~ Can Tho at a canter ~
Aug. 11. A couple of years ago it was possible to travel to Can Tho via a local riverboat from District 1 Saigon. But like a lot of 'river routes' up and down the Mekong, the advent of better roads and bridges has meant their demise. Traveling by boat is no longer the cheapest form of transport. A pity. The inexpensive and extremely interesting 'canal trip' was a great way to get out of the big smoke...and avoid other tourists in the process. That particular trip I stayed only a night in Can Tho. Then I took a second local riverboat to my planned destination of Ca Mau. This boat still runs. Ca Mau's a provincial city's at the extreme southerly tip of the delta, of the country. It was a 'I gotta get away from Saigon' thing to do. I stayed there blissfully for five days. I did a circle returning to Saigon by bus. It was a rejuvenating week and it gave me a taste for the delta and it's people.
On two occasions I've taught 'the colonization of South East Asia'. The first was at a 'university' in Sihanoukville, Cambodia then at Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh. I learned a lot in the process! Can Tho's origins are undoubtedly a Khmer story. The Angkorian people were long-time occupiers of this part of the contemporary state of Vietnam. In Cambodia they refer to the Mekong Delta as 'Kampuchia Krom'...lower Cambodia. Had the French “re-incorporated” the Delta [and Phu Quoc Island] into colonial Cambodia in the early 1850s these parts might today be Cambodian! They're not. Can Tho's extremely Vietnamese and an integral part of the country. It's a reasonable-sized city...the main centre of the delta especially for schools and hospitals; education and healthcare infrastructure. It still has a town-like atmosphere though. And of course, the river.
It's the river and the markets that beckons, attracts the visitor when in Can Tho. The river and the markets and their people! People walking along the esplanade; people waiting and working at the ferry wharfs and on the ferries; the people of the Mekong with their boats of all shapes and sizes. The river's utilized to the full for the transportation of goods. It's still number one. The roads aren't that great yet. There's no railway. I'm not really 'into' markets! Too much going on. Too many people in one place. But since there's not a sandy seafront for miles it might be time to visit some! The riverside morning market in Can Tho is an example. It's downstream of the esplanade on the first street back from the river. During my two days I go on various wanders. The weather's predominantly overcast, sometimes rainy. Oh well.