[Vietnam] Chapter XXIX: In which certain incidents are narrated which are only to be met on water

We left Phnom Penh on the heels of the Bon Om Touk festival, which celebrates the end of the rainy season in Cambodia and the flowing of the Tonlé Sap river into the Mekong. We decided to try to follow the water as it flowed down the Mekong, doing so as inconspicuously as possible, so as not to arise the water's suspicions that we were in fact

trailing it.

Unfortunately, we were not made to be spies, and shortly out of Phnom Penh, the river water noticed us and increased its speed, making to flee. We too hastened our steps and remained on its tail as best we could, chasing it from Cambodia to Vietnam and down into the Mekong delta, repeatedly changing means of transportation in order to keep up with it: a minibus from Phnom Penh to the Vietnam border, then a large river boat to Chau Doc, then a motorcycle to the ATM, then a public bus to Can Tho, then a taxi to our hotel by the river bank, and finally (the following morning) a small motorised rowboat to the Cai Rang floating wholesale market and back to Can Tho.

An indeed in Can Tho, at the heart of the Mekong delta, we finally caught up with the river water, for it seems that that city, at least at this time of year, is in a constant state of near inundation, with water flowing in the streets, so much so that after a couple of hours there, we already thought nothing of having to walk through ankle-deep water in order to enter a hotel or a restaurant or a noodle factory or a bank.

Accommodations:
- Kim Long Hotel, Can Tho (2 nights; ok, except that our rooms had no windows)

Photo captions: (a-f) down the Mekong from Chau Doc to Can Tho; (g-i) dawn on the river; (j-v) Cai Rang floating wholesale market; (w-bb) a mildly flooded neighbourhood of Can Tho; (cc-ff) a rice noodle manual factory