We exited the boat and the dock area and I took a few moments to decompress from the river scene. We headed down the river walk towards a beautiful park area at the water’s edge. The young city center was well manicured and well landscaped. Meticulously trimmed hedge rows lined the interior edge of the walk towards the main parade ground. Vietnamese inspired gazebos, beautiful flowering trees, and an assortment of giant Vietnamese Bonsai.
I was particularly interested in the rather large statue of the father of modern day Vietnam. We had parked just across from Ho Chi Minh’s statue upon our arrival earlier and we walked towards the impressive presence now. I have been in the shadow of more statues of Uncle Ho, as he is affectionately called here, than I can fully remember. Every town, municipality, and village seems to have at least one statue of the legendary hero.
The Parade Ground
Every major city in Vietnam has a parade ground. Some large and wide, others smaller and less prominent. The one here in Can Tho was modestly wide, but long and tightly manicured. No doubt in reaction to the tight tracks of land that occupy the space between the immense water ways. At the head of the park stood the massive statue and the grounds stretched out from his pedestal onward.
The incredibly long mall stretched out almost out of sight. Lined in the first section with communist party banners to the right, and Vietnamese state banners to the left. Beyond this lay rows of lamp posts on both sides and tall fir trees in the distance. The City of Can Tho lay to the left of the parade ground and the mighty river to its right. I couldn’t help but think of how this spoke to the power of authority. No businesses were allowed at the water’s edge, only the representation of the party and its might.
The Land of The Nine Dragons
The area of the Mekong River Delta is traditionally known as the land of the nine dragons. In Vietnamese folklore the dragon is associated with water, and the rivers are mythological representations of the ancient and mighty beasts. The Mekong itself begins to split into nine other rivers as far back as the Cambodia capital of Phnom Penh, and those rivers break off into countless other lesser waterways and modern canals. These all makeup the mighty Mekong River Delta. The Mekong River Delta is the second largest river delta in the world behind the Ganges, encompassing an area of 36,209 square miles. To put that into perspective, the Mississippi River Delta encompasses 13,000 square miles. Or more simply put, the Mekong River Delta is slightly larger than Indiana, but not quite as large as Kentucky.
The Mekong river begins some 2,700 miles from Can Tho high in the Tibetan plateau of the Himalayas. The Mekong river tumbles down the mountains often very violently through six countries, and over 300 million people depend on the river directly or indirectly for survival. In Cambodia alone, 80% of dietary protein comes from fisheries in the Mekong, or its distributaries. In a land so swamped with water, fish and rice are king.
Coffee
After wandering the parade ground and standing in the shadows of Uncle Ho, we decided it was time for a cup of coffee. We loaded the SUV and made our way across the river city to a shop named Phiem Coffee Lounge. Open aired, modern, beautiful, these are the words to describe our morning coffee spot. We were greeted at the coffee shop by an old friend of my oldest brother in law Hui, a gentleman who would later push me to the limits of my capabilities. We relaxed in the rapidly warming air and tried to get some reprieve in the fans of the facility. Some had a second breakfast, though I was still full from the delicious crab and noodle bowl, and merely enjoyed a wonderful iced coffee in the tropical heat.
My sister in law Duyen, has an uncle who lives in Can Tho, and it was discussed that after coffee we would pay him and his family a visit. After about an hour of relaxing we paid our bill and headed off for a visit. We made our way to the outskirts of the city to a place that was flat, unassuming and almost barren. It appeared to be recently reclaimed land, newly paved streets, and empty lots near new multi floor homes. One of these homes belonged to a distant uncle by marriage to me, but the brother of Duyen’s parents.
A Warm Visit
The house was very Vietnamese, thin, concrete, and multiple stories. Surrounding the home were gardens filled with papaya trees, young bananas and freshly planted coconut trees. The house sat starkly against its environment and it was clear the entire area was new and recently populated. The closest house was many lots away and I can imagine it was an area that many of the young cities in Vietnam looked like some years ago.
We unloaded, said our greetings, and removed our shoes to step inside. Incredibly ornate furniture sat in the formal sitting room just inside the main entrance. I, as I usually do, took some time to examine and document the beautiful furniture. I can not express enough how amazing the workmanship of wood furniture is in Vietnam. Incredibly skilled craftsmen indeed. We sat in the sitting room and were served fresh papayas from the yard, homemade frozen yogurt, and a sweet and tangy tamarind tea. In the heat of the tropics I savored the frozen yogurt and tea in all of its tangy refreshment.
After a half hour or so we were gathered up and were shown the newly planted gardens which surrounded the house. Quite extensive and most of the plants are very young. The papaya plants we were eating from were hardly taller than I was. We were offered a bag filled with freshly picked papaya and began to say our goodbyes. We were off again into the streets of Can Tho to a traditional river village.
The Ancient River Village of Today
We headed away from my newly discovered uncle’s house towards a not so active traditional village. A few miles outside of downtown Can Tho we came to an area marked on the map as the My Kanh tourist village. There was no entrance fee, and I was quite happy with that. The facility was not very impressive and I was a bit disappointed. All of the structures were brand new and only constructed to give the appearance of age, and it gave the entire thing a kind of cheap veneer.
It was really nothing more than rows of cabins built to look old and a swimming pool. A few “stone” bridges over a few small canals and a restaurant. The heat was building quickly in the tropical climate. This combined with a lack of anything truly interesting caused us not to linger. Everyone was building quite an appetite after all of our running around. We decided to find some lunch and everyone agreed on Banh Xeo.
First Lunch
We headed back into Can Tho to a place on the river called Banh Xeo 7 Toi. The Banh Xeo is a thin coconut crepe colored Yellow by the addition of turmeric to the batter, and often filled with sprouts, meat, shrimp and other goodies. Always served with fresh herbs and greens on the side, and depending on the region, may be eaten themselves by being wrapped in rice paper at the table. Usually about 6 inches in diameter when opened, the variations in Can Tho were more like the size of a medium pizza. Fat with heavy amounts of ingredients, pork, beef, sprouts and green onion. This variant was additionally served with massive leaves for the wrapper.
In addition to the Banh Xeo we had Banh Khot. Ban Kot are tiny little mini coconut pancakes topped with a whole shrimp and mung beans. As soon as the table was set we dug in. The food was delicious, I particularly liked the Banh Khot, and I ate beyond my fill. We lounged for awhile in the shade of the restaurant after lunch. Basking in the fans, the breeze and resting while lunch began to digest. As we began to stir for our departure a conversation was brewing, and I was at its center.
Second Lunch
There had been a lot of discussion about eating some rather unique lunch items, but most in the group had vetoed. So after our regular lunch we headed off to another eatery that specialized in some of the more exotic dishes that Can Tho is famous for. With a significant language barrier and a bit of laughter, I wasn’t sure to expect. About the only thing I could make out from the circling conversation was “bugs”, and that wasn’t much help. I was game however, I’ve had my fair share of strange bugs. Ants, beetles, lots of snails, I was confident in my abilities and was more curious than anxious.
We parked at the river’s edge next to the riverside restaurant known as Cay Gua. It wasn’t much, a handful of tables under a makeshift thatched roof and a blue tarp. The kitchen was across the street in the owners house and a few of the tables were occupied with guests chowing down on food that looked rather normal to me.
Oh Boy
Only Diem, my two brothers, Luan and Hai and their friend joined us. It was the friend who I began to realize, wanted to push me to a place he didn’t think I would go. A sort of personal victory over the American visitor. There was a bit of discussion with the waiter and a few beers were brought out. I sat gazing out at the river’s edge, waiting patiently for what was to come, when the waiter came with two dishes.
The first was four deep fried rather large coconut grubs garnished with fresh herbs. Ok, I think I’m good so far. Then the waiter sat in front of me, something I was not expecting. Four very alive massive grubs, soaking in a soy sauce mixture, with culantro, cilantro, chili and green onions. They pulsated, undulated and squirmed to free themselves from the fermented sauce choking them out. Everyone at the table stared directly at me and I just stared into the bowl.
Down The Hatch
For what seemed like an eternity I just looked down at the bowl. Hoping it would somehow transform from the power of my gaze into, I don’t know, anything else. I made the decision to go for the fried ones first, dip my toe in so to speak, and grabbed one up with my chopsticks. The first chew was squishy, crunchy and over all beyond my capabilities. It wasn’t particularly foul tasting, or even texturally unappealing, it was just that it was well, a grub. That combined with its brothers squirming around watching me chew on their beloved kin. I couldn’t get it down.
By now the waiter brought out a pile of stir fried wasps with green onions and I was relieved. This I could handle. I grabbed up a few with my chopsticks and chewed away. In some kind of desperate plea to redeem myself. The wasps were fine, like eating crunchy rice with spring onions, but that wasn’t good enough. The coconut grubs were squirming and I had to either unconditionally surrender or continue on. There would be no ceasefire in this battle, no participation trophy. After holding them in my chopsticks, feeling them squirm in my hand, and watching our friends mode of dispatch, I capitulated. I had failed. I just couldn’t do it. The method involved placing the head in your mouth first, crushing the hard casing to neutralize the grub and tossing it in. It was more than I could handle.
Saigon Bound
Feeling a bit defeated, we loaded the car for the ride back to Saigon. By now it was about 1 in the afternoon, and if it was anything like out=r drive in, it would take awhile. We crossed the Can Tho bridge and headed back into the wilderness of the delta. About an hour and a half in Luan had had more than he could handle. We had been on the move for what felt like days, and apart from the nap last night at the hotel, he was running on empty.
We found a rest stop, which was nothing more than a large covered pavilion with rows of hammocks. It did offer some basics, electricity for our devices, snacks and even a coffee shop. We each found a hammock and settled in for an afternoon nap in the heat of the jungle. After an hour or so Luan seemed refreshed and we headed back out onto the road.
The Mekong and My Thuan
We crossed the actual Mekong river on the My Thuan bridge just after three and I must say it is a mighty sight. It reminded me of crossing the Mississippi into Louisiana. Big, mighty and powerful. The My Thuan bridge is powerful and beautiful in its own right. The first major modern bridge project in Vietnam. The bridge was built in a joint effort with the Australian government and was opened to traffic in 2000. It was one of the first civil projects meant to modernize the growing nation. It would help the growth of cities like Can Tho and connect the 16 million delta inhabitants to the rest of Vietnam.
A Quick Dinner
We arrived in the commune of Hai and his wife around 6 in the evening. We parked the car and sat at a little street side eatery next to Hai’s apartment. I just love the little ward they live in. In the city, but intimate and cozy. A small town feel. Everyone knows each other, the streets are narrow and charming. It’s just a warm and inviting place.
As the sun was setting we sat around the table and ate a simple and delicious dinner. Simmering pot of beef ribs, vegetables, noodles and chunks of pork. A whole fish crusted in peanuts and green onions, wrapped in foil and grilled to perfection.
Some Reflection
We enjoyed our time with Hai and his wife. Our time in Saigon was coming to a close. We had been away from home for weeks now and Diem and I both were ready. But we also enjoyed the family. It is always difficult to say goodby, especially in these times, there’s no guarantee when you may say hello again. We arrived back at Luan’s well after dark and I was in the dream world as fast as I could find my pillow.
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