Day 234: Biking the Mekong Delta — Catching Fish with our Hands

by Ted · Published August 27, 2019 · Updated August 29, 2019

James seemed to be energized and feeling a lot better this morning.

We met Chuong at 8am and headed two hours southwest of Saigon to the Mekong Delta.

We stopped about 90 minutes into the ride for a quick tour of a chocolate making factory and a bathroom break. This was actually the second chocolate factory we’ve been to on this trip — third if you could Willy Wonkas which we read to the kids a few months back. The first was in Cartagena when we actually “made” chocolate. Both tours underwhelmed, especially in comparison to Raul Dahl’s masterpiece.

We arrived in the Delta and hopped on a boat for a pleasant 30 min ride, passing several working boats on our way.

We stopped and picked up two bicycles for me and Margaret. The kids rode on motor scooters behind our guide and another local guide. We took a nice slow ride through these narrow sidewalk / roads, stopping briefly at a mushroom farm and then continuing on to our primary destination: a family fruit and fish farm.

We got on two narrow wooden rowboats and floated through the jungle, checking out the frogs on the banks of the canal and the dogs in nearby backyards. It was maybe a 5 or 10 minute ride before we game to a clearing where a table had been set up for us to snack on a bunch of the farm’s tropical fruits. We had pineapple, mango, dragon fruit, pomelo and several others. Best part: rock salt for dipping.

After our fruit snack we walked across several little makeshift stone bridges to a little fishing hole. I joined one of the guides in scooping water out of the hole with the same brilliantly designed scooper we saw at the rice patties with our buddy Xe the water buffalo.

Once there was only about an inch or so of water left we could see these catfish (they called them mudfish) flopping around. In what now feels like an out of body experience, Willa, James and I got down in the mud and I then grabbed three of these gross slimey fish with my bare hands and dumped them in a bucket.

We rinsed off and then headed back to the family’s home where the fish were already on the fire.

We were served a second pre-lunch snack of just-caught (by my bare hands!) fresh fish, lettuce and mint all rolled up into rice paper and dipped in fish sauce. We washed it down with some rice alcohol served by the patriarch farmer.

This was a cool experience. There were no other tourists, the kids were engaged and the food was good. Looking back, it was certainly a bit contrived. The little row boat ride was cool but wasn’t actually needed to *get* anywhere… we walked back to the farm. And I’m convinced that the farmer drops three fish into that mud pit every time a new group of tourists comes by.

Now it was actually lunch time! We got back on our bikes for another nice ride along the water, through these shaded paths past the homes of local families. The bike rides were the highlight of the day.

We had a private lunch served inside a traditional but very nice home of an obviously well-off family. There was more fresh fish, fried spring rolls, hot and sour soup, pork, carrots, green beans and watermelon for dessert. All really good.