🙂 Authentic! Sights, smells and sounds – blissful.
🙁 Hot! Fighting roosters.
Saturday, 4 May 2019 38C – 24 year Wedding Anniversary
This was one of the absolute highlights of our trip! Friends had recommended this trip with Tan Doan (tanbikervietnam@gmail.com) to us as they had also enjoyed it immensely.
Day 1: Sai Gon- Cai Be-Vinh Long ( L,D) Cycling 40- 55km:
We left at 07h30 hotel for an easy hour drive out of busy HCM to Cailay, which is the gateway to the Mekong Delta. WE collected our bikes and goyt ourselves aquatinted!
The ride led us on narrow concrete paths through tropical gardens of durian, jack fruit. There are paths along natural canals weaving through quiet hamlets and across rivers aol of which makes for superb biking. We carefully crossed restricted bridges with no sides – although our nerves got the better of us on some! Locals simply beeped and zoomed past us on their vespas with mm to spare! The fully laden vesas were a sight to behold!
It was absolutely excruciatingly hot and we stopped for very welcome sugar cane juice!
The sweetness restored our energy levels! We cycled on and then stopped for ice creams! Tan knew how to keep us motivated!
We stopped at little local store and watched a man making rice pop corn, coconut candy (delicious!) and rice wine – he also sold rice wine with scorpions and cobras floating in the bottles! Apparently good for the libido! Tan gave us each a gift to say thank you for cycling with him.
We sampled the rice popcorn but not the wine infused with cobra!
We took a boat trip to discover the area around Caibe, including the floating market where fruits vegetables are hung on the bamboo poles in front of the boats advertising what is for the sale. A fascinating insight into rural life on the Mekong.
We then crossed the upper Mekong River and cycled to our Homestay for the night. Along the way we could hear and smell that cooking was in preparation for the evening … the delicious smell wafted out at us combined with incense and roosters (in their cages as they are all used for fighting!) crowing as the sun got lower – it really was magical…
Finally arrived at our lovely homestay on the river – such friendly people. Relaxed in a hammock with some Vietnamese (!) wine to recover from the heat …
After our shower the owners invited us to come and cook with them – we had a great time making spring rolls which were delicious – but it was very hot in the kitchen and open fire. We loved the way that they presented the food … 🙂
The baby was sooo cute!
It was a lovely evening in a really homely environment. We headed off to bed feeling full.
Sunday, 5 May 2019 – 38C – Vinh Long- Cantho City (B,L,D) Cycling 45km:
We enjoyed a quick breakfast and took our bike ride on concrete paths along natural creeks in tropical fruit gardens on the island. Taking a
short ferry trip across The Upper Mekong River to Vinh Long City.
We headed to a local market with different kind of fruits, vegetables, snakes, turtles, frogs, rat, eels … it was really quite traumatic…. it is really difficult to see animals suffering like this … quite an assault on all senses. It was so hot and there was no respite for the poor caged animals.
The weather is so hot so the animals have to be kept alive in order top be served fresh…
Se continued on our cycle through the most amazing backwaters…just amazing to take in…and you’d never see this if you were not cycling. This is such an integral part of the Mekong way of life – what an honour to be in the midst of it.
We stopped to watch a young couple with a child working the coconuts… so beautiful (but no teeth) BUT such hard work.
Just imagine doing this day in and day out… enormous strength …
We continued our cycle and watched the running duck farmers harvest their produce… the ducks are herded into the vehicle and any that show signs of inferiority are kept for the table at home. Again, poor creatures just lifted by the neck. The ducks are used as natural herbicides in the paddy fields as they eat all the slugs etc.
Reminds us of our ducks at home…
Duck harvesting – poor things tossed aside like garbage…
A few metres further we came across a wedding in full swing – the locals were desperate to get us in but we declined – so the brought beer out to us! So sweet!!
Sooo lovely!
Stopped for the most amazing Pot hot pot lunch – our best meal of the trip – DIVINE!
So we had been invited to a wedding … as we passed through the next town we had a funeral.
These moments need sound…
We continued cycling past the most interesting homes and decorated walls. Just amazing to be immersed in this vibrant culture.
So we had all read about eating Balut (fermented duck eggs)… only Paul could turn this into a reality!
We continued to enjoy more magnificent scenery and had to take the water ferry which is hand drawn! Loved every minute.
This was just the most amazing cycle.
W arrived in Cantho City and booked into our hotel. Had a lovely dinner with Tan and then Charlotte and I headed into town for a wonderful full body hot stone massage – divine way to end the day with our weary bones!
Monday: 6 May 2019 – Can Tho- Chau Doc (B,L) Cycling 75km
Up early for breakfast and headed to the morning boat trip to the Cairang floating market. The remarkable “Great Supermarket” the biggest floating market in Mekong Delta and the most important destination for tourists due to its Colourful, buzzing atmosphere with hundreds of boat vendors selling fruits, vegetables & hot food. A photographers haven… so cool to watch people bartering and going about their daily lives on thi river.
We hopped off the boat and wandered through the land market before jumping on our bikes. We stopped for Vietnamese coffees then sugar cane juice and met a load of school girls. Once cycling the school kids screamed at us to say hello…very sweet. On a stopover the heat was so intense that 3 of our tyres burst!!
The fun continued but it was very hot and very strenuous in the full sun… we stopped to explore more markets…and tea rooms for ice creams… and we met some cute puppies on the way!
The Grande Finale…
This video captures the sounds of the cycle that day.
We were hot and tired and cut off the last 15Km of cycling to that we could be transferred to our hotel by van and get ready for dinner. We bid farewell to Tao and gave him a tip – what a marvellous few days it had been! Our hotel was Victoria Chau Doc – Deluxe River View – amazing with great food. We were very excited to take our river boat transfer to Cambodia the next morning at 07h30!
After our exciting break in Cambodia we headed briefly back to Con Dao Island in Vietnam … we had hoped for sun and scuba diving but had rain and relaxation instead!
Go to: Vietnam
Go back to: Saigon
Go to: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Go To: Con Dao Island
