Rach Gia: Slow Roads, Strange Conversations, and Southern Vietnam

A Chinese traveler’s motorcycle journey through villages, people, and unexpected moments

Opening

Rach Gia is the capital of Kien Giang Province.

My first impression was the infrastructure.

Wide roads. Four lanes.

It felt wealthier and more organized than expected.

The Road There

I came from Can Tho with Brother Peng.

A short motorcycle trip.

I was the main driver.

And honestly, this is still my favorite way to travel.

On a motorcycle:

You decide the pace.

Fast when you want. Slow when you want.

Stop anywhere.

A Different Southern Vietnam

Along the road, I kept seeing things that reminded me how layered Vietnam is.

Chinese-style ancestral tombs. Chinese characters on signs. Khmer temples. Khmer children.

We stopped constantly:

Buying local nuts. Red-fleshed jackfruit.

Cheap, fresh, and surprisingly good.

Brother Peng speaks some Vietnamese.

He likes chatting with roadside vendors.

Sometimes seriously.

Sometimes just to tease people.

At one point, he jokingly introduced me as:

“A company executive earning 20,000 RMB a month.”

And called himself the assistant.

Then watched people’s reactions.

Completely childish.

Very funny.

The Journey Itself

The ride only covered around 100 kilometers.

But it took us an entire day.

The bike was only 50cc.

Our average speed probably wasn’t even 30 km/h.

But we stopped everywhere:

Eating. Talking. Exploring.

And honestly, that made the trip better.

Small Things That Stay With You

In the city, I bought slippers for around 10 RMB.

Very cheap.

Surprisingly durable.

I wore them through almost all of Southeast Asia afterward.

Probably 95% of the time.

We also found excellent fried chicken rice before checking into the hotel.

New People

We met Brother Ye from Jiangxi.

Another interesting person.

Used to do business in Singapore.

He treated us to Chongqing hotpot, drinks, and late-night food.

His girlfriend was Vietnamese.

And that led to the next day.

In the Countryside

We rode motorcycles to her friend’s rural home.

The environment reminded me of the Chinese countryside:

Houses by the road. Small gardens. Chickens and animals.

One thing stood out.

Lottery sellers travel from village to village.

But few people buy.

Because the sellers themselves look poor.

Food and Time

Brother Ye cooked lunch.

Especially the beer duck.

Better than many restaurants I’ve had in Jiangxi.

People started drinking at noon.

Friends arrived casually in the middle of the day.

Even though they all had jobs.

And I kept thinking:

Why does this feel impossible in China now?

Why does modern life feel busier and less free, even with technological progress?

Stories and Conversations

I heard many stories:

About southern Vietnam. About history. About language.

One phrase stayed with me:

“If you want a good job, learn English. If you want to be the boss, learn Chinese.”

It reveals something about business reality there.

Another World

That evening, we visited a wealthy local family.

Huge villa.

Seafood dinner.

The family runs businesses involving rice, seafood, and ships.

Apparently they own more than ten boats worth hundreds of thousands of RMB.

The mother joked about introducing her daughter to me.

At karaoke later, they even gave me flowers.

Then told me I could meet the daughter “six years later.”

The Sea and the Sunset

The sea itself wasn’t clean.

The rivers flowing into it were polluted.

But the sunsets were incredible.

Large burning clouds across the sky.

Chinese Heritage

While walking around, I found a Chinese guild hall — Er Fu Assembly Hall.

An old man there spoke some Chinese.

He said it was built by a scholar from Fujian.

His children no longer speak Chinese.

They fully identify as Vietnamese now.

Closing

Rach Gia was not a famous destination.

But it gave me something more valuable:

Movement. Conversations. And glimpses of lives very different from my own.