We have been following the Mighty Mekong River for quite some time now and have been in four of the six countries it flows through, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and now Vietnam. We will meet up with it again at the end of our trip in China but alas won't pass through Burma, the sixth country the Mekong River is a part of. We crossed into Vietnam on the Mekong and spent the better part of the next week on and around it in the Mekong Delta. The town we arrived in after our traumatic ride was Can Tho, home to Victoria during the Spring semester of 2006. To commemorate the return, we stayed in the same hotel that Victoria stayed in for the 3+ months while in Can Tho. Like any town in a developing country, things had changed over the last five years, but Can Tho had gone from small town to booming city. New buildings were everywhere and fancy shops had all but replaced the mom and pop stores that used to line the streets. Victoria was relieved to see that the little Com Chay (vegetarian) stand around the corner from the hotel was still there and still delicious. We happily ate our meal of tofu, rice and vegetables and paid a total of $1.60 for both of us to have two rounds. This is not just ordinary tofu like we have in the States, this is tofu that is actually delicious and comes in many different varieties, textures, "cuts" and tastes. Even Travis liked it!
On our first night in Can Tho we enjoyed a beer and a view from the rooftop of our 7 story tall hotel. We were only two blocks from the river and could see all the goings on in addition to all the other big buildings that had popped up in the last five years. Another addition to the town is a HUGE new bridge that connects Can Tho to the other side of the river. It lights up at night and stretches farther than our eyes could see, though the smog may have had something to do with that. The bridge was completed in 2010, but before that you had to take a ferry across this branch of the Mekong River. You can see how this might add a bit of time to ones trip and cause a bit of a bottleneck.
After our beer we walked down to the waterfront to take it all in. Families were arriving in droves to enjoy the waterfront, grab some dinner and walk around. People would pull up to a food cart on their motorbikes and wait while their take away dinner was packed up for them and then take off. We noticed more people were out cruising and chatting on their motorbikes rather than actually going anywhere. Families were walking around with their small children and how could they not? There were balloons for sale, cotton candy, food, clothes, and much more, and this was just an ordinary Wednesday night. Every night we came down to the river to see the same scene, it was pretty amazing.
On one of our days in Can Tho we woke up at 5am, reminiscent of our rowing days, and hopped on a boat to go see the floating markets that the Can Tho area is so well known for. We rode in the dark for about an hour and got to the market just as the sun was rising. Hundreds of boats were grouped together making up the market. As we wove through them we could see that some were selling pineapples, watermelon, pumpkin, potatoes, and other fruits and vegetables. Boats used long bamboo poles with the fruit/vegetables they were selling strung up on the top so boats looking to buy goods could easily find what they were looking for. Pretty cleaver. It is really quite a market chain: the big boats sell to smaller boats who then go back to land and sell to the local merchants who then sell to the local people and us tourists. And to think that after passing through that many hands it is still so inexpensive! Amazing. Guess that is what happens when everything is grown so close to where you live. In our time so far in SE Asia we have tried over 20 different kinds of fruit, most of which don't even have names in English or the ones they do have don't quite translate, the "star apple" being a prime example. This is a delicious fruit that is round (i.e. looks nothing like a star) and is soft, milky and a
bit spongy (nothing like an apple). We would never see in a grocery store in the States but it has been given a name nonetheless.
After our full morning on the river, we rented bikes, which were challenging enough to find and cost us a whopping $8 (you can get a hotel room for that much in this town), and toured the town. We biked through the University that Victoria studied at, found her home-stay house, and tried not to get hit! The rules of the road as far as we can tell in Asia are this: 1. green means go, and so does red (the red lights countdown so at about 4 seconds before a light turns green, everyone is already going) 2. the vehicle in front has the right of way and never has to turn his/her head to look, everyone else just need to get out of their way 3. the bigger vehicle wins and is always right 4. it is frowned upon to hit white people, but extra points are given if you come very close. Bonus points if they pee themselves or cry.
After having made all the nostalgic stops in Can Tho that were necessary, we parted ways with the Mekong Delta and headed north to Ho Chi Minh City. Before that though, we made a quick overnight stop off to visit Dao, a close friend of Victoria's from her semester abroad, and her new husband. They took us out to a delicious local joint for some roll your own spring rolls and some motorbike "cruising." We found a quiet street for Travis to test his driving skills on and practice the Vietnamese driving rules. The town we were in was much quieter than Can Tho, so Travis took his ride to the open road back to the hotel. Not too bad. Dao's husband is a Police Officer, so I am sure if Travis did something horribly wrong he could help us wave it off. After a far too short visit, we boarded our bus for the big city and left the Mekong River.
T&V
