Breakfast was early – French bread and omelette – so much for local food. The Vietnamese don’t eat breakfast like westerners do. There is no milk or cereals to be found.

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Today our group was travelling by bus overland to a small town of Chau Doc settled on the banks of the Mekong River and just off the border of Cambodia. Our journey would take us via the Mekong Delta and through the richest farmlands of South East Asia. This area is known as the “Rice Bowl” as unlike its counterparts across the border the farmers in this area can get four harvests per year, whereas Cambodian farmers get two, a cruel twist of fate that has a major detrimental effect on the economy of Cambodia.
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  Our journey came to an abrupt stop on a couple of occasions as we needed to disembark for ferry crossings on overcrowded ferries carrying cargo of Cars, bikes and pedestrians all hurrying as if this was the last ferry to cross. I must admit though the structure of organisation through these crossings was fast and efficient. Once on the river it becomes apparent how many people make their way to and from and also how many live on the waterways that are the veins and life blood of the area.
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Mara had pre-organised lunch for us so when a little man jumped out into the road and started guiding our bus into a small side street there was no need to panic. Time for a Tiger beer, rice and stir fried chicken sat under fans and little hoses that sprayed a fine mist into the air. I can’t understand why as the air was hot and humid enough without any further moisture. Still it was nice to be off the bus to stretch our legs and chat with our newfound travelling companions.
Riverside - Chau Doc
Chau Doc is an interesting town. Our accommodation for the night was at Thuan Loi Hotel, a small but tidy hotel that sat right next to the river. This hotel had its own little quirks that will always be remembered. From its strange hot water system that left you breathless as you bathed under cold water with a bucket straight onto the tiled bathroom floor, to the kit set mosquito nets that needed to be assembled prior to going to bed. The air conditioner worked, but you would have to put up with the noise of it all night. Well at least the lights worked with a little coaching from the handyman come cleaner on the hotel staff. Ah yes this is the life, I wouldn’t swap this experience for a five star hotel for anything. See if you don’t experience this type of travel you may as well stay at a luxury resort just down the road from home. You will never experience the true toils of travel or the culture of the real locals, not the made up ones at the tourist attractions.
As we were in need of an ATM we asked at the travel desk come reception at the front door, armed with yet another map an vowing not to get lost we set off through the street markets past the smells meats, vegetables and other strange aromas that seemed to hit you mid breath leaving you wondering what it was that you had just inhaled. The ATM was a bit of a disappointment as it did not accept our card and as this was the only ATM in the town we were now poised with a new dilemma, how to change our money from Vietnamese dong into Cambodian currency. We wandered back to the hotel via the river and watched locals pushing the chocking weed and water lily’s away from their boats in a pointless exercise with a pointed stick. In English we have a saying for this “pushing crap uphill with a pointed stick”…funny how all things can be translated.
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Our guide Mara advised us that USD is fine to use in Cambodia and is the unofficial currency so we need not worry. Mara had also organised a motorbike ride up Sam Mountain, which happened to be the only high point on the whole area of Chau Doc. The granite mountain stood tall on the late sun. We planned to ride to the top and watch the sunset while lying in hammocks drinking beer. What a life! The sun sunk slowly down over the hazy rice fields and at this altitude we could see across the border into Cambodia, back to the town of Chau Doc and beyond to the distant rice fields that we had travelled through early in the day.
The boys that were our drivers this evening had only one thing on their minds I am sure – RACING! I would have won if the damn motor on our bike didn’t break down. WE came all the way down the mountain with no motor; just as well the breaks were working!
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Dinner back at the hotel was interesting, behind the hotel there was a floating platform lashed together from bamboo and planks. This was the restaurant and complete with thatched roof we sat and watched the nightlife on the river and tried to count the infinite number of gecko’s that stalked flying mosquitoes that buzzed the canopy.