(Version française)

Location: Anh Bin, Cai Bè

The night is shorter than expected…
It’s four o’clock in the morning when:
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
”Cock a doodle dooooooo!”
It doesn’t stop for two hours. At 6.30 AM, I go outside the house to explore the garden.
At least thirty roosters are running around or waiting to be freed from their cages!

Roosters waking me up at 4.00AM

I decide to check out Anh Bin colonial church which is located only a few minutes away from the house. Inside, a middle-aged woman welcomes me in French. ”Bonjour! Bienvenue!” How is that even possible?! I didn’t say thing! Does my forehead reads ”I am French”?
More likely, here is where the French-speaking Vietnamese have been hiding: in the Mekong delta! That’s a very nice surprise!

It’s hig

Colonial church in Anh Bin

Inside the colonial church of Anh Bin.

It’s time I head to Cai Bé floating market. It takes a little while to find a boat for a one-way trip, but hey, I find one. During this one hour boat ride, I have the entire boat to myself! It’s perfect. We are going fast enough to create a gentle breeze, but slow enough to gaze at our surroundings. This is perfect, I wish it lasted forever!

''Butterfly boat'' (the way I call it)

Bitter disapointment in Cai Bè: it’s 9.30 AM and the market is already over. I wonder what to do: should I stay here one more day to come to the floating market early tomorrow? Or should I stick to the original plan and take a bus to Can Tho floating market? While my mind ponders about the alternative, I enter Cai Bè’s local farmers’ market. And, oh my God! That’s quite an interesting food market!

Beheaded ducks with their hearts.