DAY 4 of SDARL CLASS X 2020 LEADERSHIP TRIP to VIETNAM and CAMBODIA
Todays Agenda has us on a bus ride making our way from Ho Chi Min City through the Mekong Delta on to Can Tho City. As we made out way out of the city, the landscape turned more rural and agricultural.
Todays Agenda has us on a bus ride making our way from Ho Chi Min City through the Mekong Delta on to Can Tho City. As we made out way out of the city, the landscape turned more rural and agricultural.
Our first stop was the Nam Luc Rice factory in Cai Bei. Can Bei is an important agricultural transit point that sits on the Mekong River. Jessica had shared with us how much Vietnam relies on the Mekong Delta and some of the issues that endanger it. The Mekong River is an important transportation link for southern Vietnam because for two reasons. First it bisects the major agricultural production area of the southern half of Vietnam from the Cambodian border to the South China Sea. Second water is a cheap and efficient method of transport infrastructure. Nam Luc rice mill sits on the bank of the Mekong River. It accepts rice by both truck and from river barges.
At the Nam Luc rice factory, we were able to follow the process from when the rice is delivered, run through a mill by a series of shakers and screens to remove the hulls separated from the kernel and finishing with the white rice that we are accustomed to seeing on our grocery shelves.
After watching workers transfer 50Kg (110 pound) bags from a conveyor and stacking them by hand in warehouse storage, a couple of us from the class decided to give it a try. Carrying these bags on our head wasn’t as easy as it looked!
Some laughs were shared between the workers and the class when some of our guys as well as two of the workers stepped onto the scale used for weighing bags to do a quick size comparison.
Rice barge unloading bags of rice at the Nam Luc rice mill.
Barge transport on the Mekong River.
Grant observes workers unloading bags of mill.
Tyler and workers at the rice mill.
After watching workers transfer 50Kg (110 pound) bags from a conveyor and stacking them by hand in warehouse storage, a couple of us from the class decided to give it a try. Carrying these bags on our head wasn’t as easy as it looked!
Reporter of the day Don Nickelson stacks rice bags.
Some laughs were shared between the workers and the class when some of our guys as well as two of the workers stepped onto the scale used for weighing bags to do a quick size comparison.
From the Factory we took a boat ride on the Mekong River, stopping to see how rice paper, coconut and rice candies as well as get a chance to hold a Boa Constrictor and enjoy some Snake wine.
Sam holds his new favorite friend. The Python was a hit.
Loading the boat for the Mekong River tour.
Our tour guide, Jessica explains processes to make rice paper.
Traditional cooking of rice water to make paper
Fire boiling rice water to make paper.
From there we continued on the boat up the river making a quick stop at a floating market to get a taste of some local fruit and drink some fresh coconut water before stopping for lunch at Mr. Muoi Huong’s House. Lunch was a hands on experience of making our own spring rolls and enjoying local cuisine.
Tilapia at lunch used in making our own spring rolls in a rice paper wrap.
Afterwards we got to experience riding on the Vietnamese Sampan boats winding our way through a canal that merges into the Mekong surrounded by heavy vegetation.
Don, Lorrin and Heather get ready for the Sampan ride
With our day wrapping up we boarded the bus and made our way to NINH KIEU Riverside Hotel
in Can Tho.
Today, we learned that much of what we encountered such as the Sampan’s, the stop at the coconut factory and tasting their candies, rice wine, snacks and rice paper are part of the tourism trade that provides the people along the Mekong a living. Yesterday, Benjamin at the Consulate shared a slide that the GDP shows Agriculture is declining in this area and transitioning to trades like tourism. It is one way the locals can showcase the uniqueness of this area, bring agricultural goods to the locals and share their story about their culture.
in Can Tho.
Today, we learned that much of what we encountered such as the Sampan’s, the stop at the coconut factory and tasting their candies, rice wine, snacks and rice paper are part of the tourism trade that provides the people along the Mekong a living. Yesterday, Benjamin at the Consulate shared a slide that the GDP shows Agriculture is declining in this area and transitioning to trades like tourism. It is one way the locals can showcase the uniqueness of this area, bring agricultural goods to the locals and share their story about their culture.
Don Nickelson, Reporter; Lance Larson and Grant Harms, photographers.
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