Today was our first day in Vietnam. We went to a very crowded
wet market, took a trip down the backwaters, went to a temple and a supermarket.
Our first excursion was a city hike out to the local wet
market. A wet market is a street market that sells mostly produce, meat and some
cooked food. On our way there we passed some interesting shops and vendors. This
market was way more crowded than the other ones we went to. Not only were the aisles
narrower we had to share the space with bikes, mopeds, motorcycles and scooters.
Yeah! People somehow drive their motorized vehicles through there. It was absolutely
phenomenal. We were shuffled through the
market at a pretty quick pace so we wouldn’t get in anybody’s way. While shuffling
our guide was telling us about some of the produce that we don’t normally see
in the US. It was hard to keep up with all the information while trying to
navigate through the busy aisles. In my street market experience, you’re always
going to be in someone’s way, there’s no avoiding it, especially in a space
that crowded.
On the next excursion, we took a boat ride out past the fish
farms in the backwaters of the Mekong River, to the temple of Ba Chua Xu near
the bottom of Sam Mountain. Ba Chua Xu is a powerful protector and a supporter.
She is known to give assistance freely but it is extremely important that she
is repaid for her assistance and the promises that are made to her are kept. She
is not forgiving and there are horror stories about those who have tried to swindle
her.
Before heading back, we stopped by a supermarket but it was just
like ours back home so there isn’t really much to write about on that.
We attended cocktail hour, ate dinner and headed to bed when
we got back.
Today felt exhausting
No comments:
Post a Comment