Visiting Hue

We decided to take the big bus from Hoi An to Hue instead of a motorbike taxi. It’s a 3-8 hour drive depending on how many stops you make along the way. The Motorbike allows you as much time as you want to visit everything, but our bus only gave us about an hour at Marble Mountain - one of 5 mountains in the area that is littered with Buddha pagodas and caves. We could have easily spent 3 hours exploring all the hidden grottos, but the hour gave us enough time to run through 3 caves, rock climb out the back of a 4th cave, and take in the lake/city view spread out below the Water Mountain.

Pagoda at this top of Water Mountain - part of the Marble Mountains.

Robby at Marble Mountain.

We stopped at the top of Hai Van Pass, a curvy road that goes up, over the mountain range separating the two cities and gives you an amazing view of the valleys below on a clear day. There’s also an old Vietnamese Military outpost at the top where you can look out through gun turrets and stumble along old barrack ruins. At the bottom, on the Hue side of the hill, there’s Lăng Co - an oyster fishing inlet town of 400 people where we got to feel the breeze flowing off the blue lake, but not actually walk the sandy beach because we stopped at an abandoned resort hotel with barbed wire blocking the beach entrance. Our last bus stop was an old Japanese Bridge - Thánh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge. 

View of beach from Hai Van Pass.

Oyster Fisherman.

Once in Hue, we dropped our bags at The Dreamers Homestay and went exploring. After a bit of food, we tried to walk to the night market, which is across a small river running through the city, but ended up taking a riverboat instead because the lady selling the “ferry” only charged us 50 cents. Instead of going immediately across to the market - like 200 feet, we happily enjoyed a 20 minute river cruise at sunset before docking. The best part was that the lady who enticed us to take the boat noticed that we liked the fluffy puppy near the water’s edge, so she picked it up, handed him to me, and said get on the boat. So essentially we kidnapped a puppy and got a free boat cruise for 50 cents. 

It was amazing with a cooling evening breeze and relaxing atmosphere where we got to see the city’s lights turn on - including the main bridge changing colors every three seconds in a pretty display of blue, green, yellow, and red. Also, the puppy was like “WTF, I’m on a boat?”, but then he seemed to know the boat driver and was wagging his tail happily once the boater held him. 

The night market turned out to be a closing day market. We wanted street food, but all the little vendors sold various meat pieces in Pho. We did get Che- a dessert thing that consisted of various jellies and fruit goos dumped on top of ice and slathered in coconut milk. All the different flavors actually blended well together and it was refreshing, though not all that appealing to look at. 

It happened to be Christmas Eve, so the hostel had made a dinner for everyone. We came at the end, but there were still some egg rolls and potatoes left to try. We made friends with a group of people, one of which was celebrating his birthday, so we all went to a bar and a dance club to celebrate with him. The dance club played some weird techno, but had a beautiful realistic LCD display of thunder and lightening storm clouds on the ceiling. 

The following day we hired a private car to take us all over the city. First stop was Thuy Tien Lake - where a massive 2km water park was built in 2004, but mysteriously closed in 2006, having maybe never been officially used. The park included some water slides, a coliseum amphitheater, pagoda, kiddie water park, flight simulator, statue garden, and various other things that were all assessable by going through a 3-story Dragon at the entrance, which housed an aquarium, live crocodiles, and a view of the lake running through the park. 

Dragon!

Robby going down the defunct water slide.

Since the park is now abandoned and nature is trying to reclaim its land, it’s closed to the public. You used to be able to bribe the guard at the front to let you in, but when we tried, he wouldn’t budge. So, we got inventive and hiked through the surrounding woods to find the hidden path that leads into the park (google is amazing on telling you how to break into closed places). Our trespassing trek lead us to a cemetery where a man was visiting a loved one. We waited until he was done praying before asking if he knew the way. Turns out he did, as he walked us all the way to the Dragon and helped us convince the scouting security guard to give us “5 minutes to take a photo”, in which we ran from the guard and hid in the bushes so we could see more of the park without him trying to kick us out. I think the guard just dissuades the meek from seeing the park, because about 7 other tourist were wandering around and a bunch of locals motorbiked past us while we spent an hour exploring. 

Kiddie water park.

Inside Coliseum with Dragon in the background.

Cow chilling at the Coliseum.

Happy that we got to explore the mysterious and abandoned, we met back up with our driver and headed to the 3 main Royal Tombs people visit in Hue. There are a total of 7 Royal Tombs designed by Emperors of Vietnam from the early 1800’s to the early 1900’s. 4 of them are not very accessible or were damaged during WW1 and the Vietnam War. The tombs are not what one would typically think of as a tomb, but rather a large complex of Chinese looking buildings, gardens, and an outer wall guarding everything. 

We visited the tombs of Khai Dinh - an Emperor that spent 11 years having his French and Chinese inspired final resting place built, Minh Mang- a traditionalist that died before his tomb was completed in 1843, and Tu Duc- the longest running Emperor who ruled for 35 years and died childless because of complications with Polio as a child. All of them were impressive and far to walk through.

Entrance to Khai Dinh’s tomb.

Minh Mang’s tomb.

Another part of Minh Mang’s tomb.

Statue outside Khai Dinh’s tomb.

Inside one of the buildings at Tu Duc’s tomb.

If we weren’t already exhausted from hiking through the woods to the water park and spending about three hours seeing the tombs, we also decided to visit the Imperial City in the center of town. In 1804, a 14km walled city was ordered built by Emperor Gia Long and was the seat of power for the Nguyên Dynasty until the French imposition in the 1880’s. There used to be about 160 buildings, but a bunch were destroyed in various wars, mostly the Vietnam War, and now only 10 major buildings exist with a few out lying ones. 

Citadel 

After a day spent walking through history, we wanted to spend some time in nature. We booked an all day tour to hike Bach Ma National Park. After driving up a steep and windy road with a crazy driver who loves to speed around curves, we hiked to the peak’s viewing point and were rewarded with a semi clear view of the the valley below with a layer of fluffy clouds in between. Bach Ma used to be a French retreat with upwards of 200 villas spread throughout the mountainside and a lovely 4.5 hour hike to the community, but then the Japanese showed up in the 1940’s and kicked everyone out. Following the Japanese, the American’s took over before handing the mountain to the South Vietnamese, which lost it to the Viet Cong of the North. Eventually it was turned into a National Park and all the military stuff abandoned, but there are remnants of Viet Cong tunnels, which our guide walked us through. 

View from top of Bach Ma. See the windy road we drove up?

Old French Villa on Bach Ma.

The mountain has 5 beautiful lakes that all flow into each other and out to Vietnam’s largest waterfall - a 300-meter cascade. We had to use wire ropes to transverse the steep, rocky terrain to get to some of the lakes. There were also cables over the river crossings that most people failed to use correctly and got soaked shoes for their efforts, but I took the easy way over and jumped the river rocks. We lucked out and had a half sunny day, as opposed to the typical dreary and raining days winter in Hue usually offers.

Lake 1.

Robby crossing scary bridge with wire rope.

Our tour guide jumping into a lake.

The 300 meter waterfall, or the top of it. Biggest waterfall in Vietnam.

All in all, Hue wasn’t so bad. You really don’t need more than 2 days to see all the sights, but you can get by seeing almost everything in 1.5 days. 

The end of Ho Chi Minh City and a lovely time in Hoi An.

Ho Chi Minh City is huge. Robby and I wandered around mostly three districts, but discovered there’s 24. We stuck to District 1 primarily since we were staying there and Bui Vien Street - notorious for gangsters, bars, massage parlors, and general tourists - is located. Robby and I tried a foot massage from one of the slightly cheaper places, but ended up with an hour of a dainty rub down of our calves and a 5 minute love tap on the shoulders. When we went to pay, the lady said that the masseuse’s are only paid via tip and asked for 250% tip. Robby got scared, tossed her a bunch of money, and ran out the store while the lady gave us dirty looks.

We visited the War Museum and learned more about how horrible America was to another culture. This museum was informative on the “atrocities committed by US soldiers”, complete with photos. But there was a large exhibit on the protested in the US of the Vietnam War and people around the world coming to help the Vietnamese people clean up the Agent Orange poison our troops dropped on their land. 

If that wasn’t sad enough, we took a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels - a 240km expanse of underground tunnels that the Viet Cong (VC) built to live in during the Vietnamese/American War. Since the US was bombing the crap out of the country and destroying everything with Agent Orange, the villagers dug tunnels (with large openings to include a hospital, kitchen, sleeping quarters, water well, school, storage rooms, and other stuff) under the Earth and lived in them for 14 years. The entrances were well disguised with leaves and brush, the air holes were made to resemble an ant hill, and some entrances came in through the river. 

Entrance to one of the tunnels

Entrance to another tunnel. 

On our last day in HCMC, we booked an amazing, private motorbike tour to visit local and touristy parts of the city. It was my first time being on a motorbike in Vietnam (I rode them a lot in Thailand) and a Robby’s first time ever being on the back of a bike. Our drivers/tour guides were so friendly and safe that we didn’t once feel scared zipping through the heavy morning congestion of bikes, buses, cars, and pedestrians. Our first stop was the Central Post Office. It’s exactly what its name implies, built in 1886 as the main post office for Saigon, it now houses a tour agency, Knick knack stalls, old phone booths, and a working post counter. It’s a huge tourist attraction because of its gothic/renaissance colonial architecture. The Post Office is across the street from Saigon’s version of the Notre Dame Cathedral - the oldest and biggest Catholic Church in HCMC. Steve, one of our tour guides, said that the Post Office was originally painted a salmon color, but because the Church is pink, the city repainted the Post Office to its current day yellow. 

Notre Dame Cathedral.

We zipped around the city picking up a chicken Banh Mi and coconut sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf before sitting down in the city’s first ever coffeehouse - Cheo Leo Cafe. This 80 year old coffee shop is run by the three granddaughters of the original owner. They still brew coffee the old fashion way - with a clay pot and a cloth strainer. The coffee is strong, dark, and intense. A little condense milk helps the spoon bend over in the glass. 

Robby on the back of the bike s her driver navigates traffic.

Cooking coffee the old fashion way.

Since we enjoyed the first coffee shop ever, we drove to the oldest apartment complex in Saigon. Thanh Da Apartment Block was built in 1960, to house American troops, but turned into the a vibrant neighborhood of shops, housing, and community for the Vietnamese people after the war. There are 11, three-story buildings with about seventy 250 square foot units inside. Back on the bikes, we toured a fresh flower market, drove through China Town (which covers three districts by itself), visited Thien Hau - a 300-year-old Chinese temple that worships a water Goddess, and ate a shrimp pancake. If you’re short on time in HCMC, I highly recommend exploring the cultural vibrance of Saigon with “Scooter Ho Chi Minh”.

Old Apartment Complex.

Flower Market.

Saying “Tạm biệt” (Vietnamese for Goodbye) to Ho Chi Minh City, we hitched a ride on Vetjet Airlines to the small costal town of Hoi An. A driver picked us up at the airport and drove us 40 minutes to Love.Ly Homestay, an amazing hostel. The owners, Ly and George, are the sweetest people on the planet. A year ago they opened their home to random travelers and now they offer free beer meet-and-greet nights, Family dinners for anyone in the hostel, tour advice, laundry and spa services, and help with any and all questions. From the first cup of all day free coffee, we had a map of where everything in old town is located and how to walk the city.

Hoi An is the place to come if you want custom made clothing or custom leather shoes and handbags. Most of the stuff can be fitted and made in 24 hours. We met three Americans who came to Hoi An specifically to buy new wardrobes because it’s about $150-300 for a custom, top quality suit vs $1000’s in the States. Robby and I tried not to get sucked into the shopping frenize, but our resolve wasn’t strong enough. So now we need to figure out how to transport 5 pairs of fancy leather boots home, 2 of which we designed for our brother. Life could be worse.

Clothing shop where you can get custom made outfits made.

Aside from shopping, Hoi An offers history buffs and average tourists a little of everything. Old Town has 23 historical sites you can visit; including a performance on traditional Vietnamese dance, 300 year old Chinese houses, a Japanese Bridge, a riverwalk, night market with yummy street food, loads of bars, and colorful pagodas. We managed to visit a few of the locations during our stay.

Cooking lobster in the night market.

Japanese/Chinese gate.

Traditional dancers.

Our first night in Hoi An though, was a bit of craziness in running around the city because we don’t know how to read signs properly. As we sat to enjoy a Banh Mi for dinner, I noticed a sign for a Cat Rescue Cafe’s Xmas Party fundraiser that just happened to be that evening. Thinking we were going to get to hug fluffy, animated teddy bears, we walked the 1.5 miles to the cafe, only to discover the lights were off and the door closed. Upon checking Facebook, we realized we’re idiots and the fundraiser was at a bar 10 mins from our original start location. Luckily a cab found us and brought us to the main walking street in town, where the bar was located. 

Within 5 mins we had a drink in our hands and were reading about all the kitties up for adoption on the fliers posted along the walls of the bar. There were no furry beasts to hold, but we did buy one raffle ticket each to support the Cafe’s cause - stopping the production of kitty meat being consumed in Vietnam. (Now I need to double check I’m actually eating chicken from the street vendors.) Turns out, we’re lucky because Robby won the grand prize raffle of 5 million Dong (about $250 usd) to use on a tattoo at a local shop. She was so excited until the tattoo artists printed the picture of a creepy cat that Robby’s always wanted for a tattoo, and she realized it didn’t look as good as she thought blown up and in the location she wanted. Needless to say, neither of us got a new tattoo, we spent three days trying to sell the gift card, but in the end, ended up donating it back to the Cat Cafe to re-raffle out. We’re still deciding if we’re idiots or smart.

We lucked out on staying at the hostel one of the nights that they threw together a “family dinner”. Anyone staying at the hostel is welcome to show up at 5pm and help cook the evening’s meal, or just come at 6:30pm, and enjoy one or all of the 5 vegetarian and 1 meat-home cooked dishes. We had about 15 people sharing fried mushrooms, fresh spring rolls, egg noodles, sweet potato pork, and morning glory. We made friends with three of the ladies and decided to wander the night market with them, looking for desert and enjoying a 20 minute boat cruises along the old town river. Somehow we ended up at a Sky Bar playing Janga and drinking overpriced beer, but the company was enjoyable and we weren’t going to bed at 9pm, like old people. 

We spent a day visiting Ba Na Hills, a giant lush green mountain an hour from Hoi An that was only known to locals in the beginning of the last century, then to only Vietnamese tourists in the middle of the 1900’s, before finally becoming popular to everyone in the last 5 years because of vast improvements. Ba Na Hills is now considered one of the most beautiful destinations to travel too, all thanks to the Golden Bridge - a 150 meter bridge that is held up by large stone hands, sitting atop the mountain, giving visitors a wide view of the countryside below. We lucked out because the day before it was raining and cloudy, but our day on the mountain was a beautiful clear morning with fog rolling in, in the afternoon. 

Golden Bridge

Afternoon fog on the way down the mountain.

The mountain also hosts 9 gardens ranging from demented pig statues to a French love garden to a Japanese Buddhist temple. You take a 15 minute sky tram ride to the top of the mountain and then get out to explore. There’s also an amusement park on the second mountain top that has a rollercoaster thing where you can control the brake. We wanted to try it, but the line was super long and we wouldn’t have been able to see anything else with our tours time constraint. Ba Na Hills is expensive to visit, but I believe the beauty from atop the mountain is worth the price of admission. 

Artsy staircase at one of the Ba Na gardens.

Peacock Garden at Ba Na Hills. 

For our last day in Hoi An, we woke up at 5am to see the local My Son Ruins at sunrise. Apparently when you book a sunrise tour in Vietnam, it means they pick you up at sunrise, but you don’t actually get to see what you’re hoping to when the sun crest’s the mountains. We saw the golden rays of morning stretching over rice fields on the hour long drive to the ruins, instead over 1100 year old temples. But, when we arrived, we were essentially the only people in the park, so in the end, the tour was worth it for that fact alone. 

Morning at My Son.

My Son consisted of 70 Hindu temples honoring the god Shiva, ranging from the 4th century to the 14th. At onetime it was the largest inhabited archeological site in Indochina, but a large majority of its structures were destroyed through out one week during the Vietnam War. Conservation efforts have salvaged a lot of the buildings and preserved the history.

Robby enjoying the morning sun.

Sun rays inside a temple. 

Lady from our tour posing in front of a temple. 

Speaking of history, Robby and I decided to go on a ecotour cooking class. We wandered the local food market with a guide, who told us what a lot of the strange veggies and fruits were and how they are used in Vietnamese cooking. She then took us to the river where an old woman allowed us in her coconut boat. During the war, people who built proper boats and canoes were charges a tax, so the local villagers built round boats that resembled half of a coconut and used them as fishing boats instead. 

After our fishing women spun us in circles on the lake while madly cackling, she paddled us into the water coconut forest and handed up short fishing sticks. We were told to place the bait inside the reeds of the coconut plants and wait for crabs. Robby caught one in the first minute and the fishing women clapped with joy. We managed to catch 5 tiny purple clawed crabs in 15 minutes, which we luckily got to release back into the water. They were too small to eat and so cool to look at, I wanted them to live. 

We finished the tour with a semi cooking class and dinner. The company had pre-prepped all the stuff we were to make, so there wasn’t much dinner prep, but our tour guide instructed us on how to fry a shrimp pancake; season shrimp for egg rolls, along with rolling them and putting them in a cast iron pan with hot oil to cook; plus we sautéed our evenings fish stew. The tour could have been better with other people (somehow we needed up with private tour), but at the end, we had a good time and left with full bellies. 

Crossing into Vietnam and 2 days on the Mekong.

Let me tell you about crossing the border into Vietnam from Cambodia - all the rumors about thefts, money scams, bad drivers, etc. are untrue, or at least for us they were. We booked with Giant Ibis, the newest and better of the numerous bus options. We enjoyed a free croissant, water, semi reclining chairs, adequate AC, and a smooth ride. Yes, we were asked for a $2 fee from the bus attendant to help us get our passports processed faster at both borders, but what is $2 against possibly being left at a border, given dirty looks, holding up the other passengers, and essentially being a cheap ass?

We only encountered one hiccup, which turned our 6.5 hour journey into a 9 hour journey (although traffic probably accounted for an hour of that time); the Mekong Express VIP bus was the other bus we considered taking across the border, but as it attempted to cross into Vietnam, drugs were found stuffed into a DVD player and all buses were grounded. Some poor, crying woman was hauled away for questioning, saying the DVD player was picked up at the duty free store, but this was all Cambodian hearsay. Either way, the Mekong Express was not going anywhere for a while and all the passengers were throughly rechecked for illegal substances. 

When we reached HCMC, we safely walked a kilometer to our hotel - Saigon Bed Station - having proudly crossed multiple streets and a roundabout without getting flattened by one of 50 motorbikes, 10 cars, or 2 buses coming at you from all directions. The trick is to find a 1 second break in the traffic, make semi eye contact with the vehicles approaching, and continue forward at a slow, continually pace. Motorbikes will ride around you, but cars will run you over, so you have to hang out in the middle of the road until they pass. 

The tiny buildings of Ho Chi Minh City with a lite amount of traffic. 

After dropping our bags, we climbed to the top of the hotel - all five, tiring stories - to do free, much needed laundry. While all the past week’s grime was being rinsed away, we found the first hair salon on the street and asked for a shampoo. Vietnam is known for their scalp massaging hair shampoos that last about 45 minutes and leave your luscious locks feeling silky soft and truly clean. The massage was relaxing and helps promote hair growth. 

Getting my hair did!

The only thing I didn’t like was the added Facial. There’s nothing like laying down with your eyes closed, relaxing to fingers running through your hair, and then, without warning, a powerful torrent of water is flowing towards your unprotected nose and mouth. I swear my blood pressure shot through the roof and all the relaxation accomplished by the scalp massage turned into extreme anxiety. I think next time I will play it safe and skip the facial. 

With newly cleaned hair, we happily climbed the 100 stairs to the laundry with hopes of switching the clothes to the dryer. At the top, we discovered that the washer had stopped mid-Spin Cycle and all our clothes were stewing in a large puddle of water. The hotel girl couldn’t reset the washer and insisted that the dryer could handle drying sopping wet cotton in 30 minutes. She was very wrong; 30 minutes later I pulled out hot, mildewing pants that left a puddle when handled. 

Robby managed to get the washer spinning again, squeezing out most of the excess water, and allowing the clothes to properly dry in the dryer. We had just enough time to wander down the small alley the hotel is located in and find a seafood restaurant still open. Yummy looking mussels we’re cooking on a grill and lots of people where sitting at tables in a metal-walled courtyard. We ordered two types of scallops, which tasted like mussels, and tried the recommended coconut snail soup. Surprisingly, the coconut broth was what started to gross us out after eating half the soup, rather than the snails - which tasted like the coconut broth, but had a consistency of a chewy mushroom. All in all, we had a good day.

Aside from my “not-sure-if-I’m-grossed-out” look, the snails were tasty.

The following morning, we started our 2 day Mekong River tour in a small, cramped bus that left Ho Chi Minh City and drove 4.5 hours to Can Tho, with various stops along the way. There were about 18 of us from all over the world, stuffed in the mini bus as we swereved our way through morning rush hour and out to a Buddhist Temple with a long sleeping (but really dead, according to our tour guide) Buddha. It wasn’t as impressive as the Sleeping Buddha in Cambodia, but it was next to a pretty temple where local monks were eating breakfast. 

Sleeping (or dead) Buddha. 

Buddha alter inside the Temple. 

We continued on to a coconut candy factory where child laborers individually wrapped all the candies we bought for the price of their daily salaries. The candy was tasty, but the factory is mainly funded through tourism and everyone working there puts on a show of authenticity to help “sell” the products. It didn’t help that later in the evening we were promised a visit with a live python, but we ended up sitting through a live info commercial about why bamboo is better than cotton; complete with a demonstration of soy sauce being spilled on a bamboo dish towel and then rinsed out “with only water”. It was ridiculous, so I walked out. 

Kid individually wrapping coconut candy.

We visited Unicorn Island, didn’t see a unicorn or anything unicorn-esque, but we got to hop in a 4 person canoe and be rowed by locals through 3-foot deep muddy, brown water. It was semi relaxing, but the river was only wide enough for 2.5 canoes and as we drifted down stream, a line of tourist-empty canoes rowed up stream, hitting our canoe every chance they got. Two of the canoes got stuck in the mud and had to have a boater jump in the river to pull them out. At the end, our oarsman tapped us on the back until we tipped him. I’m all for supporting locals, but I hate being pressured into giving them tips, especially if I’ve already paid a large fee to come on the tour in the first place. Plus, tips are for people who do well or did something extraordinary, not because it’s the social norm to expect money every time you do your job- that’s called a salary. 

I’m on a boat! Riding down the Mekong!

Narrow river of the Mekong.

On another island, we learned about making honey tea and then all the amazing benefits that honey can do for you as the tea maker peddled honey infused chapstick, body balm, and actual honey at us. The tea was good though. Four feet down the road, we listened to live Vietnamese singers while having more tea. We thought it was honey tea again, but after one sip, we started to call it massage tea - taste like coconut massage oil in tea form. So gross. The “tea” was accompanied with strange, water flavored green fruit you eat with a salt and spice mix. We made one of the Brits on the tour try it, but he didn’t hear that it was spicy, so he covered his fruit in the mix and took a huge bite. His face turned green and he ran to find a cold beer as an apologize to his tastebuds. 

We had lunch at a weird island place that had rusted out exercise games reminiscent of Japan’s MXC TV show where people ran around wearing furry costumes and being hit with flying fruit while they crossed a rope bridge over crocodile infested water. One tourist tried to walk the rope bridge, but it was not as taunt as he expected, so when he was halfway across, he found himself knee deep in murky water. Robby, Sven (Belgium friend we met on the tour who does not resemble a Reindeer), and I made it 2 rungs up the helicopter rope before giving up and sneaking into the no go area to climb a rusty staircase with a platform that lead nowhere and had no railings for safety. We captured cool photos and probably contracted Tetanus.

Robby standing on rusted steps to nowhere.

We spent the night in Can Tho, at the tour company’s hotel (go figure), but had an amazing time exploring the vibrant downtown with Sven and a Tanzanian, Duddha. We got a ride to the Night Market and ate octopus balls and veggies meat sticks while sitting in ankle high kiddie chairs surrounded by barbecue grill smoke. Some Vietnamese girls asked us where we were from and how we liked their country before asking to pose with us in numerous photos. They were very nice, so we obliged. 

Since the Night Market sold a lot of animal innards, feet, and unidentifiable parts, we bought beer from a fruit seller on the corner and wandered down back alleys looking for edible cuisine; all the while cheers-ing anyone we saw with a beer. We ended up walking through a wedding where everyone wanted to clink glasses and hug us. We were invited to sit, but food was calling our names, so we continued on. Duddha and I briefly tried to take on a small soccer team, but they were too good at playing keep away, that we gave up. 

Woman in peace selling her meat.

We eventually found a sweet potato French fry stand where Robby ordered sweet/spicy fries that were just one spice too inedible for me. The boys found Banh Mi’s, traditional Vietnamese sandwiches on a fresh baguette. We ended the evening outside our hotel drinking beer with the Brits, watching our tour guide, Ruby, play empty beer can Janga with Brit Paul. Day one of the tour was a super commercialize, none realistic approach to rural life in Vietnam, but our evening wandering Can Tho and making friends with other members of the group, made the trip worth it.

Ruby playing beer Janga with Brit Joe. 

We woke up early on Day 2 so we could see the floating market: numerous small boats floating on the water selling produce, vegetables, and supplies to other boaters from about 5am-10am. While we floated past the various fruit and veggie laden boats, vendors moored to the side of our boat and shouted their products, “coconut”, “jack fruit”, “tea”, “banana”, etc. It was fun to look at their merchandise, point to what you wanted, and hand over some bills while they passed you a hot cup of coffee or a cut up mango. The Vietnamese on the tour loved the Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, and bought tons of it. It smelled delicious and looked great, but consisted of liver, tripe, beef, and other gross stuff. 

Pho lady.

Fruit anyone?

We docked against a pineapple boat and were allowed to climb aboard to watch the lady cut up the fruit, and of course, buy some. Very sweet and juicy, perfect for breakfast. After the market, we docked at a fruit orchard with a “Monkey Bridge” that everyone took photos on. The single bamboo bridged arched over a pond with very feisty cat fish. We keep joking that they were piranhas because they would swarm and jump if anything fell in the water. The orchard invited us to sit in the shade and to buy fruit. Afterwards, we briefly stopped at a noodle factory, similar to the coconut factory in being “manufactured”, although, Robby got to make a noodle that looked like a pancake, so that was cool. 

Robby and I with Sven, Duddha, and Ruby (our tour leader). 

Pineapple vendor.

The boat tour ended back where the Night Market was held, but looked like an empty street during the day. We waited 10 minutes for our tour bus to arrive, just to be driven 100 yards up the street to stop for lunch. Most of us were like, “why didn’t we walk?”. Lunch was of course in a price-elevated restaurant that served small portions, but it was at least tasty. After lunch we said goodbye to the Brits and the Vietnamese tourists, who were heading on to Phnom Penh, and spread out on the bus for the 5 hour ride back to Ho Chi Minh City. No more knees in my chest and Robby pressed against my side, I got to stretch my legs, along with everyone else, us all having our own row of seats.