Mekong Delta - Can Tho

Thursday March 11th

Picked up from hotel by coach and driven to northern distributary of Mekong. Took small boat touring through palm lined waterways, ending up at lunch on an island. Then went to see coconut candy being manufactured by hand. Then onwards by punt like boat propelled by conical hatted lady.

Back at the bus, we journeyed southwards to the southern branch of the Mekong, the Bassac river. As we approached it however, we got caught up in a 2 km traffic jam for the ferry, because the new bridge didn't open until the end of the month. We abandoned the coach and walked to the ferry terminus, hemmed in by hundreds of motorcycles.

Crossed the river on the car ferry after nightfall to Can Tho, the coach eventually reappeared but panic when luggage not unloaded. Turned out that there was too much for the main lockers and an ancilliary locker was used, which is where the missing bag was eventually discovered.

We were driven to the hotel, but because we were doing a homestay, were whisked off in a taxi to a riverbank on the outskirts of town. Here we were met by Mr Hung in his boat.

We cruised down the river in the dark, with fireflies winking in the riverbank trees, until we reached his home where he had built a series of woven palm bungalows at the riverside.

After a dinner of steamed elephant fish and vegetables which we were shown how to roll in rice paper and dip in sauce, and several beers, we went to bed.

Bed was in a bungalow with mosquito net ( probably not needed), a motorbike track on one side and the river on the other. Every couple of hours, either a motorbike or a diesel powered boat clattered past, so sleep was intermittant.