Chau Doc-Can Tho, Vietnam: 21 Apr 07

The breakfast started at 6am. We took breakfast and there was a guide from Saigon to entertain us. After all logistics and bla bla bla, we set off at around 7.30am, if i remember correctly. We took rowing boat to fishing farm and Cham (a muslim ethnic group) weaving village. Then it was almost 1.5 hours bus ride to an incense making 'factory' (it doesn't look like a factory at all) and crocodile farm. After this, another hour of bus ride to Can Tho. It was 1pm by then. Free and easy (you are one your own) for the rest of the day.

My first lesson learnt in Vietnam, if you write the price, don't write "D". It will be mistaken as "0" (zero). Just write "Dong" or just ignore the currency sign. The story went by (short version), i lost my way after i went inside to a market and used different exit to come out. So i hired a moto driver to bring me to river side. He lost his way but managed to send me there by getting another driver to lead us the way. Upon arrival, he demanded 30,000 Dong. i said we agreed on 3000 Dong! So it was ten times the price! Then i finally realized that, he got my "D" mistaken as zero. For such a short journey, i was really a great over charged (around USD 3). Since he got me to the place and obviously he couldn't understand me, so i saw no point to fight over a few dollar. i just paid him and walked away. Learnt my lesson with 2 USD, not a big deal.

i took some kind of pan cake and drink at the river side restaurant. i wasn't willing to pay that much of money for my meal again, main course was around 90,000 Dong (USD 5, while the normal meal could be 10,000 Dong, less than one USD). The breeze from the river was a bliss to the heat. i then took an hour's walk to walk back to the guesthouse. Went to two modern shopping malls on the way. Not very big but i wonder in a place like this, can supermarket survive? i personally would prefer to get the vegetable from market rather than supermarket. May be aircon is the selling point then.



A buddhist cum taoist temple in Chau Doc town.



Rowing boat.



"Kelong" or fish farm on the lake.



The Cham girl weaving clothes.



Incense making.



Well, the very touristic crocodile farm.



Can Tho town.


MONEY MATTER:
1.) Food - 35,4000 Dong
2.) Transport - 30,000 Dong
3.) Others: Internet - 3500D

Chau Doc, Vietnam - 20Apr07

From Cambodia to Vietnam, by Mekong River

i bought the ticket from Capitol tour at USD 7. It was mentioned as 'express' boat, but it was a slow boat. The bus to the river supposed to set off by 8am, but like usual, there was a delay for 40 minutes. The first hour of the road was ok, but the other one hour towards the end of the journey, due to the construction of the road, it was bumpy and very dusty. The aircon of the mini van was not working, so we had to choose either heat or dust.

The slow boat took around 2 hours to reach the custom of Cambodia. The guide from Capitol tour told us what to do, so no problem. We left our bags in the boat. This continued with another probably 15 minutes of boat ride, then we reached Veitnamese border. We had to carry our own bags, as there was a change of boat. We paid a 2000 Dong to get a piece of whatever paper to the custom or whatever government agency (i did not understand what is said by the guide, so i did not know who and what we paid for). i changed USD 1 to Dong with the guide because the rate was not good, 1 USD to 15000Dong. Then we handed over our passport to the Vietnamese guide and said bye bye to the Cambodian guide. We was asked to wait in a cafe for the guide to get our passport stamped. It was around 1pm then, the restaurant staff would show you their menu, so it is up to you to buy something or not. Price was around USD 1 - 2 (Luckiliy i got my own food). After half an hour, we got our passports backed, carried our backpacks for X ray and we were on the other boat. This boat ride took us almost 2 hours to reach Chau Doc and was more scenic than the previous Mekong ride then.

The guide gave out a brochure (from Sinh Cafe) regarding on Mekong Delta Tour. No hard selling, just let him know if you wanted to join. i took a 2 Days 2 Nights tour. It was around 4.30pm by the time we got to Chau Doc. So i got this night for 'free', then tomorrow night for 'free' at Can Tho too. This trip was USD 26, i supposed to pay another USD 10 for single room, but the guide waived it off because of i am a Malaysian and solo female.

i walked around Chau Doc town once i settled down. There was a beautiful buddhist temples and i walked around the market. The biggest problem i found here was, i have nothing to eat. People don't understand English or Chinese and i couldn't find vegetarian food. i ended up bought a lot of fruits as my meal and back up supplies.



The cottages by Mekong River.



The kids are normally keen to waive at foreigners.



The "Express Boat".



MONEY MATTER:
1.) Food: 35000D
2.) Package tour including accommodation: USD 26
3.) Others: 2000D
<1 USD = 15000D ; 10 USD = 15500D>