Monday 24th October 2022
I was struggling to find online bus times from Ha Tien to Can Tho, so we’d asked our hotel for help. They let us know the available options and we’d decided to get the 9.45am bus. They also said they’d order us a taxi (for 60,000 VND, so only a couple of dollars) and to come down to reception around 9-9.10am. We were there at 9am, they ordered us a taxi, and we waited. And waited. By 9.15am we were starting to get a little anxious but were told it’s fine, the taxi will be here soon. It finally arrived at 9.25am….
We needn’t have worried though, it’s under 10 minutes drive to the bus station and took us literally 30 seconds to buy the ticket and board the bus (you just pay the bus driver).
It was a bit of an odd bus! Even though it was mid morning and only a 4-5hr journey, the seats were actually beds. Three rows of single seats, in double decker format (so 3 rows at the bottom, 3 at the top). You also have to take your shoes off before you board, and we were each handed a little green plastic bag to put them in.
It was a pleasant enough journey, if a little bumpy at times and with the occasional very sharp breaking (which at one point caused a few things to fly down the aisle to the front of the bus!). The bus also stopped at various places to pick up massive parcels and drop off deliveries – it seemed to be a courier and bus service rolled into one.
The boy sitting in front of Pete took a serious shine to him. He spoke no English, so the conversation consisted of Pete pointing at himself and saying “I’m Peter, you?”, “my name’s Peter, you are?” and several other variations (including using google translate at one point), and the boy then pointing at himself and repeating “Peter”. At which point, Pete resorted to giving him high fives and fist bumps. As the journey went on, he started climbing over the back of his seat and touching Pete’s legs. I suspect what he really wanted was a hug (Pete is very cuddly!), and his parents didn’t seem bothered in the slightest that he was practically climbing into the lap of a strange man.
We were very happy to find that Grab works in Can Tho, so could walk past / politely decline the throng of motorcycle taxis that came to greet us at the bus station, and order a Grab car to the Welkom Inn hostel, where we were staying. We dropped our bags off, and arranged to meet K and Alice, a couple of friends of ours who have been living in Can Tho and teaching English for the last couple of years. They suggested Cafe cá KOI, so we ordered another Grab car to take us there. While waiting for the Grab, I saw my first dog on a motorcycle! He had his cute little paws on the handlebars, but unfortunately I wasn’t quite quick enough to get a photo (there was a human sitting behind him of course, but it was still impressive!)
Cafe cá KOI was a weird and wonderful place, with the tables basically round islands in a huge fish pond!
Although Cafe cá KOI serves food, they don’t do so mid afternoon, which is when we arrive. Alice had ordered some takeaway (apparently they don’t mind people bringing in outside food) – a veritable feast consisting of the Vietnamese take on Korean food, deep fried sushi, rice bowls, and some interesting chewy rice cakes in a spicy sauce covered with cheese.
After we’d eaten, it was time to feed to fish with little baby bottles filled with fish food (yes, you heard that right!), a very fun if slightly surreal experience.
I took a photo of the outside of Cafe cá KOI as we left, it looked quite pretty lit up in the dark.
It was now early evening, so our next stop was Ninh Kieu Sky Bar for cocktails with a view. The city looked beautiful lit up at night.
After a couple of drinks, we walked down to the night market to sample some of the street food. My favourite was probably the first dish we tried. We didn’t have a clue what it was, but later learnt it was fried rice flour cakes with egg (banh bot chien).
By this time it was getting late, so we said goodbye to K and Alice and went back to our hotel.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 