Sundown on a branch of the Mekong

My cousin Quan and I caught a bus down to the Mekong Delta yesterday. The city of Can Tho sits along one of the major tributaries of the Mekong that fan out across southern Vietnam. It’s my chance to get some quality fish time in the Vietnamese section of this mighty river.

1 kg for about $3. I’ve had mangosteens only once in the US, and they set me back more than $1 per fruit. So until they become the next kiwi – load me up.

The bus ticket to travel 100 miles cost all of $5.50 – not too shabby.  An early lunch pit stop let me stock up on my all-time favorite Southeast Asian fruit – mangosteens. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that this tartly sweet delight was a large contributing factor to my taking this transpacific trip – well, it’s a major highlight at least.

Incense cones burning in a Chinese temple by the riverbank.

Once we arrived in Can Tho, we rented a motorbike for the evening, driving first to the river’s edge to walk around. Then travelled to the edge of town as the sun was setting. We pulled over to watch a man burning some reeds along the water as another man walked his water buffalo nearby. I have a special fondness for water buffalo – they’re at the heart of pastoral Vietnam, strength in the mud and the bright green rice fields.

Standing there was one of those moments when it dawned on me that I am most definitely in another country. A pearl of a nearly full moon hung in the sky, and old man practiced his Tai Chi exercises beside us.  It was so lovely and tranquil.