Châu Đốc to Rạch Giá | Day 4 Vietnam Cycle Tour
The itinerary:
Our early morning ride takes us past the sacred Sam Mountain and the famous Tay An Pagoda & temples. From the summit on a clear day, we can enjoy fabulous views towards Cambodia.
An early start afloat...
Not in the itinerary, an even earlier start to visit a floating village. I photographed Nahn & Mike photographing us.
Substantial houses floating on the river.
The ever-present hyacinth plants, like floating gardens.
This fellow was on alert but seemed happy with life afloat.
We visited this floating fish farm.
Access through the floor to the fish living below.
Idyllic sunrise over the Mekong River.
Mobile convenience store offered tourist and everyday essentials.
The unusual vertical 'tube houses' architecture are thought to reflect the way buildings were historically taxed, by façade width, but more recently due to the cost of land.
The regions icon, the Basa_fish, catfish, which was often on the lunch/dinner table.
A novel way to recycle... drips...
I don't remember where this was, maybe back at the hotel?, but photographed a very green urinal. If you miss, you water the plant...
Back on the road
Our ride today included more rural, but still smooth, gravel roads.
The bump strips are an alert you are about to enter a village.
Could be an Australian scene, the roadside eucalypts really are from Aussie!
Aussie Linda, looking like she's at home!
In addition to food, ducks are used to control weeds and insects in the rice fields.
Nhan organises the cooling at a drink stop. Bizarre lighting was courtesy of light filtering through an orange fabric canopy!
How do you herd ducks?!
The camera I had only did low quality video, but also captured the public Tannoy news (propaganda) broadcasts that are imposed on the villages.
Herding a flotilla of Ducks!
Bruce and Sharlene cruising along.
Slipstreaming moment
I followed this scooter for about 5km, kind of slipstreaming, although they were only going about 25 km/h. Mum was nursing the boy, asleep, when I caught up to them but woke him up to look at the funny cyclist.
Towards the end I caught them and handed over a (new) New Zealand "Silver Fern" cap from my handlebar bag. She put it on the boy's head. Sadly I didn't get a chance to photograph him wearing it - wonder where it ended up.
Rach Gia sights
We arrived late afternoon and went for a walk to explore the area around the hotel. This is a typical main street evening rush hour scene.
Seems anywhere with a coast was planning resorts, or resort style housing.
But in reality, not the most inspiring waterfront with loads of rubbish on the shoreline.
The Market was quite busy...
Site of a very nice lunch (the following day?*)
Scooter repairs and washing...
Repairs on the roadside - from fixing a puncture to rebuilding a gearbox
Tropical Fish, with no tank heater!
As a kid I kept tropical fish in New Zealand. If the power went off, the heater went off and if that was for too long it became an issue. Not a problem in the tropics!
The evening school rush, but not an SUV in sight!
Diner by the river
I remember this dinner, but really only because of the dessert. Nahn had organised a Durian tasting because the table was effectively outside. This effectively summarises the reaction it provokes:
The unusual flavour and odour of the fruit have prompted many people to express diverse and passionate views ranging from deep appreciation to intense disgust. wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian
Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:
"Its odor is best described as pig-excrement, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia."
For once my, at least partially, blocked sinus and limited sense of smell became an advantage but also have read Vietnamese Durian is milder than some. I'd liken the smell more to 'a whiff of vomit' but loved the taste.
I suspect Nahn was a little disappointed, certainly surprised, by my reaction as most don't like it at all! The only real negative is I noticed, for hours afterwards, is the taste and that smell lingered... even after brushing my teeth!
Nahn's photos, think this is Durian but usually it's 'spikier'.
Linda & I, and a lot of water bottles!
Baas & Nhan, as ever, organising... probably planning our revised departure tomorrow.
The river at night. No biking tomorrow, and another change in itinerary too!
Day Cycling Total: 122km | Total Cycling: 252km
2023 Amendments
This post was written in 2023, so this section will document any gaps. I had a blog back then but didn't update it while travelling, and it was before I used other social media.
* Not sure if this was really lunch or dinner. Had inadvertently left my digital camera on NZ time.
Robin Capper
