● For full details on our route, transport info, hotel details, etc, look at our Google Maps page

Wednesday 31 December 2008

Mekong Delta

30th – 31st December

After an inhumanely early start of 7am, we joined the rest of our group and boarded our bus. For once our luck was in and the coach of 40 was in fact an intimate minibus of fifteen, a mixture of ages but all of whom seemed to be fairly independent and similarly like-minded. First stop Cat Be – home to a famous floating market.

The Hard Sell
Our guide introduced himself and after a few
pleasantries and a bit of karaoke (?!) he went in for the kill. The cheapest way to take in a Mekong tour was to spend the night in a mini hotel in Chau Doc (not the alternative floating hotel option) and the slow boat across the border to PP (rather than the express boat). The cost is just $30, versus the steep $60 for a fast boat. We weren’t surprised when we were invited to upgrade our ticket, despite the already hard sell from the travel agency on booking. This was Vietnam after all!

The market was a huge disappointment, but then we’d already been advised by friends to visit in the early morning (having stayed in a nearby hotel), not at 11 o’clock when the tourist boats arrive and the traders leave. We were given the hard sell again at this point, though the price for the fast boat upgrade had been reduced to a more reasonable $10. A few people bought into this but again we declined, both thinking thoughts on how the price might drop again…!

We were taken to see a coconut candy workshop and a rice cake factory
. Both were fun, nothing to do with the tastings (!) and were something we probably wouldn’t have seen ourselves. Back on the boat we floated down the peaceful, beautiful Mekong whilst our guide prattled on about how we could buy Catch of the Day at the restaurant we were going to. Now we realised why lunch wasn’t included in the ticket – they wouldn’t have the opportunity to sell us fish (by the kilo) at hugely inflated prices!

After a typical Vietnamese lunch of soup and rice (of course we didn’t succumb – though it did look good and if we were merely on holiday like many others…), we spent the afternoon travelling towards the border town of Chau Doc, listening to some more singing by our guide and further arm twisting on the fast boat upgrade (no further price drop…yet). At this point we were also informed about the comforts of “floating hotel” and how the mini hotel was now not even in Chau Doc but 10km outside town!! Clearly this was news to us, but we had no desire to spend anymore money with this company, especially when it became apparent we wouldn’t reach the town in time for the promised “sunset on the deck” (for the floating hotel guests).

Dissapearing Slow Boats
The hotel was fine, rough… but we’ve stayed in worse. It
turns out it was located in another nearby town, near several restaurants so we didn’t starve at least. Early the next day we visited a fish farm and a small Muslim Cham village where girls were weaving. Transport at this point was by our “slow” boat, our home for the next 10 hours (versus the 3 hours fast boat!). This morning we were made a final offer for the upgrade; just $5 each and we’d arrive in PP at 1pm, time to find a home and be in the bar for sunset. We were tempted, but there were only 6 of us now travelling by this method, everyone else had joined a much larger group travelling by the speed boat. By this time we’d grouped up with a couple of young Dutch girls who didn’t have any money left at all. We offered our guy everything we had left between us (bare in mind we were crossing a border and had ditched our dong the night before), a little over $10 for four people. He came back a few minutes later and said it wasn’t possible, the deal was $5 or not at all. We explained that we weren’t in a hurry and actually “wanted” to get the slow boat, to see the scenery. Before we knew it we were being ushered to the waiting fast boat (where had our boat suddenly gone?) which would take us as far as the border, from where a slow boat would take us onwards (oh… really?). By this point we were pretty sure we’d won the stand off and thoughts turned to the sundowners!

The slowest border crossing ever followed (normally it takes just a few minutes) – we were all left in a tourist restaurant for 90 minutes, having paid a $2 fee for the tour operator to arrange our visas for us. Unsurprisingly our slow boat didn’t materialise and we were smiling from ear to ear (quietly, a few had actually paid to upgrade and some had paid $20 more for the privilege!) as we boarded the express boat. Across the border and suddenly the truthful Cambodian agent explained how the rest of the journey would take the rest of the day, and that we’d arrive around 4pm. Unsurprised, we were just relieved to be out of Vietnam where people tell you what they think will make you part with your money the quickest!

Top Traveller Tip #11 - If you take a tour from Saigon to Phnom Penh, via the Mekong Delta, don't splash out on the Fast Boat ticket. Save your money and buy the Slow Boat. If you resist all the calls to upgrade during the course of your tour, the chances are you'll end up on the Fast Boat anyway for free - the slow one doesn't seem to exist. NOTE: We were with Delta Adventure Travel - other companies may well have a slow boat!

No comments:

Visitors Since 19th May 2009...