SUNRISE AND THE TALE OF TWO FISHERMEN

We have been staying in the Mia Muine complex for our evening meals and last night enjoyed an Asian barbeque.  We enjoyed various salads - Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese and so many different meats and fish - grilled steak with ginger and soy, chicken wings, king prawns - enjoyed by Mr HCB as I am allergic to them - fish wrapped in banana leaves, pork spare ribs and much more.  We certainly had our money's worth last night.  I almost forgot the desserts - coconut rice with pears, Vietnamese creme caramel, pistachio and apple cake and of course, fruit, fruit and more fruit!

Not ones to be beaten, we decided we would get up early again, and I did put on my swimsuit (see the collage I've put in as an extra - and that's the most you will see of my swimsuit!).   It was much better this morning but if we thought that it would be a quiet, romantic sunrise, how wrong we were - the air was filled with the phut phut phut of about two hundred fishing boats, large and small, all trying to catch as many fish as they could and possibly then take them to market for sale.

There were larger boats with two or three men on board, and small coracle-like boats with just one man and it was interesting to watch them all.

The sunrise was beautiful and the water was warm, although I must confess that we didn't go right in - just paddled our feet but we were happy just doing that and chatting as we walked along.

We saw a man fishing from the beach just with a rod and line, but he didn't seem to be having much success.  However, about 15 feet out from the beach, two men were fishing, up to their necks in water, and swirling a very large net around their heads and the net appeared to be attached by a rope to the neck of one of the men.

We stood and watched them for a while, marvelling at their expertise - it was obvious that this wasn't the first time they had done this.

Before long, they ran up the beach, hauling their net and one of the men got out a large tarpaulin from a bag on the side of their  motorbike.  They plonked the net on it before grabbing hold of it, pulling it up and pushing down what was inside.  They held the net up high with one hand and then grabbed more of the net with the other, pulling it upwards so that the fish inside fell further down into the net.  When they had finished doing this, they rolled up the net, put it into another bag and then started to scoop up the shrimps and fish and put them into yet another bag.  This was left on the beach, whilst they rode off on their motorbike, obviously looking for another place to fish.

It was fascinating to watch these two young men, who looked about 18, because as well as being up to their necks in the sea, they then had to get out all the shrimps and fish from the net and that looked quite hard work - I hope the photographs in my collage will give you some idea of what they were doing.  At breakfast, when we asked one of the waitresses what they might do with the shrimps, she said they would probably be dried.  

Apparently, this involves first boiling them in water for about 5 minutes then salt is added before they are boiled for a further few minutes and then allowed to dry.  Shrimps are used in Vietnamese cuisine, where they are called tôm khô, and are used in soups, congee, fried rice, or as a topping on stirfries or as savoury snacks.  Once again, Mr. HCB would probably enjoy them, but I think I would rather have something like chicken, not being a fish lover.

I walked on along the beach taking more photographs of the sun on the sea but then when I decided to return to Mia Muine was quite disoriented.  I had that feeling I'm sure some of you will recognise - when one leaves the car in a very large car park and then can't remember where!  I did feel a little foolish asking several people if they spoke English, but none did!  However, eventually I spoke to some security men and they pointed me in the right direction.  

When I got back to our bungalow, Mung was watering the plants and washing the paths, so when he saw I had sandy feet, he came over and cleaned off my feet and my pink flip flops - they are such kind people!

We had a leisurely breakfast and then watched the BBC News to see how much snow there is in the UK - and there appears to be a LOT!  It is already sweltering here - in fact, we are in our room with the air conditioning going full pelt.  I think it will be another day of just sitting and reading - before we return to Saigon tomorrow.  

Thanks for coming along on our adventure with us - and for the lovely comments, stars and hearts - it's good to know you are all enjoying the trip too.