Part of the six-hour boat tour we'd taken in Can Tho had been a visit to a tourist-oriented rice paper "factory". That was fine, but we wanted to see the real thing. About forty kilometers north of Can Tho lies Thuận Hưng, which is locally known as a rice paper village. We took the bus there, to hunt down a few of the factories.
The colonial house of Ben Thuy looks like it hasn't changed a bit since the 19th century. After checking out the property and its garden of orchids, we walked toward the river along the entertaining street of Bui Huu Nghia.
Part of Can Tho's charm is that there isn't a lot to do. The city practically forces you into a state of relaxation; it's hard to stress about "seeing all the sights", when there aren't many sights to see. The entire itinerary for our first day was "Boat Ride", so when the tour turned out to be six hours long, we didn't mind.
With over a million inhabitants, Can Tho is the unofficial capital of the Mekong Delta, and a major center of education and commerce. But despite the big-city status, it manages to maintain a slow pace and relaxed atmosphere. We spent four enjoyable days here.
