We booked a boat and bus combo from Phnom Penh to Can Tho, Vietnam. Even though Can Tho is on the river, there apparently is no longer boat service into the town so we had to transfer to the slower bus route. The boat took us across the border and into the first main town. We could tell that we were finally off the typical backpacker trail when the boat left with only four passengers and it could have probably held about 50. The boat ride was very relaxing as we cruised down the Mekong River (it was nice to not be jostled around by the dirt roads for half the trip).

We decided on visiting Can Tho because Sara’s dad was stationed there in 1970 during the Vietnam war. It was much different than he remembered. Back then is was just a town but now it is quite the city. The primary mode of transportation is motorbike and they zoom past like schools of fish!

Sara found a free food tour for us to do that night. It was hosted by a young Vietnamese man, Thoai, and he lead us to 5 different local restaurants. At each location, we tried a local specialty. Each restaurant was strictly Vietnamese, no English menus, and Thoai had to order for the group. Here is a description of the food at each restaurant in the order we tried it:

1. Make it yourself spring rolls – an array of fillings including cucumber, banana, carrots, baby corn, ginger, lettuce, pineapple, lemongrass, mint, rice (but thin noodles that formed a kind of sponge), pork and some other vegetables that we were not familiar with wrapped in rice paper.
2. Pork muffin – this savory muffin was a unique family recipe where the batter contained peas, pork is stuffed inside and a prawn placed on top before deep frying the muffin twice. It was served with mustard greens and mint to wrap around sections of the muffin.
3. Mouse and eggplant – the mouse was served as 5 small pieces that had been grilled. The eggplant dish also contained pork and was served in a pot that was cooked at the table.
4. Sticky rice dessert – a waffle wrapped around two types of sticky rice with sugar and coconut.

Everything that night was great, but the mouse was my favorite. Sara loved the pork muffin and even insisted we have it again the next night! Thoai was an awesome tour guide and you could really tell he loved sharing his culture (his name means talking and it was very fitting)! The four course meal (including a few drinks) and a tip for Thoai only cost $10 USD per person!

The next morning we had to wake up early again to go on a tour of the floating market. The tours all leave at 5:30 because that is when the markets are most active. We didn’t know what to expect while waiting at our hotel but a few minutes later a woman walked up and beckoned us to follow her. We follow and after picking up another tourist we make our way to the river. The four of us hop on her small longtail boat and set off. As we slowly cruised down the river, our driver made many reed souvenirs for us, including bracelets and a crown. The floating market wasn’t as compact as I expected. About 30 larger boats were anchored in the river while smaller boats tied up and loaded goods. We couldn’t figure out how everyone knew who was selling what until I looked up and saw a watermelon tied to a flagpole. Looking around, every large boat had the items they were selling tied up high so everyone could see.

After the market we continued on to the “small canal” part of the tour. This consisted of turning off the main river into a small canal. Pretty self explanatory but it was really neat. We made our way down this windy canal turning this way and that as our driver pointed out various trees in her limited English. At one point she told us to get out and walk. We walked through a rice field then across a rickety “monkey bridge” made up of just bamboo. The way back to the hotel was quite relaxing. I almost fell asleep several times.

That afternoon we visited a nearby park. All of the parks seemed so inviting because they were all full of families playing and enjoying the evening. What stood out most though was the amount of kites flying – they were everywhere! It seems like it’s the national past time! Sitting in the park and watching everyone make the most of their evening was very romantic. Another aspect we enjoyed about Can Tho was the people! As we walked around, all the kids said hello to us or even their parents would encourage them to say hello. It was very cute to see how much they enjoyed seeing tourists. I am glad we made it off the normal tourist route and had the ability to gain these experiences.

We have time for one more stop before leaving Vietnam… Off to have some fun and go Kiteboarding in Mui Ne!