Our first full day in Can Tho started early. In order to experience the full effect of one of Vietnam's largest floating markets, we had to be up at 3:30; a typical time for my days in Oakland so not a big problem for me. But the traffic congestion was quite different. Hundreds of boats each selling different fresh food items were parked on the river while tourist boats maneuvered through looking for their favorite vendor. Some of the vendors prepared hot soup for tourists. I'm not clear how effective these floating markets are for selling large quantities of produce given that most of the purchasers appeared to be tourists but Can Tho has a long history of using this approach to market in the Mekong.
At daybreak we left the river and headed to campus for a day of meetings. It was in those meetings that I learned of the work by David Biggs from UC Riverside. I will definitely need to connect with him as this course progresses. We also met with the advanced students in the biotechnology program who take all of their coursework in English. And we toured the current facilities and saw plans for the new agriculture building, paid for by Japan, which is scheduled for completion in 2018. Given that ground has not broken yet, I'd have to guess the campus works at a much faster pace than U.S. campuses or the building occupants are in for a disappointment if they think it will really be completed by 2018. We met with three of the largest faculties on the campus to talk about our purpose for the trip and areas for cooperation and partnership. Overall, it made for a long day. Given that we would repeat the schedule the following day (Saturday) before making the 4-hour drive back to Ho Chi Minh City, it's clear that the group at Can Tho are hardworking academics deeply committed to their goal of international recognition in academics, including agriculture.
Reality has set back in as I head to Oakland for the day. Overall, a great trip with tremendous opportunity for UC ANR. Liz and I will need to take a few days to catch up at home and then start thinking of next steps, recognizing that it's not hard to schedule twice the amount of activities that is feasible for the time we will actually have to spend in Vietnam when the course runs. One thing that really stuck out as I made my way through airports was the number of spring breakers and U.S. tourist groups that also spent a hot and humid week exploring all that Vietnam has to offer. While my fifth trip there, I always come away having learned so much from a place that is rapidly changing and clearly on the world's radar screen.
