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Published: February 11th 2014
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This morning we departed early by boat to visit the floating markets of Cai Rang, the largest floating market in the Mekong Delta serving a large area. Here we wove among boats, each selling a different kind of fruit and vegetable, some a full service snack boat selling fresh coffee and juices. Each boat displays whatever they are selling on a long stick hanging above the boat. If you want t0o purchase anything you wave the boat over and the driver will attach themselves with a grappling hook to your boat. We bought some pineapple and coconuts to snack on for our trip to our next stop.
We then went to a nearby island to a rice noodle factory where we saw how they were made. Again like the coconut factory, the factory was comprised of a few grass huts and everything was made entirely by hand without any type of mechanization. After the tour we had some free time where most of our travel companions opted to get drunk on shots, we rented bicycles and peddled throughout the island up and over bridges and canals linking with other islands. Everywhere we went we were greeted by small children yelling
“hello” and high 5’ing us as we rode by. It wasn’t until today that I noticed that not once have we been approached by children who were either begging or aggressively selling small souvenirs as in almost every other country I have ever trave3led to in the 3
rd world. It was nice to realize that all the attention and courtesy we have been paid was purely genuine.
After lunch we boarded another bus and traveled to Chau Doc, our final stop in Vietnam before we enter into Cambodia. The trip lasted for about 2 ½ hours, and we stopped at Sam Mountain on the way. Sam Mountain is the largest mountain in the area and has a large Buddhist temple carved into the mountainside. Inside there were numerous rooms in the temple that were actually in caves, complete with a few bats flying overhead. Upon entering the temple Dennis was immediately accosted by a Buddhist monk who grabbed his arm and stroked his tattoos as he was grinning widely. No matter where we go people are always grabbing and touching at Dennis’s tattoos, usually followed by a “oooh nice tattoos” comment.
Chau Doc is a smallish city only
above 6km from the Cambodian border. It is ethnically diverse, and is home to a sizable population of Khmer, Cham and Chinese. There were large massacres here conducted by the Khmer Rogue in 1979 who conducted raids across the border razing villages and killing every living thing in sight.
We spent another evening rooting out the sometimes hard to find vegetarian restaurant as we wove around the multitude of food markets selling all sorts of amazing and exotic fruits, less than appealing seafood, and amazingly fragrant breads and pastries. The baked goods and coffee have been amazing in Vietnam, one of the few positive marks the long French occupation left on the country.
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