The second day in Phong Dien

Saying good bye to Mr. Muoi’s family, we go along Ong De Rivulet as instructed. We go straight through the fruit gardens, passages, canals, and bridges.  The local community and authority have decided to build this area as an ecological one so the scenery looks beautiful and clean, and the houses along the road are relatively spacious.

Along the road, people usually sell fruit like bananas, grapefruit, papaya ... picked from their own garden; at some places they sell a few oranges, at others fruit is carried on boats moving along the canal or river to sell to those who do not have time to go to the market. Anyone that likes clean ripe fruit should come here. Such seasonal fruit is available every day all year round in this countryside

We ride to Sau Rivulet and then visit Mr. Hai Ro Be’s garden, which is famous for wine made from ambarella and carpentry. To arrive his house, we have to pass two concrete monkey bridges. From this, we have to walk for about 500 meters along the village road through the fruit garden. Mr. Hai’s brew house with dozens of large plastic barrels of about some hundred liters has been brewed for two years now. He manually brews the wine which produces a gentle sweet smelling; which is not as strong as Southern rice wine.

Mr. Hai is nearly 70 years old. He has said that he does not remember why people in the neighborhood call him “Ro Be"_ a nickname sounds very "Western like". He firmly believes that he can produce all kinds of fruit wine with good quality. He is a farmer and a skilled carpenter. You can purchase a pretty couch made of panoramio (1.4 x 2 meters in size), for about 1.5 million VND here. His house has two catlocarpio of two colors. This kind of catlocarpio is rare, and people sometimes can catch them in An Giang. Locals in An Giang Province particularly love eating this fish.

Leaving Mr. Hai’s house, we cross the bridge to get to Ms. Mai’s to observe her cooking tofu, soy milk and sponge cake. The pond beside her house is usually noisy because of tilapia, which always complete against one another for food. This fish pond is about 1.5 hectare full of fish moving tails and biting food.

Mrs. Mai has just finished a mould of freshly baked sponge cake for selling at Phong Dien Market tomorrow. She invites us to try a plate of cake. Unfortunately, we miss observing her making cake, and also miss a chance to join her in baking it. When people usually produce tofu, they usually cook soy milk so as to vary the products as well as increase income. Despite her age, Mrs. Mai along with other Southern women works hard all day long. They are busy with making, cooking and selling cake all the time.

Leaving Mrs. Mai’s bakery, we cycle to Mr. Ba Xinh. In front of his house is a “real” monkey bridge of three spans across Sau Rivulet. Everyone seems to be excited with a chance to watch the monkey bridge of the rural South, which increasingly disappears as more concrete bridges are built.

Now, as it is in the rainy season and the flooding season, the scenery looks so green despite the bright sun. The tide is coming, which makes the rivulet more poetic and peaceful.

Dressed in Ba Ba, the Southern traditional costume, Mr. Ba Xinh and his family welcome us. His living room is not big, yet fully furnished. His house has an ancestor’s altar similar to what has been described as Southern practices in daily life. On the wall are photos of his family. After a while, we are guided to our rooms. Two air conditioned rooms next to the main attic space with tile roofing but beautifully decorated. There are beds, a wardrobe, two chairs, bedside cabinets, slippers, and pictures of floating markets and other activities in the countryside,...

After taking a nap, we wake up late in the afternoon. The host family members are waiting for us to join their preparing dinner. My two friends and I pick up horseradish (also tree of life or tree of magic), a dozen of which Mr. Ba Xinh has planted along the small irrigation ditch in the garden behind. The leaves have rich nutrients to consumers and local poor people have sold them to earn a living.

Some of us follow Ms. Suong, a niece of Mr.Ba Xinh’s, to catch red tilapia for grilling. This grilled fish is usually served with onion fried in cooking oil and rice paper. Others pick bitter melon for cooking with eggs. It begins to rain. Then it is raining harder and harder. The countryside rain makes us feel melancholy and homesick. When it stops raining, the dinner is also ready. The fragrant of cooked rice and dried fish is around in the air. Our second dinner with Mr. Xinh’s family is also happy and cozy. His grandchild who has just been picked home from school greets us cheerfully and then bustles in and out looking for his toys. His joyful laughing and shouting make the whole family thrilled.

Despite his old age, Mr. Ba Xinh still likes doing tourism service in his own rustic style. He wishes to do something in which his neighbors can participate so as to earn more money together. Then, tourism service can help create benefits to  his community. After the rain, it becomes completely dark. It can be heard the country music made by the mixture of different sounds from bullfrog and insects. This kind of music is really enjoyable, but it also makes those who live far from home feel moved.

If you're catching a frog or toad at night, try spotlighting. This is a night pleasure in the countryside. These kinds of amphibians are caught for the delicious rice porridge. According to some Southern elderly, frog or toad meat is also believed to be rich in calcium, which helps treat rickety. You just go to the garden behind the house, shine a bright light at a frog or toad coming out for food in the middle of the night. The frog will act like a deer caught in headlights, making it easier for you to catch it.

"Make yourself at home and good night", Mr. and Mrs. Ba Xinh say to us, and then go to bed. Every morning, they both get up very early to prepare breakfast for sale to visitors to the area.

After a nap, we cannot get to bed early; some guys play chess, others read books or listen to music. we feel comfortable in the quietness and peace, which is so different from the bustling urban night.

In the morning here, people have more choices for breakfast. They can choose from noodles, pasta, rice noodles ... and coffee, lemonade, fresh coconut milk, or local fruits. After breakfast, we follow Ms. Suong to the garden in order to learn how to grow Ha Chau mulberries _ the one famous for its taste and best output in this region. We can join her in feeding fish in the morning, picking vegetables available for lunch, sweeping leaves, catching snails for feeding turtles ...

In the afternoon, we say goodbye to Mr. Ba Xinh’s family. We get back to Can Tho City by Tắc Ráng and finish our excursion to Phong Dien countryside.

Ecotourism and community tourism are currently sponsored by international tourism development organizations and have effectively benefited rural people in many countries.

Although homestay tourism in Phong Dien, Can Tho City is new, it helps us understand more about the lives of the ordinary people in the South who are simple, easygoing, sociable ... Thanks to this, we can rest and get rid of the stressful work and  urban noise for some days. /.