Cao Dai temple Tay Ninh Vietnam

Vietnam: Cao Dai temple in Tây Ninh

Date: 26 October 2019

Yesterday’s day tour of the Mekong Delta was showcased across three posts: Vinh Trang Pagoda, Bến Tre canal boat ride, and coconut sweet making factory in Bến Tre. Today I embark on another full day tour and this is the first post in that series.

I am doing a full day tour (cost me VND330000 /₹1000/$14/€11.85) that would take me to the infamous Cu Chi jungle tunnels but before that, the first stop would stop at a handicapped handicrafts workshop before heading to the largest Cao Dai temple in Vietnam.

Saigon canal city Vietnam
We left Ho Chi Minh City in the morning

We took a long drive out of the city and arrived at a handicrafts workshop wherein most of workers are handicapped. We were going get a guided tour of how they create the various works of art.

An Ha travel handicapped handicraft Vietnam
This was the entrance to arts workshop
An Ha travel guide Vietnam
That’s our guide here showing some of the works and explaining how they are crafted
Agent orange victims lacquer painting Vietnam
Most of what is made at this workshop is lacquer paintings

The base of the painting is wood. The artisans then etch the designs and then inlay it with mother of pearl pieces or egg shells.

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Bitcoin price BTC chart CoinMarketCap

Where and How to Buy Bitcoin in India

As I write this past Christmas day in what was otherwise a terrible year, the king of digital currencies — Bitcoin (BTC) — is past the US $25,000 mark. On many Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, one Bitcoin by the end of 2020 is now worth well over Rs. 20,00,000!

Price chart from CoinMarketCap.com

I’ve been tracking cryptocurrency markets since late 2017. That was when Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies gained mainstream attention globally. Even in India, mainstream news media outlets were covering Bitcoin price rises and in December 2017, saw a deluge of retail buyers (regular folks like you and me) rushing to sign up on Indian cryptocurrency exchanges to try and get a piece of the action.

Well, three years later, the cryptocurrency markets are hot again and once again led by Bitcoin. Back in 2017 and early 2018, people would message me and ask me where to buy, what to buy, at what prices to buy, etc. Well, I am not going to tell you what to buy nor make price predictions because from experience I can tell you — NOBODY can predict cryptocurrency markets. I’ll explain this in more detail later below.

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Wrapping coconut candy factory workers Vietnam

Vietnam: Coconut sweet making factory, Bến Tre

Date: 25 October 2019

I was enjoying my day tour of the Mekong Delta, especially the canal boat ride through a narrow river stream. After that activity, I had to re-group and get back on our boat which would take us to another island on Tien River.

Dat Dua island Ben Tre Vietnam
Dao Dua, means coconut religion… but this was no place of worship
Dat Dua coconut candy Ben Tre Vietnam
We were being guided to a factory that manufactures candy made using coconut milk
Coconut dehusking Vietnam
One of the tour guide staff demonstrated de-husking a coconut… which I didn’t need to come to Vietnam to see since I help my mother with this back in Kerala

After they break open the coconut, they grate it and then extract coconut milk from the grated coconut.

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