Kim and Lou's Asian Adventure

Can Tho is spread along the Can Tho and Mekong rivers, about half way between HCMC and the Gulf of Thailand, if one travels south west. The largest city and the economic heart of the Delta south of HCMC, Can Tho is largely a bustling city with a tiny touristy area along eight blocks of the waterfront. One is unlikely te encounter a European anywhere else in town. Tourism-wise, Can Tho's claim to fame is the largest floating fruit and vegetable markets on the Mekong and is a popular location for home stays - rather than a hotel, tourists will reside in a village with a Vietnamese family.

As the purpose of our stop here was to take the early morning boat trip down the Can Tho river to the floating markets (OK, it was actually to break up the journey from HCMC back to the salt water and beaches and diving and snorkelling and sun bathing and .....), we stayed a a hotel in the tourist area close to the docks. Our boat trip began at 5:30 am as we boarded a 10', wooden, very well used, long tail skiff. Out pilot spoke no English, and as there was no beer on board there was no point in breaking out my entire Vietnamese vocabulary (beer please, thank you). Despite our lack of common language, a muddle of "Hey's", head shakes, pointing and smiles got us through the day. The long tails are not speedy craft so it was a wonderfully lazy, 7 1/2 hour cruise down the Can Tho, with long side trips to the floating markets and through tiny canals far into the rural farm lands. We stopped for a tour of a rice noodle factory as well as a long lunch at some sort of plantation (no fruit on the trees so we couldn't tell what the crop was) before our return to town. A very relaxed and worthwhile adventure.

Later, we wandered the town's night market snacking on street food before a sit down restaurant dinner and drinks.

Today we travel west by minibus, bus, shuttle, fast-ferry and taxi to Phou Cuoq Island, a bit of Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand.

Upon arrival in HCMC we again found a hotel recommended by Lonley Planet and it was another keeper. Rooms just fine but the staff exceptional. We had planned to stay three nights and the hotel only had rooms for two nights, but we figured we would find another room for our third night. However, after reading up on the touristy stuff to do in HCMC, we figured we could take it all in in one day and be on our way.

HCMC is a very large (13+ million souls) and spread out over many miles. The old city - District 1 - is quite densely populated yet enjoys many very beautiful parks. There are some excellent examples of French Colonial architecture and many of it's modern buildings are impressive. The traffic is mad and the drivers far more aggressive than those in any city we have visited so far. While we have had ample experience with Vietnamese drivers trying to edge past inches in front of our feet, when push comes to shove they have, til now, ceded right of way rather than run us down. That desire to avoid a collision appears substantially diminished in drivers from HCMC, as evidenced by torn up fenders on each of the thousands of city cabs and the many street side auto repair shops rebuilding the front ends of motos.

Using the LP walking tour map, Kim and I set out earlyish Wednesday morning. Our route took us to, the Bitexco Finacial tower - 289 metres tall with a viewing platform on the 49 floor boasting panoramic views over all of HCMC, but for the smog- the Siagon River, a small street market deep in the old Cholon district, the Siagon Opera House, the People Commitee Building, the City Post Office (a very beautiful French colonial affair), a very swank avenue with stores selling all the top designer brands, a statue of Ho Chi Minh in a lovely little park (the statue is called "Bac Ho", and I really dug it) and a few other buildings of note.

After the walking tour we also took in the War Remnants Museum. As with the Killing Fields, this is tough to comment on, but is certainly a must if in HCMC.

Latish in the afternoon we returned to our rooms and joined a small group of fellow travellers on the balcony for frosty refreshment. The first round wiped out our hotel's ice supply so I was dispatched to a bar around the corner for beer and ice. While there, I struck up a conversation with the expat American owner, Marc, regarding the many beautiful guitars hanging on the walls of his pub. I played his very nice, '71 Guild, though I did not recognize the logo on the other guitars. Marc informed me that they were the creation of a HCMC luthier, Nguyen Van Binh, and with the exception of the Guild were new and for sale. I played a few and returned with the ice. A few minutes later I returned to Marc's pub and, long story short, I am now the proud owner of a brand new, handmade Binh guitar, solid Koa sides, back and neck, solid spruce top, rosewood everything else, great sound and playability, in a case, for less than a good hard shell case would cost in Canada. Whoooo!

Returning to our balcony, folks wanted to see and hear the new guitar, so I played a few songs which the two young folks running the hotel overheard. Til late in the evening I was trying to meet their requests of songs they wanted to hear and sing along with, though sadly I know few songs by Air Supply, Cilene Deon, and Micheal Buble. They were, however, happily introduced to Blue Rodeo and Elvis, and we found common ground singing Eagles tunes. As we waited for our taxi this morning, the staff again requested I play some songs and all pulled out their iPhones to record the event. I tell you, I'm a fricking rock star in HCMC.

We are on our way to Can Tho, a city on the Mekong Delta, and a stop on our way back to the beach (two more sleeps).