We were awakened at 5:30am by the mechanical clank of the boat’s anchor being raised. It’s a grating sound but nicer than the noise my iphone makes in the morning. I should have recorded it. 

By 7.30 we had breakfasted and arrived at Can Tho’s floating market.

It’s a wholesale market, so it’s where the middlemen, who buy from the producers, come to sell their produce to the local traders. 

They bring enough stock for up to three weeks and they just live on their boats during this time.

Old wooden boats filled with pineapple, coconut, pumpkin, in fact most fruits and vegetables you can imagine (and, judging by the fruit quiz, many you cannot).

Occasionally, a smaller craft pulls alongside the tourist boats to try sell them pineapples at inflated prices, (I like to imagine that there’s a floating toy market just down the river where they sell inflatable pineapples also at inflated prices). 

I was thinking how lovely it was to see that these traditions still survive here. However, our guide later in the day explained that it’s actually not surviving and they think that the floating market will be gone in a few years.

A combination of Covid, which put a lot of the traders out of business, and modernisation, as the producers are using the improved road network to reduce delivery times, plus selling from warehouses, makes it less cost-effective to bother with the boats.

It’s a shame for the city of Can Tho, which depends on tourism, much of which is driven by having an authentic floating market (unlike those in Thailand which are created specifically for tourists).

I have to be honest and say we didn’t spend too much time in Can Tho. It was around 38 degrees and 96% humidity so the hotel pool and spa was just too tempting!

We did have a walk around town for an hour after our massage and swim, but I can’t say it’s our favourite place.

It’s very touristy around the little port, lots of ‘tat’ shops selling straw hats, cheap jewellery and the ubiquitous waving cats (I thought those were Chinese?).

Although we did see a bit of the city centre later at night and it looked better, (though most places with electricity look better at night) so I may be being unfair, but the pool and spa won hands down.

We did yet another food tour in the evening.

This was the only activity that was not arranged by Jacquie, our travel agent, but we had a free evening so I booked it ages ago and I wished I hadn’t as it was the first thing we haven’t enjoyed.

I think we’d already sampled most of the food with the exception of Chuot Chein Sa Ot.

For those of you who can’t read Vietnamese, that’s fried Rat with lemongrass and chilli!

I’m told these rats are a local delicacy. They live, and are caught, in the paddy fields and they eat the rice so they have a special taste.

I think it was Sir Thomas Beecham who said that you should try everything once in your life, except folk dancing and incest, so I gave it a go.

I reckon there must be chickens in the fields because that’s what it tasted of. I can’t say it was delicious but it wasn’t disgusting either and the lemongrass and chilli disguised any inherent ‘rattiness’. I only ate one piece which was quite enough for my brain to digest.

Surprisingly Brigitte, who has no problem eating gastropods or amphibians was disgusted and refused to even try it. I know she’s eaten rabbit which seems quite close to a rodent in my opinion, so I’m not sure where she draws her line. Twitchy nose, long tail, and whiskers with a hint of bubonic plague I suspect.

Incidentally, eating rat is also good for dental hygiene.

Instead of serving the rat’s tail as part of the meal, the Vietnamese carefully cut the long tails into quarters lengthways, using a special tailing tool, before cooking them and using them to floss their teeth after the meal.

Oh, don’t be so gullible – Of course they don’t!!

Fruit quiz.

I know 83% of you wanted the fruit quiz to return but I must say, the quantity and quality of entries is very poor.

No, it wasn’t a walnut, no it wasn’t a tiny coconut, nor was it a conker.

I’m pretty sure none of those are even fruits but I’ll keep my word and I won’t fruit shame anyone.

The correct answer was the Sapodilla or Chicoo fruit which tastes of molasses.

I feel I need to dumb this down for you so I’m going to give you a really easy one today so that you don’t lose heart….

Sorry, but I have to to leave you now to watch the mighty whites beat Swansea 🤞

Tomorrow we leave Vietnam 😫😫

Night night.

Can Tho 24th November 2024.

Footnote Warning

It’s after midnight now. Exciting game with Leeds winning 4-3 with a last/gasp winner. It’s amazing to think that I’m 6,340 miles from Leeds and yet I can sit here and watch them live.

It was dark, Brigitte was asleep, so I decided to go to the bathroom in the dark so as not to wake her. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME – brushing your teeth with Germoline is really, really disgusting, rat is much nicer.