Mekong Delta

The next morning, I take off for Vietnam. I take a dusty ride on the back of a motorbike for an hour and a half to the nearest town across the border, Ha Tien. There I learn that because of the Vietnamese New Year, all the buses to Can Tho, my first destination, are full. I find out that I can go to Rach Gia and catch further transport out. I had a 5 wait in the town, so I put down my bags and went to look around.

I think that I’m going to like the Mekong Delta. There is a lot more life here in Vietnam than in Cambodia. It is much less sleepy. After a good walk I pop into a café and sit down. For the next hour and half, until my bus is leaving, I am talking to a Vietnamese girl using the one page of helpful phrases in my guidebook. She wanted to go to my hotel and give me a “massage”. My guidebook didn’t have the phrase, “I’m not sore”, even though I was from the hike.

A side note about sex in Southeast Asia: Prostitution is so much more prevalent and out in the open than anywhere I’ve ever been, including Amsterdam. It is so open that it almost feels like a commodity, which I find very unappealing. Some of these girls are quite beautiful, but the whole act is missing the chase, mystery, romance and overall sexiness. There is barely talking. Even marriage is still based on the concept of being a provider over love, but I digress.

I get into Can Tho after dark and take a Moto to the touristy area near the river. After I get a room, I go out looking for food. Some Vietnamese kids stop me and pull me over to take a shot of something with them. I end up sitting with them for a few hours over noodles and beer. It’s a weird group with one gay guy, a 17-year-old girl, two normal guys, a 40-something woman and a straight up mongoloid. I tell them that I’m tired, but one guy keeps insisting that I go out with them “Overnight” to dance. He makes awesome gestures, but I manage to get away.

I take a boat trip to see the floating markets on the delta. They are pretty awesome. Basically, instead of meeting a central market, the farmers here meet in the middle of the river to trade their goods. They just tie their boats together and do their business. After seeing the first market, I tell my guide that I need to use a toilet. She pulls over to the side of river so I can get out and pee on the riverbank. I take my first step and I up to my thighs in mud. It looked a lot more solid than it was. Also, the mud is clay and ate my flip-flops. My boat driver gets out, apologizes heavily and starts searching the clay for my sandals, but only finds one. After completely washing my legs and feet, she still feels bad and pulls over somewhere else to buy me new ones.