11th - Heading to Vung Tau. Great breakfast at the GK Central this morning with all usual delights plus some local treats. Headed of to the market again early this morning - maybe a mistake for Roberta.
Walked in the front door right into the meat and fish section. Everyone busy getting their delights ready for the market. The fresh meat was being prepared including all the offal which was interesting - to me, not so Roberta. There were things one should not see that early in the morning. The woman who was shaving some cut with a disposable razor was also interesting. The fresh fish area was great with live sea-food of all sorts. One large fish had escaped its dish and was flopping around on the walkway. The attending lady slowly got up and grabbed it and put it back in - all good. We then ran the usual gauntlet of sales folk until we found what we needed and then ran away.
Back at the hotel we arranged to book out but first a Vietnamese coffee and chocolate at the nearby Coffee and Chocolate shop.
Back to the hotel and arranged a cab to take us to the ferry terminal for our trip down to Vung Tau. The driver was given the address of the terminal and indicated he knew where to go. We were told the cost would be 250 so off we went. Almost an hour of hellish drive along rough streets and abandoned buildings spread among new construction ensued. We were watching the clock as the ferry departed at 12:00 noon. We finally arrived with 10 minutes to spare at a spot out of some horror movie. The driver indicated to just walk down there where all the other people were going. It did not look right to me but..... We walked and ran into an official person who told us using hand gestures and "vinglish" this was not the spot but to go over there - where??
We approached some locals and managed to determine there was no ferry. Got on the phone to the ferry company, gave the phone to one of the locals, lady, who spoke to the ferry lady and worked out where we should be - back near where we started at the hotel. So quick negotiation and we had one of the locals drive us back to where we needed to be - at a new ferry terminal in the city. Cost us another 250. Vietnamese people are just people as are we - friendly and helpful and reasonably trustworthy.
We had of course missed the ferry so we purchased, no refund, new tickets on the 2:00pm trip and waited. Boarded and sat in aircraft type seats in a near new vessel. Lots of others joined us and away we go. The hostess came around and distributed a bottle of water for each passenger.
The trip down the mighty Mekong was interesting shared with large container ships, barges carrying sand or gravel, fishing and cargo boats of all shapes and sizes. New housing construction, high rises, pop up everywhere along the river with amazing bridges spanning the waterway, plus a new one still under construction. These bridges are by need very long span and very high to accommodate the river width and the ships that pass underneath.
Otherwise the trip was smooth and uneventful down to the marina at Vung Tau then a short cab ride ti the Grand Hotel which surely is grand.