ultimatevietnamcambodia2015: Sunday 1st November. Can Tho City to Chau Doc

An 8am start this morning and the run of beautiful weather continued. The reason for this earlier start was to catch the action in the floating market, so we boarded a traditional diesel powered boat for a 45 minute ride down the Mekong to the market. The banks of the river were dotted with poorly constructed dwellings, many of which looked like they would disintegrate in a flood. The floating water hyacinth is common along the river and this tends to accumulate in pockets where river flow is impeded. Combined with rubbish floating in the river it tends to spoil the integrity of the river in places.

The floating market is just that. At least 30 good size timber boats anchor in the river and wait for boat traffic to make a purchase. There are a few small traders trying to earn some dong selling to tourists but most of the sales are for local consumption. Boats tended to specialize in produce, although a few had 2 or 3 different types of fruit and vegetables. I watched the outer leaves of cabbages being trimmed off for a sale and you can guess where all the rubbish ended up. Overall, the markets were a good cultural experience for everyday life on the Mekong.

There are few what you would call modern boats on the river. Most of the larger timber planked wooden boats are driven by diesels with shaft drives but there are many boats powered by motors mounted on the rear with very long shafts. (Thai style) These motors varied from small 4 stroke engines to quite large 6 cylinder petrol car engines. This type of propulsion has a distinct advantage in shallow areas of the river.

The road from Can Tho to Chau Doc runs west to the Cambodian border. The influence of the Mekong and its sub branches is evident along the whole route and it brings home the importance of the river in the lives of the South Vietnamese people.

We arrived at the Victoria Hotel around 2pm not quite knowing what to expect in this more remote town. We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the room and would rate it as one of the best of the trip so far. It has a distinct colonial feel about it that is reminiscent of the Das Cateras Hotel near Iguassu Falls. The timber is a glossy mahogany type wood with flooring matching the cupboards and huge desk. The outlook from each of our rooms is over the Mekong River.

Every now and then you get an unexpected highlight for the day and today was no exception. We headed off to a Cham village at 4pm with about half the group and gently motored up to a large floating village that farmed a variety of fish including basa and fresh water barramundi. Tinh threw in fish food to one of the baskets of fish and there was a feeding frenzy as they all competed for the corn pellets. From there it was on to the Cham village. Their jetty was very basic being supported on sticks with 2 pieces of 3x2 nailed between the sticks. Old pieces of timber were laid across to form the pathway. There was some interesting traditional craft being made and on sale and the children of the village were delightful. I had visited the remains of a Cham village in Central Vietnam 5 years ago and it was interesting to see where these Islamic people migrated to. We headed back about 5pm and the late afternoon light on the river and the buildings gave the whole panorama a special charm.