, crowded and chaotic. But the people in both places were very friendly and accommodating.

We saw how rice was cooked and rolled in thin layers that were then placed in the sun to dry for a few hours. The result was a crispy cracker-like food. It is used as an accompaniment to a meal. We found it to be very tasty. Now we crossed to a building on the other side of the street. Here we saw rice that had been boiled and spread on a table to dry. Then it was moved to 5-gallon containers to ferment for several days. Finally it was spun in a centrifuge to extract the liquid. This clear fluid was rice wine. It looked like white lightning. In the last room was an older gentleman who passed shots of the wine to 2 or 3 of us then led us in a drinking cheer before we downed our shots. Wow! I did not taste any rice, but I did feel the burn. This gentleman continued to down shots with each group of us until everyone, who wanted a shot, had one. We could not believe he was still standing. He was definitely happier.

Now we drove through town and past the market on our way to a beautiful Buddhist temple. We shed our shoes at the door, and proceeded to tour the temple and grounds on our own. A beautiful pagoda dominated the courtyard behind the temple. A school and monastery were situated on the other side of the gloriously blooming gardens.

First Formal Night

SCENES FROM PHU MY VIETNAM

The ride back to Amsterdam was enjoyable. We exited the coach feeling happy that we had not gone back to the city. This was a much more positive experience. It left us with a totally new appreciation for Vietnam. This was a very positive experience.