To plan or not to plan, that is the question?

After enjoying the break on Con Dao, we decided to venture into Cambodia for a few days due to our expiring visa for Vietnam. However, our spontaneous approach taught us the importance of better planning yet again.

Heading to Con Tho along the Mekong River seemed like a familiar route, but our sole purpose was visa renewal, a detail we overlooked.

Assuming we could easily cross the border and return to Vietnam, we soon discovered the hurdles—£20 entry fee and no visa extension options. With little time to spare, our plans shifted once again. Next stop: Taiwan, with a brief detour through the mountains of Vietnam.

We decided to not waste the journey up to Con Tho and booked onto a day trip on the Mekong to see the floating Market.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303942-d455150-Reviews-Cai_Rang_Floating_Market-Can_Tho_Mekong_Delta.html

We embarked on our journey at the crack of dawn, a familiar routine for the last few months.

Accompanied by four others, 2 Spanish, 2 German, we made our way to the river and joined the procession of tourist boats gliding along the main Mekong. While we anticipated the lack of uniqueness in the trip, there was still something magical about witnessing the sunrise from the rocky waters of the river.

The market, though diminished in its size over recent years, serves as an example of changing economic landscapes in Vietnam. Its decline can likely be linked to the increase of supermarkets and wholesale buyers, who now buy goods directly from the source, bypassing traditional middle operators like those found in the market.  However, despite the dominance of tourist boats over market boats, it was still good to see how the operators work and live.

We also stopped there for a noodle breakfast, at the equivalent of a very busy transport cafe!

Next stop was the noodle factory where we got the chance to roll and cut noodles

We then had a chance to go down one of the smaller inlets where people live in house propped up on stilts

The stark reality of the rubbish issue in Vietnams larger cities becomes glaringly evident in the smaller canals, where weeds flourish and debris accumulates unchecked. With the market gradually fading, there’s an opportunity for tours to embrace sustainability initiatives. It’s disheartening to witness the casual disposal of rubbish onto the streets all over Vietnam and the excessive use of plastics in everyday practices. 

Final stop was an organic farm, which again had seen better days, the whole tour seemed to be something that was struggling to hold on and the market, state of the canals and small farms weren’t helping. Saying that the guide was really entertaining and we had a good ride up the river, and met some nice people, so a good few hours out.

So after arriving the day before on our way to Cambodia we leave on route to Taiwan.

So to plan or not to plan, what do you think!