Bến Tre Province · Mekong Delta · Established 2016
"Cơm và sông và thời gian." — Rice, and river, and time.
The personal estate and small-batch artisanal rice farm of Marty Cummings Taylor, sole American proprietor in residence since 2016. Six bedrooms on stilts above the brown river. Nine water buffalo. One conical hat per guest. Marty rings the dawn bell himself.
I — The Estate
Marty Cummings Taylor arrived in Cồn Phụng in the spring of 2016 as a graduate-student exchange of approximately three weeks. He never returned to the university. He returned, instead, to the river. He has been at the river since.
The Estate now comprises seventeen acres of working rice paddies, a small wooden river house on teak stilts above a side-canal of the Tiền River, a six-bedroom guest wing extended in 2022, a converted rice barge (the Sông Lặng, "Quiet River") that floats two nights downstream, and one (1) borrowed sampan from Chú Trần, the village boat-builder, that has not been returned since 2018.
Marty's Vietnamese is described, by his neighbours, as "fluent, opinionated, slightly Idaho-inflected." He has been known, for the better part of a decade, by the affectionate village handle "Anh Mạc" (loosely: "Brother Marty"). The handle was granted, he insists, by accident, and stuck.
The Estate is operated, in practice, by the village. Bà Nguyễn teaches the rice wine. Cô Hằng teaches the conical hats. Bác Sáu, the village elder and herbalist, advises on the cocktail menu. Anh Linh pilots the long-range tours. Em Mai manages the fermentation. Marty has been told repeatedly that he is "in the way." He concedes the point. He stays.
The Estate accepts twelve guests at a time, by referral only, for stays of a minimum three nights. The kitchen is closed Mondays. The dawn bell rings at 05:42 precisely, by Marty's hand.
— Editorial portrait. Pictured: Anh Mạc in residence, the year of the eighth bell.
↳ The year of the eighth bell, by the Estate's own count, is the eighth year of operation.
II — The River
The Estate maintains three standing boat programmes. The boats are wooden, the pace is slow, the silences are observed.
N° I
Departure 05:42 sharp. Ninety minutes from first light to full sun, through the narrow palm-lined side-canals north of the Estate. Conducted in silence, by the Estate's standing policy, except for the brief moment when Marty raises a single hand to point out the kingfisher he calls "Bà Hai." Returned to the boathouse with hot ginger tea and a small notation in your stay-book.
Tier · Foundational · two guests per sampan · piloted by Marty himself
N° II
The Estate's predawn provisioning tour. Departs the boathouse at 04:50 for the Cái Bè floating market, two hours upstream. Marty conducts all bargaining personally, with the same six vendors he has bought from since 2017. The vendors will laugh at him. They will then sell him pineapples at a fair price. Guests are permitted to observe, encouraged to point.
Tier · Considered · four guests per sampan · Wednesdays & Saturdays
N° III
Six guests, one rice barge (the Sông Lặng), three nights drifting downstream toward the South China Sea, returning by motor sampan. No electronics. Meals prepared by Em Mai aboard. Sleeping on tatami with mosquito netting. The barge rings its own dawn bell. Marty does not accompany the retreat; he sees it off from the dock, and meets it on the return, in clean linen.
Tier · Programmatic · six guests · three nights · no electronics
III — The Table
The kitchen serves three menus and one aperitif hour. Reservations are accepted in person, after the dawn bell, by Marty.
N° IV
Twelve small ceramic dishes, rice-forward throughout, served at a long low table laid directly into the paddy water. The first four courses are taken in silence — this is by policy, not preference. Courses V through XII are accompanied by quiet conversation in either direction. Marty presents each dish with both hands. The wine is Bà Nguyễn's. The rice is the Estate's. The setting is the river.
Tier · Foundational · six guests · twilight Thursdays
N° V
The Estate's signature snake-blood aperitif, prepared to the formula handed down by Bác Sáu, served in crystal coupe at sunset, with a single sprig of Vietnamese basil. Wednesdays only, by referral, after consultation. Courage is encouraged. Subsequent rounds are at the proprietor's discretion. The Estate's policy is that "the second is for resolve; the third is for clarity; the fourth is for Bác Sáu to decide."
Tier · Bespoke · four guests · referral required
IV — The Craft
Marty teaches none of these classes. Marty studies all of them, alongside the guests. The teachers are the people of the village.
N° VI
Conducted by Bà Nguyễn, master of the Estate's fermentation. Seven days, four guests, twelve earthenware urns. The technique is hers; the urns are hers; the room is hers. Marty attends every day. He takes notes. He has been taking notes for some time. "He has not yet caught up." — Bà Nguyễn, on the matter.
Tier · Programmatic · seven days · four guests · Bà Nguyễn presides
N° VII
Bamboo-frame conical hat weaving, conducted by Cô Hằng, who has been weaving for fifty-one years. Three guests per session, half a day, one finished hat each. Marty attends weekly. He is described by Cô Hằng, with great affection, as "still learning."
Tier · Foundational · three guests · weekly · Cô Hằng presides
N° VIII
The Estate's only Marty-led practice. Forty-five minutes on the raised teak platform above the south paddy, sun directly behind, in seven standing poses. The practice was assembled by Marty himself over eight years through study, observation, and what he describes as "a great deal of falling in." Guests are encouraged to take it seriously. They are also encouraged to giggle.
Tier · Personal · six guests · sunset · Marty presides reluctantly
V — The Herd
The herd has nine members. Marty has known each since birth. They are introduced by name, at the south paddy bridge, every morning at 09:14.
Sáu (the eldest, b. 2008, calm)
Bảy (b. 2011, distractible)
Tám (b. 2013, opinionated)
Chín (b. 2014, the wanderer)
Mười (b. 2016, fond of mango)
Mười Một (b. 2018, the worrier)
Mười Hai (b. 2019, the singer)
Mười Ba (b. 2022, the youngest of the elders)
Mười Bốn (b. 2024, in training)
↳ Petting is not, by the herd's preference, encouraged. Sustained eye contact has been observed to please Sáu.
VI — An Annual Tradition
An invention of the proprietor, observed annually on the second Saturday of June, in the south paddy, at noon, since 2018. The festival has not been adopted by the village. The festival is going strong regardless.
The festival comprises the Procession of the Plaque, the Coating, the Coronation of the Year's Muddiest Guest, and the Quiet Recovery (during which the proprietor returns to the river house to wash, while guests are left in the paddy to "consider what has happened"). The plaque is hand-carved and reads, in both English and a single Vietnamese phrase, "BÙN VÀ THỜI GIAN — Mud, and time."
The village's official position on the Festival, as relayed by Bác Sáu: "He has done it again."
VII — The People of the Estate
The Estate is, in the strictest sense, the work of the village. The proprietor would like the record to reflect this, in perpetuity.
RICE WINE · FERMENTATION MASTER
Forty-three years at the urns. Granted Marty access to the first fermentation room in 2018, "to see if he would leave." He did not. She has tolerated him with great patience since.
NÓN LÁ · WEAVER, MASTER
Fifty-one years of weaving. Cô Hằng is the source of every conical hat at the Estate. Marty has, to date, finished two acceptable hats in ten years. He wears them both.
VILLAGE ELDER · HERBALIST · COCKTAIL ADVISOR
The Estate's herbal authority. Bác Sáu approves all menu items at the discretion of the season. The Estate considers his word final, and operates accordingly.
SAMPAN · BOAT BUILDER
Built the original Estate sampan in 2015. Lent it to Marty in 2018 "for the afternoon." Chú Trần periodically asks after it. Marty is preparing to return it, "eventually."
PADDY · FERMENTATION · KITCHEN
Manages the rice paddies, the fermentation room, and the kitchen aboard the Sông Lặng. Em Mai is, by Bà Nguyễn's standing assessment, "the future of the Estate." Marty does not disagree.
LONG-RANGE PILOTING · NAVIGATION
Pilots the three-night retreat. Knows every snag, eddy, and shortcut between Cồn Phụng and the river mouth. Marty has been told by Anh Linh, on multiple occasions, to "sit down."
VIII — Booking & Stay
The Estate accepts twelve guests at a time, by referral only, for stays of a minimum three nights. Inquiries are read by Marty personally, by the river, after the dawn bell.
[ booking ]
marty@martycummingstaylor.com
Replies sent by Marty himself. Internet limited. Patience encouraged.
[ referrals ]
The Estate accepts new guests by personal referral.
Referrals from prior guests, from Bà Nguyễn, or from Bác Sáu carry the same weight. The Estate does not advertise.
[ what to bring ]
One pair of linen trousers.
Conical hats provided. Bug spray provided. Mosquito netting provided. Phones discouraged.
[ matters of urgency ]
There is no telephone at the Estate.
For matters genuinely urgent, please contact the consulate in Hồ Chí Minh City, and then write to Marty. He will hear about it eventually.
Cảm ơn — thank you for reading. The river runs whether or not we are paying attention. Marty insists we do.