Mekong River
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2006
1
11
12
Trip End
Aug 21, 2006
Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Got up really early to catch our bus. The Mekong Delta is about 3-4 hours south of Saigon. Our tour guide didn't speak English well...we couldn't tell if we was speaking Vietnamese or English. I had to concentrate hard - which gave me a headache!
We got on this boat with 30 other people. Met a lovely French family from Nice who gave me their contact information after. They were so nice but I didn't even get their names. I feel bad. Anyway, the bus was full of Vietnamese tourists. Our guide was really mean. Our bus took off with Carla still on it after dropping everybody else at the dock. The guide got mad at us when we told him what happened. He said that he's responsible for everybody and not just for one person. He also got pissed off when we asked him to turn up the air-conditioning on the bus. He said that we shouldn't complain!
We set off on the Mekong River to see the floating market in Cai Be. There were numerous boats selling different kinds of produce. It was an interesting experience. I think some families live in these boats. I bet it's a lot cheaper than having a house on land. The river was brown in colour with garbage floating around. Surprisingly, the river didn't smell that bad. I saw some kid hanging off a boat. He seemed really happy.
Went to see how coconut candies and rice papers (for spring roll) were made. It was interesting to see how many things you can make out of rice.
We then went on to have lunch in this island where we watched a traditional musical performance. It was alright. They made this little girl sing a song. She didn't seem very happy.
Got on the bus and then got off at the ferry port where they made us walk to the ferry. It was really bizarre because we were walking in while the motorbikes were behind us. Some tried to run us over. It was crazy. I'll post a picture of the ferry when I get the chance. We saw a couple of Vietnamese guys just peeing on the side of the ferry (into the Mekong). No shame whatsover!
Took the bus to get to our hotel which was outside the town of Can Tho. The bus just dropped us there without a word. We checked in ourselves. We'd been sweating because of the heat so we couldn't wait to get to our air-conditioned room to take showers. I shared the room with Carla. It was about 4:30 pm and the tour was finished for the day! I couldn't believe that. We paid for a 2 day tour!
Carla and I decided to explore Can Tho ourselves with the help of the Lonely Planet guide. Had to walk for about 1.5 hours to get to the town centre. On route, we visited 2 pagodas. Met a young monk who spoke English fairly well. He said he'd been a monk for 5 years. Like most Vietnamese people, he thought I was Vietnamese. I guess I can't blame him.
We went around the town centre which was really nice. We went to a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. Had a really nice steak for under £2. Went back to the hotel on a motorcycle carriage which looked like a horse carriage but instead of a horse, a motorcycle was dragging it.
The next day, we took a smaller boat without a roof and went around another floating market on the Mekong. Went to visit a "zao" fruit plantation (don't know what it's called in English) but the guide kept referring to it as strawberries (although it looked nothing like strawberries).
It's amazing how much the locals depend on the Mekong River. They use it for transport as well as a source for drinking water. They also use the river to wash their dishes and clothes. I saw a lady washing her clothes and just about 10 metres down, another lady was emptying her garbage can.
We got back on the boat to go to the main town. The journey was about an hour but it seemed like 3 hours. We were literally baked in the blistering heat. I really thought I was going to pass out. Carla and I were so hot that we thought jumping into the dirty water wasn't a bad idea. Just as we were about to dock, we saw a family bathing in the river. The kids seemed really happy and unaware of what they could catch from swimming in the dirty river.
Had lunch at this really ghetto restaurant. After that, we got back on the bus for a 3 hour trip back to Saigon. Took a cab to my friend's place. The taxi driver took us around and made the metre run like crazy. Carla and I were furious because he took the long route. We only paid him what we thought was fair. Carla did the talking. She's pretty good at that.
