Our first hot stop, it was a bit of a shock to go from the Chinese winter to Vietnam’s “winter”, they call it winter but it was still 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and very humid. We docked in Ho Chi Minh, also known as Saigon. Our approach to the dock was interesting, because we had to go 25 miles up the Saigon River.

On the first day we didn’t dock until noon. All my friends were going on the Vietnamese Cooking Challenge field trip. I didn’t have a ticket, but I was still able to get on because there were a few open spots. It was awesome. First we went to the Ben Thanh market downtown to go shopping for our ingredients. There were two teams, the Pink team, which I was on and the orange team. The goal was to spend the least of your pocket money [200,000 Dong]. Our team won with 104,000 Dong left. The Orange team only had 35,000 left.

For the cooking part we went to a restaurant that had a private space for classes. Each team was assigned two dishes. Our team had to make fresh spring rolls with peanut sauce and green mango salad with sauntered chicken. The other team had to make fried spring rolls with a pepper oil sauce and fried rice in a lotus blossom. Their presentation was spectacular, we on the other hand opted for the less is more approach. In the end our food tasted better that theirs, and we won a bag weaved of palm frond and a bottle of premium fish sauce. By the way if anyone is interested in the recipes I could try to get them to you.

The next day we had to leave at 7: 30 to get on our trip. We were going on the Mekong Delta Explorer Overnight. For those of you who don’t know what the Mekong delta is, it is a huge river that flows through China, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Throughout the trip our guide told us that the river was completely safe and clean and that the brown color of the river was only from sediment. When someone asked if we could go swimming he quickly answered “no, no, no, no, no, definitely not”.

We had to take a long bus ride out to the place where we would catch our boat. The first thing on our agenda was a visit to a family run coconut factory. Our guide showed us how to squeeze every last penny out of a coconut. Did you know that you can make $60 USD on one coconut! People had the opportunity to try snake or banana whisky and my dad tried the snake one and said it was weird. The snake whisky had actual snakes in it.

After the factory went to lunch, at a nice restaurant down a small canal. To get there we had to transfer to smaller boats without motors. Our lunch was great. It was a five course meal that started with fresh elephant-ear fish spring rolls. If you ever get the chance definitely give it a try. I also ate the largest prawn I had ever seen. On it’s head it had a huge thing that looked like a big serrated sword. It was the best crustacean I have ever had.

To get to our homestay we had to take an hour long boat ride along some smaller canals. That night we made our own dinner that consisted of omelets, fried spring rolls, and sautéed vegetables. The family that owned the place made some other things. I ate a mixture of pork and snail in a snail shell. It tasted like pork and was a little chewy. I thought it was fine.

That night we had men come and play us traditional music of the Mekong Delta. One man was playing an instrument with one string and a stick, it sounded really cool. We also had jack fruit and some of the best pineapple I have ever had. Jack fruit is a sweet fruit that tastes a little like a slightly sweeter than normal mango, and looks a little like a bell pepper.

We had checked out by 7:30 am and were off to a floating fish farm. Farming fish is a very good business in the delta. Our guide was telling us how it is almost a get rich quick strategy. The farms were all lined up near the shore. They all looked very similar. They each had a small sheet metal hut and a large square surrounded by floating walkways with the fish in the middle.

Next up was a farm that had been supported by Heifer International, a non-profit. Their mission is to lift whole communities out of poverty. By providing them with either a heifer cow, chickens, or supplies to grow crops. They help by teaching them how to take good care of their animals and how to build a better community.

We went to checked into our hotel and had a nine-course lunch. Our guide gave us an hour to rest and prepare for our 10k bike ride through a riverside village.

The bike ride was absolutely amazing, I loved it. It was one the border of crazy and fun. At some points the path was less than a meter wide, there were a lot of bridges and a lot of motor bikes sneaking up behind us. We saw a lot of kids throughout the ride. They all knew a little English and all the kids said Amahello. It was very cool.

The next morning was an early one, we had to get up at 5:00 am to go to the floating market. We had to go 30 minutes by boat to get there. Once there it became a floating maze of boats, some were selling produce and others were selling drinks. Overall the market was a bit underwhelming, it was barely worth the early morning. After that we made the long journey back home.

My dad had a field class on the last day. He was taking his International Business management class to the Vietnam Adidas offices, and the largest footwear manufacturer in the world, Pou Yuen.

We spent the day with the Chapman family. We went to an internet café got some lunch then went to the 137, one of the best massage places in Ho Chi Minh city. I’d never had a real massage before. I really didn’t like it, it felt weird, but it did make my legs super soft. Also, amazingly it only cost $8, and it was 90 minutes long.

After that we went back to the market. We left the Chapmans pretty quickly