Day 3 HCMC to Can Tho

Today we left this:

This is $95/night accommodation. Continental Hotel, HCMC.

And arrived at this:

 This is $29/night accomodation. International Hotel, Can Tho.

This isn't actually in our room, it's in the hallway outside. 

Difficult to work this contraption out, but hot water comes out if you push the big white button.  I think the lower hose may be for your bum, because there is a strong smell of poo when water enters the drain during shower time.

Scrub a dub dub!  They've thrown in a used scrubber for free!

As usual, when faced with uncomfortable situations like this, we usually band together and bond as a family unit.  You know, all-in-this-together kind of stuff.  NOT!

Can Tho is not really what I expected. It's a really poor town.  Very grotty compared to Ho Chi Minh City.  The grottiness never seems to end.  In HCMC there were cooky backpacker areas with great bars, richer inner city areas mixed with poorer shops, then poorer areas as you got further out.  It's hard to find somewhere inviting enough to stop for a drink in Can Tho.  Actually it's hard to find anywhere to even buy a drink. We eventually found a nice restaurant near our hotel and had a pretty nice dinner which came to a total of $24 for all of us, and that included a $4 cocktail for me.  It's important that!  

The Vietnamese can be so friendly and open.  Yelling out "hello" from their scooters or asking "where do you come from" as you walk by.  These same qualities are also expressed in other ways.  It's not uncommon for them to see us walking down the street, point at us, throw their heads back and burst out laughing, yelling to their friends to come and look at us. 

Had a hell of a time trying to post some stuff back to Australia.  We've bulked up on some stuff we just wanted to send home to keep our load light as we travel.  Things like The Golden Girls Boxset ($10).  Sex in the City Boxset ($15).  Grey's Anatomy Boxset ($15) and the two novels I've read since I arrived.  Well it was hard to find someone who even knew where the post office was, but I finally found it by referring to my Lonely Planet.  I waited in line for ages even though there was only 1 man ahead of me being served, only to be told to go to another window.  The two women there spoke no English, but proceeded to open the DVD sets and look at all the DVD pictures, they kept pointing and snickering at the actor's photos.  Both women opened my books and looked like they were trying to read them. I thought maybe it was too smutty to be sent by Vietnamese post.  To be truthful it was actually pretty embarrassing having my viewing standards scrutinised.   The whole process took a good 5 minutes before they gestured to their co-worker who was able to speak English.  She finally shed some light on the situation and mentioned I would have to get a customs stamp from the bookstore before I could post my items.  All too complicated for me, as I'd already been to the bookstore to ask directions to the post office and I knew no-one could speak English.

Tomorrow we have organised a private tour of the Mekong by boat.  I chose the longest tour which starts at 5:30am and gets us to the floating markets before all the tourists arrive.  Our guide tells us that the tourists all set off after 7am from their hotels.  He spoke excellent English and has also organised a private tour by boat the next day to another town - Ving Long (I think that's what it's called) which is a small island amongst the rivers.  We will be given bikes to ride for the afternoon, always good for family bonding, and then we stay the night in a local's house.  That part fills us all with DREAD. I don't really know how to contact the man to get out of that one.  I think we'd rather stay in a motel, but it's beyond me to work out how to call him to back out of the home stay.  I have his number, but how the frig do I just call it and say "Hey, cancel the home stay part would you?  I feel a bit uncomfortable hopping in my pyjamas in front of someone else's husband, and how the hell could they fit us all in anyway."

The next day after our pleasant stay with the strangers, we shall be picked up and given another tour by boat and then driven back to HCMC.  Adds a day to the time we spend in this area, but I think it'll be worth it (except for the home stay of course).

Hello everyone I'm George!

I have spent four nights in Vietnam and I'm liking it a heap! The Continental Hotel had all around great feeling about it. The Can Tho International Hotel has a bit of a bad feeling to it all. The pillows are dirty and they only gave us one pillow each bed.  My mum and I are sleeping in a bed together so one of us will have to go without the pillow. One guess who that will be. The only good aspect about the Can Tho Hotel is the view of the river across the road from us.

It was very nice to chat with you all, hope to speak to you again.

George Paterson