Monday, December 2, 2013

Local Boat trip from Ben Tre to Tra Vinh

The night bus ride to Saignon is nothing what is really necessary to experience by yourself if you are not a bit of a sadist to yourself in this matter. In principle the seats can be flipped back quite okay but the problem was that I got a seat right in the back of the bus and as the roads are not the best in Vietnam the jumping experience was included in the trip. So I arrived fresh and ready to go at 5:25 in Saigon in the morning and then something remarkable happened to me. I wanted to catch the bus to Ben Tre in the Mekong Delta to go for a local boat ride I heard from other travellers in Hanoi. So after I left the bus I went to the bus office I just came and asked if they could help me with a bus to Ben Tre. The first one did not understood any English the second one the same but then I talked to a lady and she picked up the phone and said I will be picked up in five minutes – what happened now ????. Okay she organised me a transport in a car for free to another company serving the destination Ben Tre so the car drove me there I bought a bus ticket got a free bottle of water and a refreshing towel and even a chocolate cookie and after another 5 minutes the bus left. So I arrived already at 7:28 at the bus station in Ben Tre jumped with my luggage on a motorcycle taxi and went to the harbour. I heard from the other tourists that there is a daily boat leaving Ben Tre to Tra Vinh transporting local stuff chickens eggs etc and you can ride with them for the day for 100.000 Dong equal to 5 USD and that was the plan. As I walked down the pear suddenly somebody waved at me and I asked If they go to Tra Vinh they said yes and now I even had 1 hour time for a breakfast at the river. They even had a hammock on board so I really could enjoy the slow ride on the river with no tourist but chicken and eggs around me.
In the evening I rented a motorbike in Ben Tre and just explored the surroundings including this fancy neon temple erected in a Khmer pond – funny colour selection.
Everything can be so easy.
My boat for today - definently no tourist boat
drivers seat
It is getting full
fuel stop
no loading limit
on the backstreets by motorbike in Tra Vinh


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