Blogs from Can Tho, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 8

July 1st-My Tho, Ben Tre & Can Tho This blog will be more visual as it is too hard to explain the sights, sounds and senses of the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta has over 17 million of the 85 million residents in Vietnam(per Lonely Planet 2008), 14 provinces and we will visit 4 of the cities/villages: My Tho, Ben Tre, Can Tho and Phong Dien. We decided to do a tour of the Mekong Delta as it seem difficult to do it on our own and I think we are just plain tired after 3 weeks of traveling in Vietnam. We went with TNK Travel and left our hotel around 8am. We stopped outside of town as the buses usually make frequent and unwanted stops that slow the trip down but we enjoyed the great ... read more

After a few days on my own, I took a chance on an organized tour to Can Tho - in the Mekong Delta region. Basically this is the Great Plains of Vietnam - the bread, or more accurately, rice-basket of the country. Vietnam's biggest exports are rice (2nd in world), cashews, and coffee. This section of the country mostly rice though. The delta water is very brown, not from pollution, but rather high silt content, which makes the water fertile and good for rice fields. Over two days I saw how rice paper and coconut candy are made, took a couple boat rides on various parts of the river. Saw how people on the river lived. On the second day we got to see a floating market, probably the highlight of the trip. Big boats from ... read more

It’s my last day in Can Tho and I spend it doing NOTHING MUCH. I was intending to get up early to watch the sun rising over the river but I went to sleep late last night and wake up later than intended. Most of the day is spent by the river with my book, followed by an early night as I have to get up pretty early tomorrow.... read more

I am leaving a cafe when it starts to dribble with rain. I get back to my hotel with the intention of picking up my book. If it starts to chuck it down I want to be at the riverside, watching the rain. The guide from yesterday is in the hotel reception and he tells me there is no chance of heavy rain. Sure enough, when I come back down with my book, the sun is shining and there is not even a drop of rain. Hey ho! I sit in reception with a cup of tea and my book. A street vendor joins me but I do not want to buy anything so we have a long chat instead. He has a long list of facts about Vietnam and other countries. Eventually he has to ... read more

I am making my way to Can Tho (also in the Mekong Delta) to break up the journey to Phu Quoc island. I get to the bus station and a smiling young fellow follows me into the ticket booth. I buy a ticket and it turns out that I am going on the same bus that he is working on. He places my luggage on the bus and as I am early, it is a one-hour wait before we set off. I board the minibus anyway, and my, it is a shabby number. We set off, I lean on the seat next to me and it nearly collapses but the Smiling Young Fellow fixes it up for me. At one point we get on a ferry, which is an unexpected treat. A three-hour journey and we ... read more