On the bus to Can Tho, Mekong Delta

my bus

That mighty Mekong River is calling. So I'm heading down to Can Tho, one of the major cities in the Mekong region. Once there I'll check into my hotel and head across town to Ninh Kiew Quay looking for a small long tail boat to hire for some day tripping on the river. 

Spring Hotel, Can Thao

I'm overnighting at the Spring Hotel in Kuan Khanh ward, probably not the best chose, not because it's a bad place but it's location is a long way from the water front area where the boats tie up. The Spring Hotel is a small, quirky kind of place with a friendly owner/manager who not surprisingly is a bit quirky herself. Her quirkiness combined with her exuberant but limited English skills can make for some very interesting and confusing conversations. There room rate is $ 22.00 a night which gets ya a clean and quiet, air-conditioned room, cable TV, an in-suite bathroom with hot water and a bathtub/shower combo. 

Many visitors in Saigon when they decide to visit the Mekong head over to the Pham Nu Lao backpackers area and sign up for one of the inexpensive package tours offered by one of the many travel agents in the area. These trips are an efficient chose and are no brainier means to get a look at the Mekong.

and your seat on the bus

However, it's possible to travel independently also at a modest cost and leave the herd behind. You start by booking your own transport out of HCMC. In this case I booked an 110,000 dong ($5.30 us) ticket on one of Phuong Trang's spiffy Orange buses. Bus's headed south from Saigon, which would be the Mekong Delta, leave from Men Tay bus station ( Ben Xe Mien Tay) every hour or two.  

Ben Xe Mien Tay 5:30 am

Once away it's about a three and a half hours to Can Tho. Though, for me I also had the travel time to motorbike over to Phuong Trang’s remote bus station on Le Van Luong Street, district 7 where I picked up my ticket and then they shuttled me over to Ben Xe Mien Tay. Once at the bus station there was about a 20 minute wait before boarding and so in total my travel time was about four and a half hours. You can also take city bus # 2 from dist 1 to Ben Xe Mien Tay, either from the bus station across from Ben Tham Market or flag a bus down on the street by Zen Plaza. It should say Ben Xe Mien Tay on the bus but you never know so always look for the number. Bus fare is 4,000 dong, or about 19 cents US. Of course for those less adventurist souls there is always the taxi. 

alfresco coffee bar

My 20 minutes waiting at the station was spent mostly worrying about the bus leaving without me as all the announcements are in Vietnamese.  So to loosen up my mind I wondered over to the alfresco coffee bar, plopped down into those weathered and gritty, plastic lawn chairs and slid it up to a matching decrepit table, careful not to disturb two dogs sleeping underneath and gave them a little kick to make sure that they really were sleeping and not dead. Even with the half light of the unknown to me time of 5:30 am the eating area looked like the poster child for food borne illnesses. So passed on the noodle soup and went for a 17,000 dong, Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) and a fresh loaf of French bread out of loosely, packed plastic bag from a passing bread vending lady and headed over to stand around by what I thought might be my bus. 

Phoung Trang buses offer a comfortable ride which is helped by the good job Vietnam does of taking care of this stretch of main road. After all, this route is where most of Vietnam's rice, vegetables and fruit grown in the Mekong heads to Saigon and points north to keep the nation fed. 

morning in the Mekong 1

morning in the Mekong 3

morning in the Mekong 2

Made a stop in Ben Ze Vinh Long but just long enough to drop off and pick up passengers and then stopped for a 15 minute break at Phuong Trang's facility, an hour or so from Can Thao. We pulled out of Ben Xe Mien Tay in Saigon at 6:10 am and arrived at the station in Can Tho at 9:30 am.  From the gaggle of motorbike taxi’s I hired one to get me over to my hotel, dropped my bag in the room and head back out and across town to the water front looking for a boat to hire. Good trip so far.

 

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