The Way to Chau Doc- Just Another Adventure

When we arrived in Saigon we needed to arrange transportation to Chau Doc on the Bassac River (off the Mekong) and near the border of Cambodia. I went to a local travel agency and they quoted a price for a private van of $125. The alternate would be to take a bus from the station at the city edge. Another travel agency had "open" busses (common here and actually a van) to Chau Doc for $10 each. So we signed on for $10 each plus $1 each extra for our big bags. A van was supposed to pick us up at 8 am. We arrived at the travel agency and they had no record of us. A hasty call was made and a man appeared with a taxi to take us to a small bus station. He proceeded to purchase tickets for us but then the company wouldn't let us get on as there wasn't room for the bags. So we would have to wait until the noon bus which would have room for us. In addition we had to purchase two extra seats (at $3.50 each) for our bags. In other words we were a bit scammed. Oh well. Its an adventure isn't it. Our street in front of the travel agency.

The street by the little bus station was full of shops selling cute little dogs.

After two hours they transferred us to the "big" bus station where we waited for our van.

No, we didn't eat any lunch.

Our van.

At the halfway point we stopped at a really nice restaurant.

With a beautiful stone garden.

The ride across the Mekong Delta was really quite pleasant with some wonderful views.

At the main branch of the Mekong we took a ferry.

After the 6 hour trip we arrived at the bus station in Chau Doc. Despite the fact that it is quite a large town there was no such thing as a taxi. The choice was either bicycle cyclos or a motorcycle. And we were 4 km. from town. The price was 50,000 dong each (about $3.50) which seemed like a bargain when you consider the alternative. So we piled our bags and ourselves on the cyclos and headed into town. These cyclos were almost flat with a wood seat, no back, and a little bit of a dip for your feet in the middle.

Chau Doc is a friendly place and as we rode through town people were waving and saying hello to us. The driver who spoke the best English was named Wol and took us in hand for the two days we were in Chau Doc. The cyclos picked us up a little later and took us to a wonderful restaurant near the river. I had a huge fish dinner for less than $4.

Our hotel faced the main square and we each had a terrace with great views.