Lunch venue
Traditional songs and music
Someone decided to be a model...
Baiting the buaya
Coconut-candy making
These 2 idiots - Empress Dowager & Mermaid - made life miserable for the rest in the bus. Noisy, inconsiderate, loud, domineering ... the epitome of the Ugly Tourist
We disembarked at Vinh Long and had some time to walk around and explore - a pretty small town with a main market. We set off for Can Tho - had to take a ferry across in order to reach Can Tho, rather time-consuming, esp the trip back where the ferry crossing took more than an hour. Can't wait for the Can Tho Bridge to be up, but because of the accident where 50 over workers died, the bridge project has been delayed.
Vinh Long Market
Seems like they only sell packet shampoo; it's everywhere
Walking the streets of Vinh Long
The crowd in the ferry
The ferry terminal
Can Tho is a bigger town than Vinh Long. The hotel was really basic - nothing like the budget hotels in Pham Ngu Lau. But for the price we pay Sinh Cafe, guess it's not fair to complain. And the coach was good and comfy, which made up for the basic accom. The life of the town is along the riverside and there are some nice restaurants there. The other parts of town seem rather quiet at night except for the Co-op Mart and the Maximart.
The ferry carrying vehicles and people
Our very basic room
Hoa Phuong Hotel - note : no elevators
The view from hotel, the orange building is Maximart
River side night scene - love that Uncle Ho statue
The next day, we visited the famous Cai Rang Floating Market but there was no guide to explain to us what was happening there - a disappointment (3 boats but 2 guides). It was lunch after that and then we had to make our way back to HCMC. A lot of time is spent travelling on the coach.
Can Tho Market - nice place to walk around
Cai Rang Floating Market
Bright pink eggs laid by some snails
Compare Sinh Cafe boats (left, of course) and Saigon Tourist boats (right)
Entrance to fruit orchard where we spent quite some time
Uncle Ho standing tall
Click on the photo to see the uncompleted Can Tho Bridge
The schedule goes like this :
0800 Depart on time for Cai Be, 120km away
1030 Reach Cai Be; Boat ride to see floating market
Landed to see coconut candy making, pop rice, handicrafts etc
1200 Long boat ride to lunch point
1245 Lunch
1340 Traditional music perf
1410 Depart lunch point for Vinh Long, 27 km away
1425 Reach Vinh Long; own time
1510 Depart for ferry point
1610 Reach ferry point
1645 Reach hotel; own time
0630 Simple basic buffet breakfast
0710 Depart hotel
0740 Boat ride to Cai Rang Floating Market
0900 Fruits Orchard
1015 Depart orchard
1030 Reach Rice-husking place (waste time)
1045 Go back to start point by boat
1100 Board bus for lunch point
1115 Lunch on your own
1220 Set off for ferry point
1230 Reach ferry point; jam
1410 Finally reach other side
1500 Passed Vinh Long Bridge
1530 Passed Cai Be
1825 Reach Sinh Cafe, HCMC
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