Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day Fifty-Two
Leaving Saigon - Arriving in Cantho
It was a mega early start & breakfast was quickly rammed down & the rest was taken with us to eat along the street as we walked to the tour office. We had been told that we needed to be at the tour office by 7.15am as the buses leave on time. We got to the tour office & placed our big heavy bags on the ground. It wasn't long before the bus arrived & we had to load our things on & take a seat. It was quite a big coach that they had put us on & I was worried as we had been told that the tour group would be small.
When everyone was sat on the bus the tour guide stood at the front of the bus & asked us for the first part of our reciept as we had a pack which contain reciepts for every section of the tour. Once all the reciepts where given in we were all told that there was several tour groups on the bus. People who were on the 2 day tour, people on the 3 day tour (us) & then people on the 5 day tour, so that was a relief to hear. We had been told that it would take around 3 hours to get to our 1st destination of Cantho. That was it, as soon as we knew that then it was sleepy time for me for 3 hours.
For the whole journey I drifted in & out of conciousness, with being up very early it doesn't half take its toll. We eventually arrived Cantho & we where told that we could leave our big bags on the bus but to take aything valuable like money with us as we where going on a boat ride along the Mekong River & we were going to be taken to see lots of nice things along the way before stopping for lunch. As there was a few of us we had to get two boats. With us all settled down on the boats they took off down the river. It was great to see other boats on the river especially working boats which people use to survive.
We cruised on the boats for at least 45 minutes taking in the sights along the river. We had also started to chat a man from Malaysia & he was giving us lots information about Singapore, places to go & see whilst we where in Malaysia after Christmas. The boat pulled down a very small inlet & there was lots of over hanging trees. We really were going deep in to the Mekong & seeing how people used the Mekong to get the best out of their lives. The boats finally came to a stop at what looked like a factory. We all had to climb off & up the embankment.
We were right inside a proper factory. Unusually we had been taken to a brick factory but the further we went in to the factory the more fascinating it became. There where bricks everywhere & there were all kinds of bricks & all kinds of colours. The tour guide had began to explain about the uses for the different bricks & he took us to where lots of bricks where stored. There was an oldish lady who had a wheel barrow type of cart which needed to be pulled along manually & she was filling up this big massive cart with heavy bricks & moving them all on her own.
He took us futher in to the brick factory & there where people making the bricks. As we stood around & watched there was a man & a young girl that were making the bricks as the older lady was taking the finished products away. The man was loading the machine with the clay as the young girl was standing in a ditch which meant she was stood slightly lower than the machine. She was cutting the bricks to the exact same size as the next then loading them on to the carts. The remaining clay she threw back in the machine which was about 3 metres away not missing one shot at all.
We got some free time to look around the brick factory by ourselves. We stumbled on these big round rooms which had been made from bricks. Inside there were thousands of bricks all stored & piled high. The rooms had been designed in a away which made them look like domes. They had a big circular holes in the top which allowed the hot beaming sun to shine through & dry the bricks. It looked like it was a very effective method of drying bricks using natural resources.
From the brick factory we all got back on to the little boats as we were getting taken to somewhere else for us to explore around. We slowly travelled further down a part of the Mekong & it seemed like we were getting to more & more remote parts which can only be reached by boats. We passed big boats which had lots of water coconuts on which had been picked from different parts down the river. The boat came to a stop again this time on the other side of the river inlet. We were all told that we had to get off the bus as we where going to see a coconut candy factory & sample some coconut candy.
As we entered in the to coconut candy factory it was virtually out doors with a big area that was covered by a straw roof. Inside there was a little production line. On the floor was lots of coconuts piled high by a small grinding machine which desecated the coconut so it was ready to be cooked with lots of sugar & other ingrediants. There was a young girl that was sitting stiring massive bowls of candy mixture. There bowls where sitting on boiling water which kept the mixture melted.
Once the mixture was cooked & ready, it was left to go slightly hard & thats when another lady would separate the sticky mixture & rub it on to a wooden board which had sections in it to make perfect lines of coconut candy. When the mixture cooled & went even harder, it was transfered to a chopping board where it would be cut evenly ready for the little girls to wrap up & package away ready to be sold. It looked like it was a family product of coconut candy. We got to try all the sweets that they were making & we found one that we liked so we bought a little bag of it to take away.
We were then shown to small round tables where we were told that we would be given Cambodian tea & exotic fruit for us to try. As we were waiting we noticed that there was a big wire cage sitting on the grass outside so we went to have a look. Inside was a massive snake which we were looking at. Next minute the man had the snake out & he let me touch it & put it around my neck. Andy also had it around his neck too. Next minute everyone had jumped on the band wagon, hahahaha!
The fruit came to the tables so we went & sat back down. We got given the smallest bananas that you would ever see & lots of other fruit like jack fruit, mangoes, papaya & pineapples. In fact there was all kinds of fruit that we were trying. After everyone had fnished their fruit we were taken down a very narrow path & through the side of some bushes. We had been led on to a back dusty road where there where motorbikes which had carts attached to them.
In the back of the carts there were benches for us to sit on, so we all climbed on board. We had sat next to two young malaysian girls which were really nice to talk to. Also on our cart was an old Vietnamese man with his wive & son. He had began to explain that he moved to America & had come back to Vietnam with his son to show him where he grew up & the life he lived. He was a very fascinating man.
We were all taken on a short journey through back road villages on these carts to the place where we would be eating lunch. We had arrived at a restaurant which had big tables under straw roofs but it was out in the open. We sat down & ordered our drinks. When the food came to our table there was a young girl that was stood serving us & I felt really bad because we could fill our own plates but she insisted on doing it for us. The food was nice & it was really traditional Vietnamese grub which was nice to see. On our table was another couple from England but they seemed pretty posh even though the man worked out in Vietnam. We all sat around the table for & hour or so gabbing away to each other.
It was time to make a move & go on to the next place. We were told that we would be getting back on a bigger boat which would then take us back to the harbour where we first started as we would then be getting back on the bus & heading to Cantho. We sat on the boat ready to go when I had realised I had left my false teeth in Andy's pocket whilst I was having my dinner so I asked him to get them out of his pocket for me. As he got them out of the pocket we heard them drop on to the floor of the boat. We looked all over the floor & we couldn't see them anywhere till we spotted a hole down the side of the boat. Surely they couldn't have bounced down underneath the boat, there was only one hole on the floor of the boat & they could not have gone down there, surely they couldn't have?! Oh just great, they had gone down underneath the boat & there was no chance I was getting them back.
Andy sat on the boat fuming with himself that my very expensive false teeth had done a bunk underneath this small boat which had about 20 people on it. I don't think there was anything we could do about it apart from just getting on with things. To make matters worse the boat couldn't turn around in the tiny part of the river where we had got on so the boat was actually stuck between the two embankments on the river. This was turning in to a disaster! As the driver of the boat tried to turn the boat back around the boats engine failed & there was no way the boat was going to be moving anywhere at this rate. Everybody on the boat just sat around looking at each other. We didn't have a clue what we could do or what would be happening next.
The boats engine got going again so the worried look on our faces quickly disappeared only to be brought back again when the engine failed for a second time. The tour guide just sat there as there was nothing else that he could possibly do to make the situtation any better. The boat finally got turned around in the direction that we needed so at least the boat could slowly drift down the inlet & in the direction we needed to be heading in. The driver of the boat soon had the engine to pieces & he was clunking around with some tools. The boat soon got going again only for it to fail again but this time there was lots of smoke coming from the middle of the small boat like it was going to explode. The tour guide started to panic at this point & it wasn't long before he was on the telephone calling for a different boat came along to pick us up.
As everyone had got of the boat we decided to ask the tour guide if it was possible for the boat floor boards to be lifted up so we could see if my teeth were underneath. We sure got a few strange looks from the tour guide & the other people on the tour too. The driver must have been in turmoil as his engine was broke & we wanted to rip the floor boards up on his boat to see if my teeth where there. Sure enough all the deck chair type of seats where all moved to the back of the boat whilst the boards got ripped up. As we looked around in the dirty murky water under the boat we thought that they had gone for sure until I seen them shining in the water. I quickly grabbed them & threw them in my bag before I could lose them again.
All settled on the new boat it didn't take long before we reached the harbour point where we first got on to the boat. All the other tour people who had been on the first boat load of people heading back to the coach where standing around & looking at the stradlers coming in. They had to wait at least over an hour for us to get back. Time to all pile back on the coach so we could make the couple of hours journey to Cantho & to the hotel where we will be staying for the night.
It wasn't long before we were alseep on the coach as it had been a long stressful day already & we were only half way through. As we arrived at the hotel I think we were glad to get off so that we could get some food & settle down for the night. With our hotel room sorted we checked in & made our way up the stairs with our big bags. The tour guide had said that we now had free time to do whatever we wanted but we needed to be up & seated for breakfast by 6.30am the next morning.
After chilling in the room for a little while we decided that we needed to go & grab some food. On the way to the hotel we spotted a KFC which wasn't too far from where we were so we thought it would be a good idea to go & eat there instead of trawling the streets for food. Off we set back along the road trying to find KFC. We went up & down streets & big main roads for at least & hour but we couldn't seem to find KFC anywhere. We passed a burger place so we decided to give up & just eat in there but as we went in & asked them for what we wanted they told us that they had no burgers... How can a burger place not have any burgers? - Stupid if you ask me! That was it then, the KFC hunt was back on.
We walked further & further around the streets but there was still no sign of KFC. We were both getting really tired as it was getting really late & we had searched for KFC for over & hour & a half (in desperation). We decided to give up the game & head back towards our hotel & just grab some food there. On the way back we spotted a small pizza type of place so we just went in & sat down. We ordered some food but when it came it wasn't very nice at all but we ate it because we where hungry.
Finally back in the hotel after such a long day we needed to make sure that we had a decent nights sleep as it was another early start tomorrow & another long day. We are going to see the floating markets tomorrow & we can't wait - This is why we came to the Mekong Delta...........
- comments