Through the Delta

Howdy Ho,

It's Tuesday afternoon here in Ben Tre. I know I've been slacking on updating the blog, I'll try to update more often. I tried to update yesterday, but the oh-so-friendly people at the internet cafe felt it was a good idea not to tell me when they closed. Instead they just turned off the computers in the middle of me writing. Man, was I ticked.

I spent the rest of Friday (when I last updated) chilling around town. I spent a few hours at the cafe I've been going to, everyone there is very welcoming.

Later, I went to the Banh Mi place. It's close to the hostel, and Teung, the guy who works there, is always saying hello and calling me by name as I walk by. I had Banh Mi and a Bia Hoi there.

(This second hand smoke is really getting under my skin. It seems like every male smokes.)

I took a nice nap at the hostel.

I went out and explored the market (again) and walked around. Later in the evening I made my way to the riverfront. I had a snack of corn on the cob. Nowhere even close to as good as home, I didn't like it at all. After, I took a seat on the bench, watching the people walk by and the boats go past.

Not after long 2 young ladies sitting on the bench next to mine began talking to me wanting to practice speaking English. It turns out that they were recent college graduates, like myself, who had majored in English. We talked for a long time, about Vietnam, where I'm from and so on.

I've found that it's particularly easy to meet people here in Vietnam.

It was getting late and before we parted they showed me a great street snack. It was a thin, flexible waffle (like a soft pizzelle) wrapped around black sticky rice, a big spoonful of sugar, and a small fistful of shredded coconut, capped with a small, thin, round edible shell. It was fantastic. It's always best to get somebody who knows the area to show you the food.

I had planned on going to the floating market the next morning, Saturday. I overslept though, it's best to go early in the morning, before 7.

When I finally did wake up I went to the cafe again and had some coffee and chilled out with my new friends.

For lunch (I knida missed breakfast) I went to a restaurant nearby that was suggested by Teung (the guy at the banh mi/bia hoi place). They gave me a ton of food, though it was very tasty. I got a few pieces of baked fish and a huge plate of rice. That was served with soy sauce with chili peppers. I was also served an enormous bowl of soup filled with cilantro and cabbage and pork meatballs. The soup was ok, very light. The fish though was fantastic and very fresh.

I poked around for a bit and organized my bus ticket for the next day.

Walking around the city I was convinced by a family to sit down at their sidewalk cafe and have a beer. I sat down on one of the tiny plastic stools. They brought me a Saigon Beer, and they hung out at the same table as me. The son and daughter (around my age) spoke a bit of English. They beganto prepare dried squid, which means grilling it and shredding it. They also snacked on it as they went (it seems to be an ingreident they just keep around). They kept giving me pieces to snack on as well. It tastes great. They instructed me to dip the shreds into a bit of very spicy chili sauce they had in a little dish on the table. Very hot, very good.

That evening I chilled out on the riverfront again with one of the people I had met the night before there.

I woke up early the next morning, Sunday, to go to the floating market. For $10 I hired a boat to take me there from the city, and cruise around the Delta for 4 hours. The market was cool, a really bustling area right there on the river. There's lots of boats carrying all sorts of produce to be distributed. We went through all sorts of tiny canals. The scenery was great. For a while the boat driver turned off the engine and rowed, standing up. She was very friendly, pointing out all sorts of intersting things around. Then she made me row for some time, while she chilled there in the seat. She would motion me to go over to the side of the river/canal so she could collect the ends of these plants that were growing in the water, floating on the surface. I guess she thinks they're really delicious, she took a ton. After I got tired, we switched again. Along the way we also picked up some dragon fruit to eat. Also, we stopped at a little cafe where I had some delicious coffee with condensed milk. Nearby the cafe she showed me a place where they make rice noodles. That was a really neat to watch. Basically they take this thick liquid (made from rice) and pour it on this fine cloth screen, which is over boiling water. They put a lid over it, and it steams. they remove the lid, pick up the now solid (though soft) round of batter and place it on mats to cool. It all happens very fast. Later, they cut it to make noodles.

Making the noodles

Can Tho

After getting back to Can Tho I went back to the guesthouse. I got my stuff together and was picked up to go to the bus station. I got on the bus to Vinh Long. I talk with a fellow named Ty, a government environmental worker, from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). He had been visiting parents and was making his way back to the city (Vinh Long is a stop along the way). As the bus got onto the ferry across the Bassac river he told me abou the Can tho Bridge. It is under construction, and will eliminate the need for the ferry. However, there was an accident in the bridge's construction recently, killing 52 people.

After about 2 hours riding on the bus, including about 15 min on the ferry,I arrived at the Vinh Long bus station. I got a xe om to the Cuu Long tourist agency, which is state-run, to organize a homestay. Within a short time I was on a boat going through the Delta again. First was a visit to a fruit farm. I didn't really get to see the farm, but was able to try some of the fruits. There was pomelo (a favorite of the group I was with in Laos and Cambodia...), jackfruit, longan and something else I can't remember. It was all very good. It was my first time having jackfruit even though its so plentiful here. They also served tea. Additionally, a bottle with some of the local whiskey was put on the table with a small shot glass, so I could "sample". They started to do some really cheesy singing and acting. At that point the whiskey really came in handy...

We cruised around some more through canals. A new refrigerator on a little boatWe ended at where I would be staying. It's a small place run by a family that has some extra rooms at their place. I spent quite a bit of time lazing in the hammock. I took a bicycle out and cruied around the area for a bit. It was very serene there. The area has plenty of scenery, lots of bridges over small canals, fruit farms and more. I was going to get pictures on my way back but the sky started getting very grey. I booked it back to where I was staying. I was just in time, it started pouring.

I had a great dinner there. A whole fried elephant ear fish. It was served with rice paper wrapper, lettuce, herbs and cucumbers. The idea was to take some fish with the lettuce, herbs and cucumber and wrap it up. It was dipped in nuoc cham (fish sauce, water, sugar, lime, garlic and chili). That was spectacular. It was amazingly fresh and clean tasting. The fish was cooked perfectly and was moist. And the vegetables were great too. The sauce was excellent as well, I love fish sauce. I was also served a couple of huge, head-on shrimp which were great. The obligatory rice was there, too. A few grilled pork cutlets were served as well. I also was served a huge bowl of soup with greens. It was a lot of food. I wasn't quite able to finish, though I must say I thinkI did a pretty good number on it.

I spent the rest of the evening hanging out,playing with the friendly little dog there.

Early the next morning, Sunday, Hui, the boat driver, picked me up after breakfast. First, we went to Cai Be, another flaoting market.

That's a lot of dragonfruit

After the market, we went to a candy factory. That was insteresting to see. It's just a family run operation. That day they were amking some puffed rice candy which was fun to watch them pop the rice.

We headed back to Vinh Long. I picked up a Banh Mi for my bus ride which I had previously organized. I hopped on the bus to My Tho (pronounced Mee Tao).

Less than 2 hours later I arrived. I got a xe om to a hotel where I checked in. I explored the town some. There's nmot much to see, kinda boring. I had a tasty dinner though. It was grilled duck with pepper-lime sauce. On the side was some herbs, lots of cucumber, and plenty of sweet pickled radish and carrot. Mmmm.

That brings us up to this morning. Brunch (I slept late again) was rice with grilled pork, a slice of pate, pickled vegetables and some unrecognizable stuff that tasted good. For some reason there were some enormous boa constrictors in cages on wheels sitting out on the side walk nest to the restaurant. I'm talking big ones, like 6 feet and fat. There were 2 cages, with 2 snakes in each.

After checking out of the hotel I walked over to the dock. I got on one of the ferries to Ben Tre, across the river. The ferry is a vehicle carrying one. People on foot, such as myself, get to ride for free. The ferries go constantly all day long.

Ben Tre is a triangular island (its own province), seperated from the mainland by rivers on 2 sides, with the ocean on the third side.

I got a xe om to take me to the hotel in the main town. It was about a 25 minute ride. The town is pretty chilled out. It's not crowded like the other towns/cities I've been to in vietnam either. Not a ton of tourists come here. Today I walked around some,checked out the market.

That brings us up to now. I should be in Ben Tre for 2 nights. I hope to get a tour of the area by boat tommorow. The next day I hope to catch the bus to Ho Chi Minh City. I'm really looking forward to that.

Well that does it for now.

Take care,

Mike