Ba Ria: A Local Life Experience
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Port
Phu My, Vietnam
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Activity Level
Easy
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$49.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 3½ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
Located a short distance inland from Phu My Port is the untouched rural area of Ba Ria Province. This area has seen little in the way of urban development and many inhabitants continue to lead their lives the way they have for generations.
You will visit a pagoda and drive past the local marketplace for a glimpse of everyday local life. Next, you'll have the rare opportunity to enter a local home. As in nearly all Vietnamese homes, a series of altars stands proudly in memory of deceased family members. The owners welcome a visit from outsiders and are pleased to talk about their simple but tradition-rich lifestyle. For all Vietnamese, rice is the staple diet, but it can also be made into many different forms.
See the process of rice paper making and a distillery producing the local moonshine -- a potent form of rice wine.
Finally, step inside a colorful Cao Dai temple. This religion was officially founded in 1926, and within a year, the group had 26,000 followers. By the mid-1950s eight percent of South Vietnamese were Cao Daist. Founded in an attempt to create the ideal religion through a fusion of secular and religious philosophies of East and West, Cao Daism is a fascinating combination of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, native Vietnamese spirituality, Christianity and Islam. Look out for the official Cao Dai symbol -- the 'divine' eye -- inset into the front of the temple above the altar.
Notes:
Tour does not operate on holidays.