Cuu River Markets

At 5:20am we climbed into a boat on the Cuu River to visit the floating markets with SEn our guide for the morning. The first thing she asked was "Can you swim?" She insisted on an answer, so we let her know that we could and that the kids started taking lessons when they were 2 years old, that seemed to satisfy her. Knowing that boat travel has its relative hazards that seemed a natural question. I better understood the need for the question when I discovered we were aboard the smallest vessel on the river. We were occasionally sloshed with one near swamping miss, but we stayed above river the whole morning.

This added yet another mode of travel to our Mekong Delta tour of the last two days. We were able to see Vietnamese life from a different perspective. Our first stop was a largest of the floating markets. This place of exchange is no different then any other in the transfer from seller to buyer and water is the most efficient physical space to conduct this business. Producers from up and down the river connect with wholesale buyers at this exchange. We visited another smaller retail market later in the morning.

While our boat had more water hazard then the big tourists boats, we had nimbleness and a bold driver on our side. As a result we threaded the needle through the market were the tourist boats could not. Sometimes the threading was a little less then graceful including the four boat pileup which we were just clearing.

We picked up some noodle bowls for breakfast from a women who had a full kitchen on her boat. As we were ordering I noticed that folks were eating from actual bowls. Dirty bowls need to be cleaned, does cleaning happen in the pristine waters of this delta? To my relief, and the chagrin of environmentalists worldwide, she put mine in a styrofoam to-go box.

A child, who will remain unnamed, had to make a rather emergency pit stop along the way. SEn responded to our inquiry with a few questions like "Can you go in a not so nice toilet?" The response was "Yes". "Can you go in a bush?" Was the next question. Our child's response to that query was "Yes". I think SEn was getting an idea of the range of options available to her. However, I think she found the eventual waste disposal facility beyond categorization. The women to whom it belonged was embarrassed, but Patti made sure she understood that we were appreciative.

In words, think two concrete planks suspended over a stream that made its way into the river. You navigate in a shuffle over to the business spot, carefully turn around, balance, git 'er done, then even more carefully return to land. To think that we were 3000 miles down steam from countless other folks who also had the Wipeout style water closet. And I hugged and kissed my beloved styrofoam breakfast box.

Our little boat was the source of much gawking on the river today. Asian tourists were looking at American tourists more then the actual attraction. See an image of actual Asian Tourists waving at us like we were in a parade in Phrase Association 14.

While the expedition party was conquering unknown toilets, our captain was busy making little things from the reeds and flowers in the river for the girls.

She was quite talented and very good at her job, we didn't tip over. She also would periodically pass up plates of fruit, like pineapple and mango, that she would prepare while somehow commanding our vessel. Our guide was always careful to make sure we constantly cleaned our hands with wipes, but I don't think that our captain was part of the sanitization squad. When you see Phrase Association 14, the same women who is picking her nose is preparing our fruits, and those beautiful creations made from reeds pulled from...you guessed it, the river.

We also were able to try our hands, and feet, on an actual Monkey Bridge. This is claimed to be the 7th of 10 most difficult monkey bridges in the Delta. There were a few locals watching for what might be some entertainment. Not this time, as Patti works it like pro.

Our largest companions on the river today were these sand barges which looked like they were under water when they were fully loaded. They would drop 6 feet into the river when carrying their sand load and appeared to my eye to be well below the waterline.

A sand barge with no cargo.

We ended about 1:00 and grabbed a quick, like 7.23 minute, bite before we had to jump on a bus back to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. We were getting this one to go as well, in styrofoam :-(, as it was our only choice. I rejoiced over the carry out option on the boat but this time came with its own gross-out. You cannot tell it very well from this image, but these chopsticks had seen better days. The 'good' chopsticks are made of bamboo in most cases. Often they are wet, like maybe from the last guys saliva. Remember how in the states there was a small revolution against the wooden cutting board due to all of the nasties it would collect? If I get sick in Vietnam it will be because of the scarcity of cleanliness of today's culinary exploits.

All images posted in the 2014 Cuu River Markets album.