2016 - Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by Bicycle: Day 20

26 degC ,94% humidity

Listed: 50km; actual: 62km; total: 978km

Had breakfast at 6:30am and were ready by 7:15 for a 7:30am departure. Little did we know that we would have to wait for the guides to deconstruct the bikes and pack them in the van. Oh well, sigh. We drove for about 12km then rode for 25km to the Ba Chuc killing fields - Pol Pot's work in Vietnam. Back on the bikes for another 25km in the Mekong Delta and then packed up the bikes and jumped in the bus for another 60km or so to the Crocodile Farm where we had lunch before wandering around checking out the crocodiles. Unfortunately, we did not have a guide to explain the different pens and Wendy was trying hard to remember what she was told by both her Aunt and Uncle, and Maureen and Andrew Riley, all from Zimbabwe who have run or owned crocodile farms; alas, not much was coming back.

Back on the bus for another 60km to the hotel - Ninh Kieu Hotel in Can Tho (sounds like "canter"). First we stopped at an ATM and a money changer to get some Vietnamese Dong, after which we were all Vietnamese millionaires! The hotel is very palatial and probably not at all what we expected. Our room has a fantastic view and an aircon that only knows one temperature - cold! Lucky we had an artic doona to sleep under. 45 minutes after checking in we were back out on the streets having a wander. There is a fairly new foot bridge over to an island that has an unusual restaurant in that each table has its own hut built above the water; we didn't eat there though. After photographing everything that moved, didn't move, etc, we found a bar to have a beer. This is an expensive town as the beer was just under AUD2 each - the most we've ever paid for beer since being on tour! It was back to the hotel to check out the view from the SkyLounge which was not operational but we still got to see the view.

Kim met us in the hotel lobby at 7pm for a short walk to a very posh restaurant (Sao Hom) where the menu was in Vietnamese, English and French. Very nice meals were had by all with cold beer which was still relatively expensive. A nice stroll along the boardwalk/promenade settled the dinner, ready for bed.