Day 15 - Can Tho Floating Markets to Rach Gia

Woke up to around 50 bug bites all over my feet! I'm not sure if it was due to bed bugs or mosquitoes. I foolishly didn't wear insect repellent the night before during dinnertime, so that might have been the cause.

My homestay group took a small tour around the village, where we stopped at the small local outside market that starts at around 4AM! These local vendors sell at this market instead of the floating market because they don't have enough goods to justify selling down the river.

Afterwards, we took a boat tour to the Can Tho floating markets, which was exciting to see because it was one of the largest markets in the area due to its centralized location. Boats would arrive from over 100km away to sell in this area, sometimes staying for days in the water until their inventory was completely sold. This was a legitimate market, where locals from all around southern Vietnam came to purchase and sell mostly agriculture. Small boats selling coffee, drinks, and noodles also floated along the river, targeting most of the touring boats.

The rest of the morning was spent at a rice factory, another market, and lunch in the city's park. I tried snake for the first time, which was pretty good as a satay. The meat was rough and chewy, so it reminded me of eating grilled squid.

In the afternoon, I split from the tour and headed towards Rach Gia so that I could take a boat to the Phu Quoc islands. After overpaying the tourguide for a bus ticket to the coastal town, I was left alone on the sidewalk, unsure of which bus to wait for. Probably one of the most nerve-wrecking moments, I wondered what I would do if no one came... I didn't have the tour guide's phone number, and most of the people in the surrounding area didn't speak much English. Luckily, a bus came and took me to the bus station, where I was asked to pay for the bus ticket again! I don't know if I was scammed by the tour guide, or if the bus station was trying to get more money out of me, but I refused to pay saying that I already paid the tour guide (even though I didn't have a receipt or any proof...) After a while of bickering, I took my cell phone out and began to call the tour company, and at that moment, the bus station just gave me a ticket and led me to the bus. I heard that having a cell phone and making calls usually gets people to quit scamming.

The bus ride was probably the worst so far because the roads were a little less developed on the way to Phu Quoc. Bumpy and hot, all I wanted to do was sleep the whole 3 hours down... but it was tough because all I could hear were the obnoxious stories being told by 2 American dudes, living in Beijing as an English teacher and a computer engineer and travelling for vacation in Vietnam, telling two Londoners about their sexual escapades throughout SE Asia in an offensive way towards both women and Asians. They sort of spoke of Chinese students as if they were lower beings, or non-human. I wanted to punch them in their faces.

When we reached Rach Gia, I tagged along with the two Londoners since they were also headed to the Phu Quoc Islands. We looked for the ticketbooth to sell boatrides to Phu Quoc on the "Superdong III" and afterwards, walked around looking for the cheapest guesthouse we could stay at. With their brilliant bargaining skills, we were each able to get rooms for $5 a night! I never would have thought I'd ever stay somewhere that cheap, since I expected even the cheapest places to be around $10-$15, but apparently, it's pretty easy to find places this cheap since it's low season right now. You just have to deal with no A/C and cold water...

The city of Rach Gia was pretty quiet, and there weren't too many tourists in the area. My two new friends and I went to look for food and there were only maybe 2 restaurants open in the area. We settled on a restaurant/home that served only one dish - porkchops with rice and a fried egg. Probably one of the better meals of the trip. Sometimes it's better not having a choice of what to eat. It forces you to try whatever is available.

Learned a new card game as well, called "Shithead" that is loads of fun. I suppose it's a game that is learned by backpackers and passed along to new friends throughout travels because it's pretty unpredictible, and hard to form really good strategies because the momentum of the game can change at any time. I can't wait to teach my friends at home so we can play it as a drinking game.

The night in the guest house was probably the worst night so far in the trip. I kept waking up because my feet kept itching and I tried my best not to scratch. I wrapped my whole body in my duvet cover in hopes that I would not get bitten again, but i think that made it worse, since it didn't allow my skin to breathe... You don't think a bug bite would make you miserable, but 50+ all over your feet really do...

Getting across the river in the morning at the local village in Can Tho

Enjoying coffee at the Can Tho local village market

Boys learning their father's trade at the Can Tho Floating Market

The kids in Vietnam are so eager to wave and say "hello" to every foreigner they see.

Sellers in the Can Tho Floating Market have bamboo poles that indicate the types of goods they offer.

Buyers purchasing pumpkins at the Can Tho Floating Market

Selling produce at another market in Can Tho

Snake Satay

Day 14 - Mekong Delta and Homestay

Day one of a two day tour of the Mekong Delta, a waterway system in South Vietnam known for it's floating markets, rice production, and fruit orchards, among other things.

Woke up bright and early again to get on a bus. Stood around with all the other foreigners on the side of the street to get on our respective buses, depending on if we were taking a 1, 2, or 3 day tour. For some reason, all the foreigners took the 1 and 3 day tours, so I got on a bus with 2 Vietnamese families and 1 Kiwi.  I didn't know if I got on the wrong bus or not. We had a mini group of about 12 people.

The first stop was in Cai Be, which was about a 3 hour bumpy bus ride. It didn't help that I took my malaria meds on an empty stomach and I felt nauseous the whole way. When we arrived at Cai Be, we took a boat around the delta and canals and stopped at a village that made rice desserts and rice paper- the wrapping that is used in many Vietnamese dishes including spring rolls. We then stopped at another village that raised bee farms and produced honey products including Royal Queen Jelly. The jelly is not actually honey, but the nutrients that worker bees provide to the Queen to make her live longer. I'm not sure of the efficacy of such products on treatment for humans though.

Afterwards, we had lunch at a village and were able to see some of the daily life of these people. Some of them were in the canals hunting for sea snails, others were swimming in the waters or rowing small boats. I had a conversation with the tourmate from New Zealand, who told me a little about the history of New Zealand and how the country is adamant about separating itself from Australia. He also told me a little about the travel culture of recent college grads. It's pretty common for Kiwis and Aussies to fly to London to start their travels, maybe rent a flat and a minivan, find a job there, and travel around Europe and everywhere else. It's an entirely different expectation for college grads there compared to America, where everyone is so focused on starting their careers right after college.

We traveled to Vinh Long, where we walked around the markets. All the markets in Vietnam pretty much sell the same produce, meats, and other goods. At the end of the night, we took a bus ride to Can Tho and part of the tour group stayed at a hotel while another part participated in a homestay.

I opted in on the homestay and it was a little scary at first because we were transported by taxi at night to the village, and it took a while to get there because the taxi driver got lost in the darkness of the small alleyways of the small village. To top it off, it was raining and none of us knew what to expect with the homestay. When we arrived, we were greeted by one of the villagers, who took us on a boat to cross a small river to his home.

I assumed the homestay would be an authentic live-in experience where I would live with a family and do the things they do on a regular basis, but it was more of a "tourist" version of a homestay. Everyone who signed up for it were taken to this one family's home, but there were separate bungalows for each party, separate from the house that the host lived in. We all sat together at dinner and helped wrap spring rolls before they were fried. We then had a big meal of fresh fish spring rolls and fried vegetarian rolls (made of sweet potatoes and peas). But the tourists all had dinner together, and afterwards we all just sat and chatted for a couple hours.

It was good though to meet new people. Met a couple of people from Switzerland, a couple people from Singapore, and a couple people from the U.S. Learned a little about Singaporean politics and their economy, which is mostly service and manufacturing based. Since the country is so small, they have absolutely no agriculture, and pretty much imports all its food. They recently had an important election where some independent party members won some seats in the government, which was a big deal because the dominant political party - the People's Action Party has long been in full power since the country first gained independence. The country also requires men to serve in the military for a certain amount of time since the country is so small, similar to Israel. What was surprising was that they also had that requirement in Switzerland, even though it's a "neutral" country.

At the end of the night, we all toasted and had rice wine before retreating to our own bungalows.

Riding along the delta in Cai Be

Making rice paper - notice where the paper is being dried, which is where it get's its weaving pattern when you purchase it in the markets

Puffing rice to make rice desserts - The pieces of rice are cooked in a pan of hot black sand

Handling pythons at the honey bee farm. The fear is masked by the happy face.

A woman collecting sea snails in the canals

Rowing along the canals

My bungalow at the homestay

Wrapping spring rolls

Our homestay dinner