Day 3 - Mekong Delta

Guy on car ferry

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Left HCMC bright and early bound for the Mekong delta. But this first involved getting out of the city. Thinking that it may actually be safer in a mini-van than on foot, I was quickly proved wrong as we were ferried from the tourist office to the Mien Tay bus station, south of town. The further away from the centre we got, the proportion of buses and trucks versus scooters inexorably increased.

It was all fine going straight ahead down wide boulevards, until we hit these enormous roundabouts, big enough to rival the arc de triomphe. Here, 3 tonne trucks gracefully serenaded cars and scooters - exiting the roundabout required some extremely precise surgery on the part of the driver.

At the bus station, our ride turned out to be totally sweet. It was an aircon 15 seater, complete with curtains! Luckily it was comfy, because 6 hours later we were still on it. The road to Chau Doc is great in parts, and gravelly in others. There were a million bridges to cross as we dissected the million and one tributaries the Mekong splits into. Crossing the mighty river on a car ferry was the highlight of the trip.

Engrish

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Chau Doc is a simple little town, arranged around a central market. We scored a room for $US8, and although big and spacious, it was on the 3rd floor, and stiflingly hot. We took a stroll around town, past a massive compound which looked to be a collection of different schools. The older kids were engaging in some kind of athletic activities while the younger ones had finished for the day, and were running around madly on the street, yelling Hello and waving to us. A group of little girls then cornered Adam, demanding to shake his novelty oversized hand. Too cute!

We found a little bar down the road, and settled in for some beer and spring rolls. We were approached by a cyclo driver, who sat with us and chatted for a while. We agreed to go with him to a smaller bar, where he said there was Bia Hoi on tap - we had only sampled Bia Saigon thus far. The bar was really a small shack on the street at the edge of town, with no other tourists in sight. The Bia in question came out of this enormous pressurised vat, and better yet it cost about 30c for 2 litres!

Delta

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The bar also sported a karaoke machine, which of course I couldn't help but try out. Our driver had been going on about Hotel California, so of course I tackled that one first, before trying my hand at Here Comes The Sun, Eye of The Tiger and even Ice Ice Baby!

Our driver then persuaded us to go for a massage - I was surprised Adam was so up for it. Even though we were on adjacent beds, it didn't stop Adam's masseuse from trying to lure him out the back, making "kissy kissy" noises. I was oblivious, but Adam said she eventually stopped after some time. The massages were a steal at 80,000 dong each - about $5.

We then went back to crash, as we had to be up at 6am for our slowboat down the Mekong trip the next day.