Vietnam – Part 5 (final part)
The day started bright and early and after a lovely breakfast with lots of dragon fruit (pitaya) it was time to check out and wait for the minivan to pick us up and bring us to Ho Chi Minh City. This trip was about 4 hours which I mostly spend looking outside, spotting people carrying just about everything on their motorbikes.
Around midday we arrived in the biggest city of the country. We thought Hanoi was busy, well it was nothing compared to Saigon!
From the busstation we hopped on a Grab taxi to the hotel and as soon as we were settled in we got on another taxi to go check out an abandoned school in one of the less touristy parts of the city. It looked like a pretty poor neighbourhood and rats were crawling about. First impression, no I didn’t like the city.
We found no entry to the school and some local vendors in front told us ‘no’ when we tried to ask if they knew a way in. We even tried the local counsil but they told us they weren’t the owners and had no idea who was.
So we got back in a taxi and went to “The Cafe Appartments”. This was an old 9-storey appartment building which was converted into a hip building with small restaurants, café’s and shops. We had some food here: Shrimp with Pitaya. It was lovely but…it would turn out to be a problem in days to come.
The next morning we took a minivan at 7:00 am for a 2 hour drive to one of my fave locations of the whole trip! An abandoned villa/hotel of which the owner was story goes that the owner was found guilty of fraud and was sentenced to death. Hence the building was never finished and now stands abandoned.
There are some people living on ground floor level who let you go inside to photograph for a few Vietnamese Dong. Good business for them, while we were there we saw quite a few wedding shoots and other photographers.
We were just on a return trip to this coastal city and at 1:00 PM we had to be ready to catch our minivan back to Ho Chi Minh city. We booked the drop off and pick up location at a hotel close to the villa. That must have confused the company because they called to check if it was right that we were going back the same day.
Before heading back there was just enough time for me to hop onto the beach and stand in the South Chinese Ocean. My friend stayed with the camera gear, he was starting to feel a little sick…
When we got back in Saigon we were on a tight schedule because that evening we would travel to Can Tho by: Semi Sleeper Bus! Now this was an expecience!!!
We first got on a normal bus which would take us to the main busstation were we got on this bus with ‘cabins’. Every person had one and you could close the curtains for privacy. It was actually quite comfortable in them but I was glad I managed to sleep for part of the trip because the driving was terrifying!! The driver kept signaling with his horn when overtaking others and every now and then he would hit the breaks so hard that I really thought we were about to crash.
My friend didn’t notice much, he slept the whole way.
We arrived in Can Tho at about 11:00PM and took a Grab Taxi to our homestay. We went straight to bed because the next day we would rent some motorbikes and travel about to check some abandoned places.
The next morning the ‘Shrimp with Pitaya’ stood in the way of those plans. My friend woke up with a fever and he was so miserable that I decided that it would be best to go see a doctor. So I went online and figured out which hospital was best and took him there.
When we walked up to the info desk, they immediately called a translator for us. Perfect! First we had to register, then see a doktor to explain the complaints. Then some blood samples had to be taken. When the results were in, back to the doctor who told us that there was an infection so the doctor ordered an echo as well. The verdict accoring to the doctors: his bowels were infected. To be honest, we think food poisoning because he had noticed that one of the shrimp still had its intestinal tract in it when he was eating it.
The doctor prescribed some for drugs. ‘Horse tranquilizers’ painkillers and some drugs to calm his stomach and bowels. Total costs of this trip to the hospital: not even € 60,00!!
Eventhough the medication started to work pretty soon after Leon took the first pill, we still decided that it would be best to keep it calm the rest of the day. We went to the city and I walked along the market to buy some fruit and a coconut.
We discussed the plans for the next day. We were only in Can Tho for two days and that next day we would travel back to Ho Chi Minh in the afternoon. So instead of our initial plan to tour the country by motorbike, we decided to book a tour on the Mekong Delta!
We strolled to a hotel where one of the touropperators who offered early morning tours had their office and booked a tour for the next morning.
At the homestay our lovely host made us dinner which we could eat in our room. Leon was fortunately feeling better and also had some dinner.
Mekong Delta & Floating Markets Tour
The next morning we woke up way before sunrise to go on the Mekong Delta & Floating Market trip. To be honest, I really DON’T mind that we had to change our plans. I absolutely LOVED the tour. We were lucky to be on a private Sampan (small boat, normally seated 4 but there were no others) with a young guy as a translator & our captain.
We got on the boat when it was still pitch dark and after a while the sun started to rise. What an amazing experience! After a few hours we got to “Chợ nổi Phong Điền” which was a small floating market where there were more locals than tourist. Here our guide bought several fruits for our breakfast.
Breakfast was made on shore at a small local place. We could sit on a deck looking out at the river. After breakfast it was time to go to “Cai Rang Floating Market”. This is a large market where most tourist boats go to. It was nice to see the big ships with all sorts of food products, but I prefered the smaller market. The large ships had poles attached to them displaying what was for sale: cabbage, pineapple etc. etc.
After floating around the market a bit and eating a delicious pineapple it was time to head into the smaller canals of the Mekong Delta. Now this more like it! Riding along typical Vietnamese houses, passing under bridges to reach our next stop: a tropical orchard. Here we had some local fruits and a drink and then headed on to a family’s traditional Noodle house.
Here we watched noodles beeing made and got a plate of ‘Noodle Pizza’ which didn’t look like a pizza at all but was very tasty! After this the tour was over. Our captain brought us back to the pickup point and a minivan dropped us off at the homestay. Time to pack & go back to Ho Chi Minh for our last night in Vietnam.
And so our trip through Vietnam came to an end. It was a very exhausting one and on the flight back home I wasn’t sure wether is was a fun one or one I’d never ever do again. I had mixed feelings about the country and the people. Now that I am writing this blog, I must admit that it actually was an amazing trip afterall!
