What The Pho...!?

After crossing into Vietnam at the most southerly boarder crossing (Prek Chak/Xi Xia) we continued on a ten minute bus journey to the small riverside town of Ha Tien, our introduction to Vietnam and the Mekong Delta.

At first everything was going swimmingly; we got moto taxis from the bus station and they didn't try to rip us off, and we found a fantastic hotel with a huge balcony overlooking the river for just $10/night (Hotel Gia Phuk). Once we ventured out into the town, however, life got more difficult. Nobody in Ha Tien speaks English, even the tour agents and hotel staff barely speak the basics. We were trying to hire bicycles, which our guide book recommended, but it was impossible; people shook their heads, covered their ears, jabbered at us in Vietnamese and sent us on wild goose chases around the town. There are only so many times you can mine riding a bike before you call it a day.

Ha Tien riverfront, view from floating cafe.

Instead, we walked along the riverfront and stopped at a floating boat-cafe for a refreshing iced lemon juice, and then walked around the huge central market where more miming and unsuccessful haggling eventually enabled me to buy an umbrella. 

Our first meal in Vietnam was Pho, the national dish comprising noodles, meat, broth and herbs. It was delicious, which is more than I can say about the watery, flavourless Saigon beer.

After more exploring of the town we sat down in a dimly lit, roadside bar where the waitress laughed nervously at us and didn't understand anything we said. As there was no menu, we sat for a while watching the locals and realised that we ought to order coffee. Two shots of good, strong espresso arrived, along with two glasses of iced tea, a tea pot full of hot jasmine tea and two more additional glasses of ice. All but the espressos was free. After a little while we met Denise, from Ireland, and we bonded over being the only tourists in town and having nobody understand us. Once thoroughly hydrated with all the free tea, we hit the night market together and drank beers at a shabby plastic table amid prostitutes, cross dressers and pissed up locals.

 

So many fluids.

Ric with his new friends.

The next day the three of us took a local taxi to Mui Nai beach where we were welcomed by the locals like long lost friends. The sand at Mui Nai is just a blackish strip and behind it were bars and cafes where families and groups of friends sat eating fresh seafood picnics, washing it all down with an impressive amount of alcohol considering it was 10:30 in the morning. We were offered crab legs, quail eggs and shots of local rice whiskey. In Asian culture it's seriously disrespectful to refuse something that is offered to you as a gift, so we tucked into our crab and downed our shots with a smile. The local men adored Ric, posing with him for pictures and plying him with so much alcohol that we had to strategically move on before he got too pissed. What a great welcome to Vietnam!

The highlight of the day was the self-controlled rollercoaster! We were towed uphill to a stunning viewpoint with views all the way back to Bokor Mountain in Kampot. Then we got back in our karts and sped around twists and turns back to the bottom of the mountain, it was great fun. 

Towards Cambodia.

From the hill above Mui Nai beach.

Ha Tien is a small boarder town with very few tourists and but it's got a lot of atmosphere and we had a great time, definitely worth a night or two.

Here's Ric on the rollercoaster: