Chau Doc When you cross the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, an invisible line is passed and the kramas disappear only to be replaced by conical hats, flowing ao dais and mono-print pyjamas. The river's banks become more industrious, and then, as we take a right to head south from the Mekong to the Bassac River somnolent Cambodia is left behind and boisterous Vietnam arrives. Chau Doc sits at the junction of this bridging canal and the Bassac River. A thriving trading hub, Chau Doc is incredibly brightly coloured -- as if a container-load of pastel paints were dumped on the market and the population went mad. The town is a decked out in bright hues of pink, baby blue, purple and the occasional pastel green. Down on the ground, it has a boister
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