To Can tho: a short day

January 12, 2007

Today will be a "short day", we decide to forego our cornflakes and have the hotel breakfast. It's unusual that they serve at as early as 6am, so we won't be much past our regular routine. We load our bikes in the lobby and sit in the fancy restaurant in our bike clothes and enjoy an omelet and coffee.

We find our way out of the city, not too noisy with horns but busy with bicycles and motorbikes. The sun is huge, orange and rising as we cross one of the many small bridges for the day, as the Lonely Planet says, the only hills on the flat Mekong Delta.

Gone are the sarongs, women in Vietnam wear loose pants with (mostly) matching tops. Sometimes not matching and with interesting color combinations. After months of seeing the main dress as sarongs it seems strange to see pants. Later in Cantho, Rachel wore her Thailand skirt and now almost feels out of place. Tops are mostly elbow length sleeves with a long sleeve shirt or jacket over, and some sleeveless and skimpy. So, after travelling in Muslim Indonesia and feeling exposed in a short top, it now seems ok. Amazing how environment determines comfort in what to wear.

The countryside is "same, same but different". We stop at a roadside cafe for a break, Rachel has the iced coffee, while Patrick decides to try the tea. He is served a tall skinny glass with ice, a straw and spoon; a small mug half filled with hot water and tea bag and a metal teapot. The ladies in the cafe showed him how to put it all together; pour the water from the mug into the ice then fill up with the teapot.

When we are only a few kilometers away from the city hotels, we stop for iced tea. Rachel has been thirsty most of the day, with water not quenching the thirst. This stop will make us more relaxed about finding accommodation. We both have been thinking Cantho would be a good place to stay to see the floating markets by boat, so we plan to stay and extra day.

We find the area best for hotels and find two side by side. A Dutchman across the street comes over to talk to Patrick, says the Hien Guesthouse around the corner is best. Rachel goes to check it out, there are two signs, and she follows the one down a long narrow alley, people keep pointing me on and finally meet a lady who own's the guesthouse. Rachel continues to follow her through a kitchen down an even narrower alley. The room is only one flight up, bright with a balcony and satellite TV....and hot water. Patrick has arranged a boat trip for tomorrow from the reception area before we've completely carried everything up.

After cleaning up, we take a walk toward the river, have lunch in the balcony restaurant of sandwiches and spring rolls. At the next table there are 2 Americans from Chicago, we chat with them, then walk more along the river and sit in the Park and watch the river traffic.

The evening after an early dinner, we spend relaxing, reading and watching BBC. We need to be up for the tour by 5am.