Trip to Can Tho and Soc Trang

A couple of months ago Bao and I decided to exploit the fact that Liberation Day (30 April) and May Day (1 May) occur on Thursday and Friday this year, by making a 4 day weekend trip to Can Tho. I very quickly got my application for leave in before any of the other 'weekend warriors' figured out they could do the same!

To try and make an early start from HCM City on Thursday we went up from Vung Tau on Wednesday afternoon - me by bus, Bao by company car. Although I left Vung Tau more than an hour before Bao he ended up arriving at Ben Xe Mien Tay before me, thanks to some very heavy traffic jams. A 2 hour trip turned into 4 hours. We were being met by Thanh at the bus station so sadly he had a very long wait for me.

It seems that a lot of people had the same idea of making a holiday - because the experience was repeated the next morning when we (Bao, Thanh and me) set out for Can Tho :( - heavy traffic all the way slowed the trip down enormously. When we got to the ferry crossing to Can Tho we decided - like most passengers - to get off the bus and walk ahead to the ferry because the queue was so long.

Can Tho is Bao's childhood home town. We had planned to stay at a hotel, but when he contacted Thu, his friend since they first started school, to say we were coming she arranged for us to stay in her parents' house instead. She also booked a car for us to travel out to the countryside and arranged for one of her students to be our guide.

On our first morning we were joined by another friend, Tan, and our guide Thuy. We went out 0f the city a bit to a temple that is quite old and was built to honour a famous scholar, as well as some other cherished people from Vietnamese history, statecraft and culture. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of this temple and it's not mentioned in guidebooks. Both Bao and Tan had heard of it but never been there before either.

As well as the main temple there is a building set aside for members of 5-6 local villages to come and prepare foods for festivals. They each come at different times.

Our second visit for the day was to a house built in about 1870. Internally the main house is much the same as when it was first built. It is a typical Vietnamese style, for a well-to-do family. What we saw I would guess is the main living and reception room. There was an abundance of wood carving and tiling as well as a mixture of Vietnamese, French and Chinese-influenced furniture . Outside there is an orchid garden.

We had lunch with Thu, her husband Tran and their new baby boy, while a heavy storm fell. But by the time we finished eating the storm was over and we went back home for a rest.

Saturday required a very early start - up at 3am to get ready for the car and driver (thanks Mr Thien) to arrive at around 4am. We then took a drive about 45km out of Can Tho to the south to visit the floating markets at Nga Bay (7 ways). These are the more original markets in the area, though not so frequently visited by tourists who go instead to Cai Be, Cai Rang or Phong Dien markets closer to Can Tho. The markets were much different to the one David and I visited in Thailand many years ago. At Nga Bay the boats are on a major river, and although most are moored there are also boats trading and delivering produce between them. In the past trade was based on barter - only in more modern times has it become cash-based. We had a great time on the river here - the best way of thinking about it is like a land-based market. There are sellers of every type of fruit and vegetable, and then grocery boats, wholesalers/middle-men, and boats selling food from soup to banh mi. The river is still a thoroughfare for daily life - we saw people being boated across so that they could go to school. Thu told me the next day that although she has lived in Can Tho all her life and visited the markets at Nga Bay many times, she still finds it interesting to go.

The next stop was for breakfast in Soc Trang town in Soc Trang province further to the south. Soc Trang has a large Khmer population (approximately 28% of the population) and the main Buddhist temples in this area are Theravada school (Thailand and Cambodia). We visited the biggest - Kleang Pagoda. In one form or another this temple has been here in Soc Trang since 1533. It is well supported financially, but also is an important place for learning, with very many monks living or studying here.

The second temple we visited was established by a Chinese family about 200 years ago. It's real name is Precious Mountain Temple (Buu Son Tu) but it is best known as the Clay Temple, because nearly everything in it is made of clay, mostly sculpted by the monk Ngo Kim Tong. When he died a number of huge candles were created and have been kept burning.

The third temple we went to is known as Bat Pagoda for the fruit bat colony that lives in the trees in the temple grounds. The temple was destroyed by fire 2 years ago and refurbishment of the replacement temple is still going on. The Buddha image was made of stone and it was saved, but is in a damaged state with one arm detached and soot marks apparent where the gold foil has burnt away.

Inside the walls are covered with scenes from Buddha's life from his birth through marriage to his renunication of his wealth and throne and on to his enlightenment. The temple is also known for the five-nailed pigs that have lived here. Thuy, our guide, told a slightly different story about this to the one given in Lonely Planet (which suggests that the pigs are pets). By the way, pigs usually only have 4 toenails on each foot. According to Thuy when the original five-nailed pig was born the people were afraid of it because it was different so they gave it to the temple for safekeeping. These pigs are not for eating, they just live out their lives in the temple and then are buried with headstones recording the date of their death (see picture at the top of this story). At the moment there are still 4-5 pigs living at the temple.

Our final temple before going back to Soc Trang town for lunch and then back to Can Tho, was the ceramic temple. At first I didn't understand Thuy's description of it as being built from bowls. It was only after we saw it that I understood that when it was rebuilt, there was not a lot of money available in the community to decorate it, so they used a mixture of old plates, etc. as well as ceramic mosaic tiles to cover the outside walls and on the interior.

Saturday evening after a very big dinner we took a stroll along the riverside, with the intention of improving our digestion. But instead we snacked on grilled bananas and then stopped off for a fruit shake. While there Bao was approached by one of the women working in the shop with the line "don't I know you?". This was a surprise but the bigger surprise was that one of the other women working there that night did know him. Bao must have a memorable face because she took one look and got his name right, even after maybe 15 years of not seeing him.

On Sunday we met up with Thu, her family and her sister for breakfast before making the trip back to HCM City and Vung Tau. This time we were lucky - no traffic - although the bus ticket price was much higher (no explanation given!)

This was a great little holiday. Can Tho is the biggest city in the Mekong and I think it would be an interesting place to live, so long as you like the quiet life (at least compared to HCM City).