Along the Mekong River, Cambodia/Vietnam

Fisherman

Fishing forms a large part of the activity on the Mekong in both Cambodia and Vietnam.

Another frequent sight on the Mekong are large dredgers collecting silt from the bottom of the river to send off to farms for fertilizer and land reclamation projects.

The Floating Market at Cai Be

This trip was billed as a 'bustling' market; I can only assume that it was half-day closing when we got there.

Boats advertised their wares by hanging a sample of whatever it is they are selling on the front of the boat. The one below was selling tapioca.

Many women on the boats were preparing the evening meal as the sun sets very early this time of year, between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

We went on to look at how coconut candy, pop rice and rice paper was made. There are several stages involved in the making of coconut candy and nothing is left to waste.

The coconut liquid is kept for drinking; the flesh is then shredded and squeezed to get the milk and the cream. This mixture is then combined with a syrup and boiled and stirred for about 45 minutes to make a pliable paste or dough. The paste/dough is then cut into small squares which are then wrapped and packaged to be sold all over Asia. The coconut shells are used for fuel and the coconut oil is added to skin products.

Rice paper is made by spooning a very thin layer of a rice mixture onto a fine piece of fabric that is stretched over boiling water and steamed for about 15 seconds. The 'pancake' is then slowly and carefully peeled off and left to dry. The ones below have been flavoured with salt and sesame and taste pretty good.

To make rice popcorn, black sand is heated in a large wok over a fire. An empty wok gets too hot for the rice so the rice is cooked in the sand so it does not burn. After about 30 seconds the rice starts popping.