2014 An Binh To Can Tho

I brought along my TRX and Patti and did a workout just about every other day. About 8 years ago I abandoned the free weights and machines and started using this device and other body weight exercises as my sole weight training. Whenever we go anywhere for a week or more it comes with and it has been mounted in some strange places.

After the morning workout and before bed last night we took showers 'Mekong Delta Style'. That is, a cold shower. There was only one pipe feeding the shower control knob and there was nothing hot about it. After the initial shock and the realization about finally being cool I wised up and enjoyed. Here is my hammock of the morning.

Today with our guide, Nnung, we took the back roads from An Binh to Can Tho and visited some small towns via roads that were a little bigger the a golf cart path. But before rolling we first dropped by the market in Vinh Long where I picked up a few shuttle cocks and the girls picked up a few more fans. Not air movement devices but fans of little Americans. I don't think I have mentioned this yet for this trip, but the kids are a hit here as they were in China. Everyone calls both of them babies. Tara's response at one point was, I am not a baby, plus I am taller than most of them. For instance our college aged guide in front of a large pottery kiln.

Their notoriety seemed to vary inversely with the size of the town. The smaller the burg, the more folks would wander over to the circus that was the Huth Family. Many an older lady wanted to touch them, they usually asked. Everyone else just grabbed their faces.

One of our stops today was in a very small town to an operation that turned rice into noodles. The rice is ground, pressed, forced a number of times through something that looks like a big sausage grinder until it is the right consistency. Then on the last lap it passes through a filter which limits it's diameter based on the type of noodle they want to make.

In this noodle making shop there was a little girl who kept asking our guide "Are these real Americans?" Then Patti gave the little girl a hug from her first real live honest to goodness American.

At our stop to see a woman weave dried hyacinth into a roping material the kids were once again the main attraction. The whole place was crowded with folks gawking over the little Americans. Riley struggled to weave a small section, while the lady instructing her weaves 250 meters a day for the tidy sum of about $2.50.

We ate lotus seeds for the first time today.

Had to put a picture of one of these burn sites in here. In some parts of Vietnam there seems to be a pretty constant smell of burning organic material and sometimes other trash. I kind of like it at times, and not really at others. Sometimes it smells like a campfire, others like a car fire.

I didn't have enough for phrase association today, but I did find these catchy marketing slogans on the side of a moped named Angel Hi.

Just in case you cannot see:

- The Morden Scooter Citizen

- Dreaming Knight of Brave

We always have a great time with the young Vietnamese kids. They love to say "Hello" and put up two fingers which is a non-verbal way of saying hi.

Riley's name once again held its ranking as number one most difficult foreigner name in all of Vietnam. Today it was 'Really'. All the mispronunciations are done in a very endearing accent which we quite enjoy.

We dined with the King tonight. The King of Burger. We did this near the end in China, I think that was that last time I had a Whooper(how is that spelled?). The $0.15 cones were out tonight at the Lotteria. So we splurged on the $0.25 upgrade at the Billibop. They were creamier and added 16, 17 and 18 to the cone count.

Patti secured a hotel for us tonight right in the heart of Can Tho. We can see the bridge to the city from our balcony. It is the longest in Southeast Asia.

It is now Saturday night and we are right across the street from Karaoke in the park. Wow, it is loud! Normally not a big deal but we are out of here at 5:15am to catch the morning water markets.

Have a good night.

All images in the 2014 An Binh to Can Tho album.