Day 69 - Floating markets of Can Tho and Bus to Chau Doc

Woke up today at 5 am ready to go to the floating markets. Last night's rest was horrible. The bed was so worn that there was a body ditch in the mattress and no back support. I should have slept on the floor.

We were picked up at the guest house at 5:30am and brought to the riverfront to have tea and lead to a boat by a different person and were told our guide would be joining us later. That was weird. In a time frame of 30 min we were lead by 3 different people. In spending about 3 weeks in Vietnam, I've noticed how a lot of things don't make much sense.

We were taken onto the water to see the sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful. We then made our way to Cai Rang floating market. the more touristy of the 2 we were to see today. It was amazing how much stuff people sell. All the boats had long sticks in the air to which whatever fruits or veggies they were selling were tied for everyone to see. It was great to see the people interacting on the boats. The boats were in fact huge, large enough to live on.

As we started to leave for the next market, a guy jumps on our boat from another. I couldn't figure out what was going on until i realized he was our tour guide as he just finished work at his primary job as a hotel concierge. So random! On the way we stopped at the rice paddys but didn't really see much but flooding. This area was still completely flooded. In this area was the most unstable bridge across the water built of a series of single branches of bamboo with a few sticks in the water for support. It seriously looked like a 4 year old child's attempt at building a bridge while telling his father he wants to be builder when he grows up. Yes, I climbed across it. The "monkey bridge" was super unsturdy and about 10 feet above water level. On the other side I was hoping to see a village but instead I was disappointed when there was nothing and the only reason why we crossed the bridge was to well, cross it. I don't get it. I'm sure the tour guide gets foreigners to cross the bridge just to laugh at them.

After this we headed to Phong Dien the other floating market which was less touristy than the last one. It was way less touristy and slightly disappointing because the boats were smaller and there were only a few of them. We actually ended up buying stuff here though, 5000D for 1 kg of guavas. So incredibly cheap.

After the trip our guide accompanied us to the market to buy some fruit that we'd wanted to try such as rambutan (14000D/kg ~$0.75), jack fruit(15000D/kg ~$0.85) and dragon fruit (15000D/kg). I can't stop thinking about how the fruit over on this side of the world is so incredibly cheap and sweet. The bananas are still my favourite. I'll never look at a banana the same way ever again. I won't be able to eat the starchy bananas back home after this.

We were lucky enough to have our tour guide book us on Mai Linh bus to Chau Doc to get closer to the Cambodian boarder for this evening at 5 pm. This was the most uncomfortable bus ride ever. The driver was absolutely insane and overtook EVERYONE. The road was so bumpy and full of potholes that I was being bounced out of my seat. I had to take a Dramamine to make sure i didn't throw up all over the place.

We arrived at 8 pm, completely lost as they chucked our stuff out of the minibus. Quick to find out that this was definitely a tourist town when I got out of the bus to the minute I stepped into the hotel by cyclos and rickshaws. Thank god I leave tomorrow by boat down the Mekong to Cambodia.