Can Tho - The Mekong Delta

After Saigon, we decided to head south a bit to visit the Mekong Delta region, to a town called Can Tho ("Can-Tuh"). Since we live along the Mekong ("May-Kong") River in Tha Bo, it's nice to follow it's path throughout Thailand and beyond to see how life across it's waters flourishes. This was a particularly lively and fascinating segment of the Mekong because of the notorious floating markets that thrive throughout the Delta. 

We took the big, orange Phuong Trang bus to Can Tho, which took about 3-3.5 hours (Phuong Trang, operates with FUTA buslines, is a comfortable, reliable, and efficient bus company that we utilized a lot while getting around in the South of 'Nam - I'd recommend it if you're looking to take some trips down that way!). We booked our hilariously tiny hotel room which fit a bed and just enough space to open the door.

We shoved our bags under the bed and asked around for some information on the best way to explore the morning markets. Our hotel arranged for a couple of motorbikes to come pick the two of us up around 4 am the following morning and drive us down to the pier where a nice woman with a small boat was waiting for us with bananas and baguettes. We had the boat to ourselves, just us and our guide, and our snacks and we set off along the river to watch this outstanding commercial practice in action. 

Breakfast Baguette

River waters get quite muddy in the rainy season

It's way more fun than this picture may seem to indicate

The break of day cruise was cloudy and cool. It is incredible to see how people live in, on, and along the river. Some homes, shops, and restaurants pop up along the riverbanks, while other daringly dart from the shore straight into the river. Our jaws would drop as we drove along looking into homes where the wake of a boat would send rippling waves right through the open back door, sweeping across the exposed, concrete dining room floor, only to ebb back out the same way it came. Then, of course, there were those who lived right on the river itself, converting their commercial market boats to dually serve as their living quarters as well. As we putted along the early morning waters, we watched men emerge groggily from their curtained dwellings, crouch down and grip their toes over the brink where their boats met the misty Mekong air, and brush their teeth - splashing away the foamy lather by reeling up a bucket of the murky river water.

After a short while of observation, soon enough we wound up right in the middle of the morning market. The river deceivingly appeared to narrow as we slipped between the fruit and vegetable vessels that began to gather on either side. Rugged captains toting mounds of either gourds, watermelons, pumpkins, pineapples, papayas, or any other sort of other produce would proudly boast their wares by hoisting a prized sample up their masts. From afar you could spot the salesperson you needed by glancing at their "flag" and float on over to stock up for your restaurant, family, or business. As we gawked at this foreign spectacle, we spotted a zippy little boat which seemed to move at fast-forward speed amidst its larger counterparts. In a split-second this independent and creative vendor spun about in a perfect semi-circle to rest rib-to-rib with our small boat, the charmingly peppy mother/boat-driver and her son, brewing hot coffee for sale, right there in the belly of their boat. 

Watermelon Boat

Boat roof chicken

Not the norm at the market, but he's making it work

Our guide wove us through the market, enjoying the awe with which we regarded what was for her a daily spectacle: simply the way things worked. After leaving the market, we detoured down a smaller segment of the river to a small-scale rice-noodle factory, where we briefly observed the process by which this tasty staple of Vietnamese cuisine is made, but mostly just played with puppies. Then we hopped back on our boat for a tributary escapade through smaller, lesser-traveled channels of the river.

Instead of boats and commerce, we floated alongside jungle-esque greenery and natural solitude. Dodging branches and vines or just letting them brush our shoulders as we passed (or high-fiving them if we crossed them at the proper height), we watched as the sun came out almost as if it had waited all morning for us to get here so that we would not be too distracted by all the other busy happenings in order to appreciate it. The sun had allowed us time to enjoy the market fully in the comfortable cover of the clouds before it finally found us under the verdant roof of river vegetation, blinking through the fingers of the palm leaves, poking holes in the bamboo to spy on us even in the denser regions, and flickering across the meandering waters ahead of us. Admittedly, even with all of these beautiful surroundings, it was hard to stay awake. The warmth from the daylight and the pacified tempo of our boat kept lulling me close to sleep - but I resisted!

Contentedly, we made our sleepy way back to the pier after 4 hours along the rivers of the Mekong Delta. Although it was only 8:30am it felt as though we already had a whole day under our belts -- but we trekked on throughout town to find something to eat, inspired by the idea that within all of these little shops lay ingredients that may have rested on top of a pile on the deck of a boat just before.

**If you are planning on taking a trip to Can Tho to see these famed markets for yourself - I'd recommend making sure to take a small boat run by an independent local, such as the lovely woman in the photo below. We passed a couple of bigger, more touristy boats, but they're large and clunky and impersonal, plus they can't maneuver through the markets as well as a small boat, and wouldn't be able to make it down the smaller canals at all. Some people may stress the importance of "an English speaking guide" but we found that pretty irrelevant and unimportant. Our guide didn't speak English, but was wonderful and kind nonetheless, and we enjoyed ourselves just the same.

Our stay in Can Tho was relatively short, as it was the beginning of our trip and we were excited to start working our way up the country, but we enjoyed our short stay very much. We had some interesting culinary experiences here, and our first taste of Bia Hoi! We inquired at our hotel about some good options for local food. Sometimes this inquiry works out well, and the people you ask may give you their honest personal favorite hot-spots. Other times, they may take one look at you as a foreigner and steer you towards some "safe" spots that they've heard might serve french fries... This time, our accomplice was quite helpful and gave us directions to one of the tastiest places we ate in Vietnam: Babochi! Here they serve something called Bot Chien, which is essentially an open-faced, circular omelette of sorts with scallions and rectangular bits of potato. Before you dig in, make sure to pile on some chopped papaya, ground chili paste, and soy sauce - it is unexpectedly delicious. So that was lunch, and for dinner we went on a search to find a Bia Hoi place.

**Babochi is located on 16/4F Nguyen Viet Hong Street in Can Tho. Go there!






















In Vietnam they brew a very light local draft beer daily and distribute it to bars throughout the country; it is incredibly cheap (less than 25 cents per 12 oz glass), has no preservatives and is not regulated by any health agency. We set out to find a place to enjoy a glass with some locals. We stumbled upon a small place near some kind of pond-like region of water - the local watering hole. After we sat down and ordered our first Bia Hoi (which for some reason came out in a ginormous tin vessel), Bob got up to use the bathroom.



One of the men working there led him around the corner to show him the restroom, pointing out his array of animals in the back. Although there was no English spoken between them, Bob showed enthusiasm in his collection of fish and frogs and toads, took some photos, and returned to the table. A little later on we decided to order some snacks -- but we had only been in Vietnam a handful of days, and although I thought I had the main food groups under control...that was really not the case. The man who had escorted Bob to the bathroom enthusiastically pointed to one dish on the menu in which I thought I recognized the word for beef in, so we decided to go with his recommendation. This led to a big pile of fried-something on our table. It was like a fishy kind of chicken with bones all in it, but not small fish bones, bigger. I did not like it. I sat there like a sly, cheeky 6-year-old attempted to finagle the food on the plate into formations that would maybe, by some chance, make it appear as though I had eaten some of it. Bob was more of a trooper and stomached a few pieces before eventually giving up as well. At the end of the meal we walked out back by the animals, and Bob glanced in the tanks, noticing that the toad-tank, which previously held four captive amphibian friends, now contained only three. The man had pointed to the item on the menu most likely because he had misinterpreted Bob's enthusiasm for his "pet" display as a hungry lust for toad. Oops.

Four

Minus One

Equals Three

As we were walking around the following evening looking for a good place to eat, a Vietnamese man stood waiting inside a small food place and called out to us as he noticed us glancing at the words on the wall trying to see if we recognized anything. His English was good and he was very friendly. He very excitedly explained that he had met a med student from Germany the previous week as they were both traveling, and she was bringing her group of friends out to enjoy dinner with him at this restaurant. He was thrilled to invite us to eat with them, so they merged some tables together and the 8 of us foreigners sat down to eat with this kind man (who also lived in Thailand for a few years!), his best friend from growing up, and an older gentleman from town as well. The food was amazing, starting off with Banh Xeo - one of our favorite Vietnamese foods. Banh Xeo is like a thin, crispy, savory, fried "pancake"made from rice batter and stuffed with bean sprouts, green onion, and sometimes dried shrimp. There are many regional variations, but they're all amazing as far as we can tell. After that, they assembled the table for two different Hot Pots. Hot Pot just might be the most loved communal food among the Vietnamese and Thais alike. Basically it is a pot of stock that is brought out to the middle of the table with a flame lit underneath to keep things cooking; the raw noodles, meat, and vegetables are brought out on a platter separately, and you add them yourself, spooning out the cooked goods into your individual bowls. They love it! And it is pretty delicious and fun, so we understand. It was a wonderful way to end our stint in Can Tho, surrounded by good company, enormous quantities of delicious Vietnamese foods, and an overall kindness offered entirely by the desire for all of these people to learn something about different cultures and about one another.

Hot Pot!

Raw Stuff!

Banana sticky rice dessert wad

Popular Chess-like game in Vietnam

Balosca Cafe, just down the street from Babochi - great coffee and tea!

That's all Folks! (Don't worry, she's just sleepy we think)