Vietnam
Red-tailed pipe snake
The ‘Red-tailed pipe snake’ (Cylindrophis ruffus) was recently renamed ‘Jodi’s pipe snake’ (Cylindrophis jodiae), which we are talking about here. It is called a ‘Pipe snake’ because it has a round, pipe-like body. The lower end of the body can…
Ambarella fruit in the Mekong Delta
Ambarella fruit (Spondias dulcis Parkinson; syn.: Spondias cytherea) is native to Melanesia and Polynesia and was introduced worldwide throughout the tropics. Its other common English names are Jew plum and Golden apple. In the Mekong Delta, it is omnipresent in…
Trapping eels in Northern Vietnam
Trapping eels is a simple way for rice farmers in the catchment area of the Red River in North Vietnam to provide themselves with animal protein. No special skills are required, as with angling or net fishing. The activity is…
Edible rock snails in limestone areas of Vietnam
Rock snails of the genus Cyclophorus are highly sought-after wild foods in rocky limestone mountain areas of Vietnam. These snails are not only regarded as food but also as medicine against various ailments. The local Vietnamese name is Ốc thuốc,…
Scissor Traps of Thái Đen tribals in Vietnam
Scissor traps are universal traps that can catch all kinds of small rodents. They are easy to produce from bamboo but need one item to be sourced in the villages. These are strips of bicycle tubes, which are not easy…
Bow Traps of Thái Đen tribals in Vietnam
Bow traps are used by Black Thai tribal people in Northern Vietnam to catch small rodents. These ingenious devices are carved from pieces of bamboo and some strings. The closing force of the scissor comes from a bow-like structure above…
Deadfall Traps of Thái Đen tribals in Vietnam
Deadfall traps with a Figure-4 trigger are essential knowledge for survivalists and bushcrafters worldwide. Thái Đen (Black Thai) tribal people at Pù Luông Nature Reserve in Northern Vietnam use these traps and the Figure-4 trigger in a modified version. Modifications…
Mangrove apples at the Mekong Delta
Mangrove apples are the fruits of Sonneratia sp. trees, one of the important genera of trees in the Mangrove forests of Southeast Asia. All species of Sonneratia will develop edible Mangrove apples. These fruits are slightly different in shape, orientation…
Animal species collected by rice farmers in the Red River Delta
Rice farmers in secluded areas of the Red River Delta in Northern Vietnam need dietary additions to their staple rice dishes. Vegetables are harvested from around their homes and surrounding tropical Evergreen forests. Animal proteins are mainly collected in and…
Natural shampoo from a Soap plant (Gouania leptostachya)
Natural shampoo can be extracted from a variety of plants worldwide. In Lowland evergreen forests in Northern Vietnam, we used the leaves of a so-called Soap Plant. With these leaves, we regularly washed our hands and bodies. In the following,…
Stinging Nettle Slug Caterpillar in Vietnam
When hiking in Pu Luong Nature Reserve in Northern Vietnam, we found a species of Stinging Nettle Slug Caterpillar on a Banana leaf. My local friends got highly nervous when seeing it and I was intensely warned against touching it….
Trapping Snakeskin Gourami in the Mekong Delta
Trapping Snakeskin Gourami fish (Trichopodus pectoralis) is commonly done all over Southeast Asia. However, a specific trap for catching them was developed in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Its simple principle could be easily applied to many other areas of…
Green-billed Malkoha bird on the spit
The Green-billed Malkoha is a common bird in Vietnam’s semi-deciduous tropical forests. An expedition led to the capture of one who was cooked for lunch. This and other species are often hunted by villagers supplementing their diet with this and…
Using a stomping basket to catch fish in Vietnam
Fishing with a stomping basket is a traditional craft that has been practiced in Vietnam for centuries. Postcards from the French colonial era depict this unique fishing method as a typical way for locals to catch fish. While similar techniques…
Squid bamboo soup from Vietnam
Bamboo is a popular ingredient in traditional Vietnamese cuisine, especially during the year-end meal on the 30th day of the last lunar month of the year. One of the most famous and delicious bamboo soups is the squid bamboo soup…
Bamboo shoot harvesting at the Red River
With more than 70 species of bamboo over the country, we can easily find bamboo thickets anywhere in Vietnam. Many of them could nurture one of the most popular and favored vegetarian foods for Vietnamese people, which is bamboo shoot…
Coracles at Duy Hải, near Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An is located about 35 km south of Da Nang, which is roughly in the middle of mainland Vietnam. It is one of the most picturesque towns in Vietnam and attracts lots of tourists. Which in turn requires lots…
Indochina Dragon Plums from Hanoi streets
The Indochina Dragon Plum (Dracontomelon duperreanum) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Anacardiaceae. In Vietnamese it is called: chi sấu). Dragon Plums are one of the most popular kinds of trees on the side of Hanoi streets….
Fish ripping in Hanoi, Vietnam
A very common fishing technique in Vietnam is ripping a weighted hook with multiple side arms through still water and hoping to hook unsuspecting fish somewhere on their body. Hooking a fish at the lips with the correct size and…
Fish trapping at a fast-flowing brook in Vietnam
Trapping fish in bamboo traps in Southeast Asia is normally a static affair. These fishing traps will be used in still waters with or without bait inside and checked at least once daily. It was a new experience, to see…
Bank line fishing in Southeast Asia
The term ‘Bank line’ used in English to refer to a string of poles along a water bank is virtually unknown in Southeast Asia. Instead, this fishing method and its equipment are referred to by different names in the region….