Can Tho and the Mekong Delta

Our nine hour transfer from Phu Quoc to Can Tho involved catching a minibus, a ferry and a coach.

There was a lot of slack built in so we spent a lot of time waiting around. We got talking to an English guy who has spent six weeks every year since 1983 in SE Asia to avoid the British winter. But oddly enough he didn’t seem particularly happy about his travels and seemed to bemoan the fact that he’d been everywhere! Very odd!

Can Tho is Vietnam’s fourth largest city and was still in full Tet mode. It was also celebrating 15 years since gaining independence from the central government, so there were lots of flashing lights and festivities.

After checking into our hotel, we went for a wander to the Can Tho river, crossing over a very fancy pedestrian bridge adorned with two giant, fluorescent lotus flowers. We wandered through the park, past the Ho Chi Minh statue and down to the main street festooned with decorations and lights.

Getting pretty hungry and not sure where to eat, we had some very tasty beef wrapped in betel leaves from a street cart before wandering back across the river to a restaurant near to our hotel. We went to bed early that night as we had an early start the next morning!

On the bus to Can Tho I’d managed to organise us a trip to the floating market and around the Mekong Delta with Fabulous Mekong Eco-Tours. We were met by our guide Ân at 5.30am and taken to the river where we boarded a sampan steered by an amazing Vietnamese lady. On the way to the floating market, we got to see the sunrise, a bridge full of bats and a building designed specifically to attract swallows so their nests can be used to make bird nest soup, a delicacy here and particularly in China.

Cai Rang is the biggest floating market in the world and is filled with large boats distributing various fruits to smaller boats who then sell them at markets on land. Unfortunately, with it still being Tet, there were less boats than usual so it didn’t have quite the same impact as if we’d been a week later, but it was still fascinating to see.

After getting some coffee and orange juice from one boat, we moored up against another boat which was serving pho for breakfast. It was really tasty and fun to eat it while watching all the bustle of the market around us. The boatsmen are really impressive, steering their sampans with their feet very adeptly so as not to hit anyone else. Our guide also bought us a sweet treat which was a disc of rice paper with dried bananas on.

From the floating market we continued up river. The Mekong Delta itself has many branches and so is known as the nine snakes. We had opted for the combined boat and cycling tour so landed at a cafe to collect our bikes and took off along the riverbank. Luckily it was still only about 7am so not too hot. The cycle took about 20 minutes, past houses and little shops. Many people were outside and waved or said hello to us as we cycled past.

About fifteen minutes in, we rounded a corner to a large group of ducks and geese blocking our path and quacking or honking loudly! We had to dismount and walk slowly round them after a bit of shooing away. Apparently geese are good guard animals so people use them to protect their ducks, although thieves have realised that garlic pacifies them.

Our cycle trip took us to an amazing tree structure which is also a sacred spot for locals. One tree used to cover around 10,000 m2 but most of it was destroyed in the war and so the complex now only covers 2,750 m2. It’s still a very impressive spot and incredible to think this all comes from one tree.

We cycled back to the cafe where our boat driver had managed to source us some pork and mong bean wrapped in rice and a banana leaf, which was very tasty.

Once back on the boat, our next stop was to see how they make the rice noodles we’d had for breakfast. We went to a family run business where they turned a mixture of rice flour and tapioca into discs before drying them on bamboo sheets for three hours. Once dry they run them through a shredder to make noodles. Depending on what is ordered the noodles can either be plain or flavoured with turmeric or pandan leaves. We even got to have a go at transferring the discs to the bamboo!

Back on the river, we turned off into some smaller waterways to head to our final destination. Along the way we spotted many water hyacinths, which are fascinating as not only are they beautiful, but they have no smell initially but if you dip them in water suddenly they smell like watermelon!

Our last stop was a cacao farm. We saw how they grow the cacao pods, dry the beans, press out the butter and make liquid chocolate. We got to try some hot and ice chocolate drinks, a couple of chocolate sweets and a very tasty cider made from the fermented flesh around the cocoa bean. We also saw a pineapple tree, which I’d never seen before.

On the way back we saw a small boat made of bamboo floating in the water. These are small Tet offerings that local people make and put gifts such as fruit in before sending down the river. We saw a few on our trip. The trip back to the centre of Can Tho was lovely as we were the only people on the river for most of the journey.

After what could have been construed as a rather dodgy transfer of money down a side alley to our guide for the tour, we headed to a restaurant recommended to us by Ân for lunch, but unfortunately, what with it being Tet, it was shut so we went to the place next door instead. After lunch, we visited a Taoist temple down the road, but couldn’t spend too long in there as the ceiling was covered with spiral incense sticks which were quite overpowering!

After an unsuccessful attempt at visiting the war museum, which was also shut for Tet, we headed back to our hotel for a nap after our early start that morning. Following another recommendation from Ân, we went to a restaurant for dinner where you can make your own spring rolls. This was perfect for me as it meant I could avoid all the fresh herbs I don’t like! I’m not sure we quite perfected the technique for rolling them, but I don’t think we disgraced ourselves either!

Our final recommendation from Ân was for a karaoke place which had separate booths. To get us in the mood for singing (read a bit drunk!), we took the lift to the 20th floor of a nearby hotel for a drink in their rooftop bar, overlooking Can Tho. Despite a mix up with the drinks, we had a pleasant time admiring the view. Then it was on to the karaoke bar, where we whiled away a good hour attempting to sing! I thought I restrained myself quite well as I only had to confiscate the microphone from James once for not singing properly!

The next morning we had planned to wander to the nearby park to see the big river on the other side of Can Tho, however at the half way point of our travels, we finally succumbed to illness, James with a stomach bug and me with a head cold so we took it easy in the morning and hung out in the hotel room until our bus transfer to Ho Chi Minh City. Despite being a day trip, our coach was a sleeper which meant we got flat seats the whole way. This worked out great as it meant we could catch up on some sleep! The only downside was that we were at the back of the bus and the large number of rivers and tributaries meant a lot of bridges and a lot of bumps, some of which literally threw you up into the air! Not ideal, but after four hours we arrived on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.