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Day Fifty-Three
Floating Markets on Mekong - Chau Dac
All sorted & down stairs in the restaurant area it was 6.45am & we were eating eggs for breakfast again. We had to check out of the hotel & get our passports back before we got on our coach which was ready to take us to the floating markets. We had read that the best time to get to the market was around 7.30am so we were pleased to be setting off early.
The journey to the boat which we had to get n in order to get to the floating market was only a 15 minute drive away so it wasn't long before we were seated on a boat & going along the river. As this was a different part of the Mekong River the sights whilst going to the floating markets were totally different than yesterday. This time we got to see houses which where on the waters edge & there where people getting washed in the water outside their homes.
Approaching the floating villages there was lots of tourist boats around so it seemed like a very popular sight to go & see. As we approcahed the markets we could not believe the amount of boats that were all trading on the water. The boats were very big & they where selling anything they could. The further we went in to the market on our little boats thats when other smaller boats came right up to our boat & was trying to sell us things. There was one lady who got her boat right up next to our tour boat & she had her little boy on board. He was holding a big bunch of bananas & was asking us to buy them. He was the cutest looking little thing & he was only about four years old.
We sailed around the markets seeing traders selling all kinds of different fruit & vegetables. On the end of peoples boats they used a tall bamboo stick which had what they were selling on the boat. The stick was raised in the air so that anyone buying would know exactly what each boat was selling. There was one boat & it must have had at least 10 different types of fruit & vegetables that it was selling. It was amazing to see how these people make money & how they survive as most of the people trading ere actually live on the boats.
We floated in & out of the boats for just under an hour then the tour guide told us that we would be visting a fruit farm so we could take a look at how all the different exotic fruit was grown. We sailed up to a small platform where we all got off the boat. As we entered in to the fruit farm there was a funky bamboo bridge which we had a chance to climb on. When I say bridge it was a thin piece of bamboo to walk on & it had handrails to grab either side. It was quite fun having a little walk along the bridge.
The fruit farm was huge & they grew everything. We got to see how jack fruit, papyaya, mangoes, pinapples & lots more fruit grew. We went in & out of fields & there were all kinds of bushes but unless you where told that they grew fruit they just looked like ordinary bushes & plants. After walking around for an hour we headed back to the boat. We had been told that we would be heading back to dry land to get on the coach which would take us in to town where we needed to change buses so we could begin to make our way to Chau Dac.
We approached the town centre & we got told that the people who were on the five day tour could go to see the markets but as we had about a four hour drive we had to get straight on the bus to set off for Chau Dac. On the new mini-bus & we got to see the new tour guide. He told us the plan of action for the next 24 hours. As we began to settle down the mini bus took off & we got ready for the long journey.
On the bus with us was two lovely Malaysian girls who we had been speaking to yesterday. As the bus drove along we all sat & chatted away. We were telling them all about Liverpool & England & they were absolutely fascinated expecially with how much things cost. That is when a couple from Switerland began to tell us how expensive it was where they lived & we couldn't believe it.
With the conversation over we decided to swtich on the laptop & watch a movie so we could kill a bit more time without sitting there board. Aout half way throught the movie & the mini-bus came to a stop. We were all wondering what was going on. We had been driving through a busy town but surely this wasn't Chau Dac as we hadn't been driving for long enough. The tour guide told us to leave all our belongings on the bus but we had to get off. He further explained that we had to cross the Mekong River & the only way to do this was but ferry. As the bus was in a big queue waiting to drive on to the ferry we had to walk ang get on a different one as it was too dangerous for us to stay on the bus whilst it drove on to the ferry.
We all piled on to a ferry which was really mad. It was a big massive ferry which had 3 floors that you could go on. We all decided to march up to the top as it was they veru top of the boat & we could get to see the whole of the Mekong River. Below on the very bottom floor it was crowed with motorbikes & cars which wanted to cross the river just like us. It didn't take long for us to get across the river but we then had to wait for our mini-bus which was on a different ferry to us. After a short wait we where back on the mini bus & back watching the rest of our movie.
It was about another two hours before we reached our destination. The mini-bus pulled up outside a little hotel in the outskirts of town & we all had to check in for the night. Our tour guide had told us about a little restuarant just down the road which was nice & reasonably priced. We decided to have a little rest in our room before we headed out for some tea.
After a little snooze we went out on to the street & there wasn't much around at all.There was no point in exploring because it was dark & if there was anything to see we would have probably got lost looking around to try & find it. In the little restaurant we sat down & ordered food but when it came it wasn't very nice but we ate it anyways as there was nowhere else to eat or not that we had seen.
Back in the hotel we chilled out & settled down for the night. We knew tomorrow would be a long journey in to Cambodia.............
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