Rạch Giá Bún Cá Trilogy – Part 3

Perhaps my favorite thing to do in Vietnam, besides eating amazing street food and writing about it here on Eating Saigon!, is going on a long motorbike ride with Hai and friends through the Vietnamese countryside.

There’s nothing that can compare to the thrill of riding mile after mile past stunningly beautiful rice paddies; or encountering a small herd of water buffalo meandering across the highway; or sharing the lane with a hundred bicycles carrying uniformed children (some 2 and 3 to a bike) just released from school; or passing through several stone-quary towns with rocks being sliced and diced; or coming upon a thousand-beaked flock (school? gaggle?) of ducks resting on the road beside their pond.

And also, there’s little that can compare to the extreme discomfort in one’s butt region after six hours sitting on the back of a motorbike (while breathing in exhaust fumes through a cloth face mask imagined to filter the air.)

We enjoyed all of these wonders on our motorbike ride from Rạch Giá to Hà Tiên on one of our final days in Kiên Giang province.  By the way, if you happened to miss Thao, Duc, Hai and my earlier adventures around Kiên Giang, take a peak at Rạch Giá Bún Cá Trilogy – Part 1 and Rạch Giá Bún Cá Trilogy – Part 2.

We left Rạch Giá very early (about 5 am), foolishly thinking we could take in the sites along Vietnam’s southwestern coast, get to enjoy some time in Hà Tiên near the Cambodian border, and return to our hotel in Rạch Giá that same evening.  

Clearly that was not to be.  Even if time had permitted, body fatigue after many hours would not!  We would end up grabbing a cheap $10 hotel room in Hà Tiên just to shower, recover, and sleep before heading back the following morning.

But, I’ve jumped ahead of myself.

In addition to the awe-inspiring images of the Mekong region, we stumbled upon a few special stops along our way to Hà Tiên.

One of note was the grandiose tribute to Phan Thị Ràng.  Posthumously awarded the title Hero of the People’s Armed Forces, Phan Thị Ràng joined the revolutionary forces in her late teens and actively supported their political and military operations in Kiên Giang province.  Her tribute at this monument indicates that although captured, brutally tortured and seduced, she remained loyal to the revolution and was killed by her captors in 1962 at the age of 25.

But, the most interesting event of the day, by far, was our stop along the rocky shoreline between Rạch Giá and Hà Tiên for a unique seafood eating adventure.

A bit of a challenge to locate, we took some time to find the small Hòn Quéo temple.  There, in a small house (rough shack) along a dirt road beside the temple, several business women ran the seafood “restaurant” operation and displayed their “catches of the day”.

A great variety of seafoods from which to choose – giant prawns, snails of every size and shape, and several kinds of fish.  All freshly caught here at the edge of the Gulf of Thailand.

Steamed? Grilled? Stir-fried?  How do you want it??

Thao and Hai carefully chose what we would be eating and negotiated a very reasonable price for us.  We would be served at the water’s edge in thatched platforms huts hanging from the rocks along the shoreline.

Another one-of–kind eating adventure!

 

 

And, after a long motorbike ride, and an amazing lunch feast, time too relax.

And finally, time to pay our colorful, flamboyant server. (Not since enjoying some fun evenings at San Francisco restaurants last year, have I encountered such a gender-free waitperson.)

For the sake of brevity ( ̣too late for that?), I’ll simply say that after this lunch feast, our final push to Hà Tiên was uneventful, that Hà Tiên itself was only moderately interesting, and that the seaside “amusement” park there was particularly unappealing.  We had a restful night after our long ride and headed back to Rạch Giá the next morning.  Another cafe stop and rest period was required about half way “home.”

Rạch Giá Bún Cá #3

And finally back in Rạch Giá, Hai and I had to squeeze in one last bowl of bún cá before bussing back to Saigon.  We were recommended by a local to “the best bún cá” just up the street from the Trung Tâm Thương Mại market.  Sounds good … we’re on our way!

A couple of streets down the left side of the Trung Tâm Thương Mại market, we found a tiny food cart tucked into a seven-foot wide space between an electric motor shop and a woven mat display. That’s it!

We order two bowls of bún cá, those wonderful shrimp fritters again, and two trà đá (iced tea).  Again, the bún cá was delicious … even though I declined the fish head when offered (“the best part” I was advised by the woman sitting next to me).

Once again, a delicate and slightly spicy broth, a boneless white fish, firm tasty breaded shrimp, and crunchy cucumber bits covered the bún noodles.

Upon some serious reflection, I would have to rate our bún cá #2 meal at Bún Cá Hai Tầm (see our Rạch Giá Bún Cá Trilogy – Part 2 post) as a bit more delicious.  BUT, sitting here enjoying this wonderful soup beside the electric motor shop at the Trung Tâm Thương Mại market, was certainly the more genuine and fun street food meal of the trip.

Just 25,000 vnd ($1.17 USD) for a bowl of bún cá; and 10,000 ($0.47 USD) for those yummy bánh cống (shrimp fritters.)

Bún Cá Trung Tâm Thương Mại
19 Lý Thaí Tổ
Rạch Giá