The bus pulls into the Can Tho bus station on the outskirts of the city. A woman approaches and asks me if I need a shuttle then tells me to follow her. My initial thought is she is trying to sell me something but nope she's legit. She is on her cell phone calling shuttle drivers trying to find an appropriate shuttle for me to get on. She keeps telling me to follow her and then I think she realizes it's not going to be an easy task so she tells me to sit down. It feels like it's about +35 C. and there is no way I want to sit down. I keep standing and within a couple of minutes she has found a driver to take me where I need to go.
The shuttle ride from the Can Tho bus station to my guest house takes only about 15 minutes. I love the sculptures and decorations in this city. So beautiful. Massively huge art work of brightly coloured flowers.
I get the impression that every employee who works for the bus company hates their job. They are unhelpful and just give off negative energy. This shuttle bus driver is no different. He pulls over to the side of the road and tells me to get out as he points over his left shoulder and says my hotel is "over there"! I have no clue how to open the door to the van so another passenger opens the door and I push my suitcase out of the van myself. I cross the street and don't see any guesthouse. The locals look at me and point up to a sign "Thanh Ha Guesthouse, 30 meters". I nod affirmative and a man on a scooter rides down the narrow alley/sidewalk and yells something then he comes back towards me. I reach the end, hang a right and there, in what would be similar to a cul-de-sac, is my guesthouse.
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The owner, Mrs. Ha greets me. She tells me to sit down as my room isn't ready yet. She gives me a large glass of iced tea (some strange fruit or herb I had never heard of - not your typical North American iced tea) and a plate of pineapple and papaya. What a nice welcome. There are four tourists sitting in this front room/lobby area. They are all packed up and waiting their ride to the bus depot.
Within about 10 minutes Mrs. Ha says my room is ready and she says someone will help me with my suitcase. This little boy comes along who looks to be no older than about 10 years old - my suitcase is almost as big as he is. He looks at my suitcase and he is probably thinking the exact same thought as I am "there is no way I can carry that up those stairs". I tell him to take one end and I will take the other end and we'll both carry it up the stairs. He goes much too fast for me up the slippery marble steps and rounds the corner and continues up another flight of stairs and we successfully make it up all the stairs with the 35 lbs of luggage.
My room is beautiful. I love it! Totally recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Can Tho.
I get settled and head out for a walk to find something to eat as I hadn't eaten since breakfast. While I was taking my luggage upstairs my tea and fruit were taken away so I couldn't rely on that to tide me over. I walk in the direction that the shuttle bus came (familiar territory) and am cognizant of my purse as Mrs. Ha tells me two times to be very careful with my bag. I come across an interesting street so I walk a ways down and realize the entire street (well we wouldn't call it a street, it is not even as wide as a typical back lane) is full of tools and hardware items. I gather if you are in need of wire, plumbing materials, carpentry materials etc., this is the THE place to come.
I don't see much in the way of food stalls or places to eat but I do pass by one place where they are BBQ'ing rolled up green leaves. It smells good but I have no clue what they serve at this place. I keep on walking.
I walk quite a ways and pass by a large hospital. A white medic van pulls up on the street (not on the hospital grounds). There are numerous staff in white uniforms emptying boxes out of the van.
Can Tho's roundabout was mesmerizing and I could have stood there watching it for an hour. How on earth they manage to get around that round-about flawlessly is beyond me.
I see what appears to be a Walmart. I have no clue if that's what it actually is but the logo looks somewhat familiar. I also see a very large Samsung store. I would really love to go in there and check it out as I had read that you can purchase a dual sim card phone for about $60 US. I wouldn't mind looking at it. But how the hell is anyone supposed to get across the road? I look around and don't see anyone attempting to cross as the road is pretty wide. Despite the fact it doesn't have any marked lanes I would guess it's minimum 6 lanes of traffic. I look up hoping to see a pedestrian cross walk but it's non-existent. I guess I'm not meant to check out the Samsung store.
I'm still not seeing anything that resembles food and I've walked quite a distance so I decide I'd better turn back. As I pass by the restaurant BBQ'ing the green leaves the restaurant is actually fairly busy inside. I decide "what the hell", I don't know what it is I am eating but I'm starving and will try it. I walk in and sit down. The man at the BBQ approaches and lifts up one finger. I reply by lifting up one finger. Within mere seconds I have an entire spread laid before me:
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| All the making for salad rolls. |
I will say it was really delicious. I couldn't finish it all.
This woman is chopping all the vegetables and pineapple and is stacking up numerous plates of veggies behind her.
When it comes time to pay, the man at the BBQ brings over his entire money box to my table and pulls out the bills he needs from me. I can't recall exactly how much I paid for this filling meal but it was approx. $1.75 Cdn.
I continue on to my guesthouse and take some photos along the way.
Good bloging (blogging) Bren.
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