Mekong Delta, Vietnam
anything goes in vietnam
I took a bus from HCMC to Can Tho. In Can Tho, I stayed with another Couchsurfing host, Mai. She was the sweetest, spunkiest girl. She picked my up at the bus station on her motorbike. I piled on the back with my big backpack and we skidded out of there. I kept thinking I was going to fall off the back with all the weight flinging me backwards at every acceleration. We dropped off my bags at her house, where she lived with her parents and brother. The entrance to their home was through a little store. We drove the motorbike right through the store to her front door! I was so shocked (but the thing I learn very quickly is to NEVER be surprised by ANYTHING in Vietnam. This holds true for the three months that I was there).
She took me all around the first day. It was so nice sitting on the back of the bike, zipping through the town and even making our way to the countryside where she took me to a pagoda and told me all about her life living in Can Tho. She used to be a tour guide, so she had a lot of practice and knowledge of the area and not to mention - she's lived there her whole life!
Lunch with Friends
One afternoon, my host took me to her friends house for a lunch gathering. It was a lot of fun. We all sat around the table and enjoyed a hot pot together, my favorite! They also had a fun time showing me all of their fruit, since many of them I had never seen before!
Cai Rang Floating Market
During my stay with Mai, I didn't visit the floating market. I went a couple of weeks later when my friend, Danielle, who we then later traveled together throughout Vietnam for a few weeks! But during my stay with Mai, she told me a lot about the market. Her mother used to work on the floating market (and still does occasionally). She was telling me how the market has decreased in size and activity over the last years. This is due to the development of the town and shift in the generations. People are now going to the supermarkets to buy their food, so in turn - there are less people buying "wholesale" from the floating market.
It's amazing to see all of the boats out in the morning. The river is active by 5am and probably even before. We didn't get up too early to experience what was happening before the sun rose but heard many stories. All of the boats are filled with produce. One boat will sell one-three types of food. Whatever they are selling is hanging from a stick at the front end of their boat, so it can be easily spotted.
The river was bustling with chatter, and flying pineapples, cabbage, carrots (so forth) from one boat to another.
Rice Paper Factory
After the floating market, we took the boat to the rice paper factory. It was interesting to see how they made rice paper and noodles. One by one, they crank out sheet after sheet. The sheets are set out in the sun to dry, on top of bamboo mats. Then cut into noodles or left in rounds. Definitely are no health codes :)
