Sheilaclapkin's Blog;

Of the nine dragons, this is the only one we saw, but hopefully I will collect all of nine:

We started very early this morning for a drive to the city of Cai Be and visited a lovely multi-denominational temple/church. (Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Catholicism, Christianity, and Muslim.  Somehow the mixing of faiths gives this temple a special glow.

.

.

I briefly encountered these three women in the city of Cai Be. I was fascinated with their traditional cone hats and their beauty.

Point of interest: As we drove through the Mekong Delta area on our way to the river, we happened upon a resort located in the middle of the Delta region called, “Happy Land” funded and built by Michael Jackson’s father, Joe.

The heart of the day was spent cruising along in our own private Sampan on The Mekong River among the local sampans coming from all provinces to a floating market with fruits and vegetables from all over the delta region. Included are some of my favorite scenes from the river and some people we briefly met in the region.

As we floated along witnessing the sights and sounds of Mekong rural life and Mekong River sights, we stopped to observe rice paper making, coconut candy making and popped rice products. We taste tested everything. We continued on to view traditional brick and tile factors and saw how locals are using palm leaves for houses.

A lovely luncheon awaited us at a special Indochinese restaurant. Sorry, in the photo, I cut off the fin of our Elephant Ear Fish, which was plucked and wrapped with fresh greens and condiments into a rice paper roll.