Chau Doc (2/4/09)

Our second stop in rural Vietnam was in the border town of Chau Doc. This brought an upgrade in accommodations from Can Tho, but Jason was severely unhappy due to stomach issues and heat that lead to major dehydration. The first couple of hours in town were somewhat unpleasant. Our arrival was a little bittersweet. It marked the end of car travel for a couple of days, but we also had to say goodbye to our trusted driver Duk (pronounced duke). Duk was a very sweet man who left his wife and two daughters, 1 month and 14 months, to make some scratch by taking us to Chau Doc. We often grow very fond of the drivers who guide us from town to town. This was no exception.

Jason and Duk



After we cleaned up a little, we took a "cyclo" back to the main drag to have a pizza and a huge bottle of water at the nicest hotel in town. Sometimes old favorites are a must have on the road. Here's a picture of a typical cyclo and then Jojo on our trip into town.





After a Lasagna dinner at the Victoria (I know, lame ... but Jason was really hurting), we walked the town to find a celebration in the making. After a few attempts of garnering information, we found out that it was the 79th anniversary of communism in Vietnam. Hurray! Coupled with the Chinese style Buddha, we realized that we were a bit out of our element and made it a relatively early night.





All and all, Vietnam was a very interesting and beautiful country, but it was just an appetizer of things to come ...