Mekong Delta Tour, VIETNAM

August 30, 2008

After breakfast, we waited for the bus to pick us up for a trip to the Mekong Delta. We were taken to what looked like a backpackers’ area near Pham Ngu Lao Street. We boarded a coach with other tourists. That was the cheapest way to travel in Vietnam. The tour cost us only $14 per head. Otherwise, a private tour could set you back more than $50 each.

The Start of Our Tour

After 2 hours, the coach stopped in My Tho. Half of our group left for their tour. Ours, that included a tour of floating market, would take another 45 minutes to one hour. Once we reached our destination, we were transferred to a waiting boat. There were only 3 families in our group of 10 people. First our boat took us to Cai Be floating market. We were told that the market started before dawn and we were there after 10am when the people had already left. Even the vendors were seen resting and taking a nap on their boats.

Inside Our Boat

Whatever Remains of the Floating Market

The Church Along Mekong River

Zack & Mrs

Maizad & Anas

Me & Heung, the Tour Guide

There was nothing much to see of the floating market, we made our way to the next destination. Most tourists would be brought here to see some cottage industries. The mostly western tourists were shown the making of coconut candy, pop rice and other tourists’ stuffs. I grabbed some pop rice and put in my mouth only to be told later that they mixed the rice with lard while preparing the wok. So much for being adventurous! I found out that the prices charged at this place were outrageously steep.

Dragon Fruit Grown in a House by Mekong River

We continued our Mekong River journey in our boat to An Binh Island for lunch. From the makeshift jetty, we walked along a small path in the village (which I jokingly called the Ho Chi Minh Trail) to a restaurant called 7 Thoi (referring to 7 members of the Thoi family running the restaurant). We had fresh water fish, after passing the standard prepared lunch of pork.

The Trail to Lunch

Fish for Lunch

Super Strong Vietnamese Coffee


Phyton for Lunch?

After lunch, we went on bikes riding along the paved road in the village. It was a short “do it yourself” tour of the Vietnamese village. The bikes were too high for us, Asians and the small road was a bit dangerous when a vehicle came by.

Bike Tour

Ton in Venice of Asia

Zack Rowing with Mrs & Heung

From the jetty, we were taken on a gondola-like small sampan to cruise along Mekong tributaries. I believe it was a way of passing on the benefits of tourists’ dollars to the local villagers. We truly enjoyed the short ride. Then we boarded our boat to go to Vinh Long, which was at the end of our tour. Another coach was waiting to take us back to HCMC. It was a long 3-hour journey. We stopped at a rest area called Bonsai Garden for refreshment before continuing back to HCMC.

Bonsai Garden

It was already dark when we reached the city. We walked back to the hotel, stopping at Ben Thanh Market for more shopping. Ben Thanh was closing down but the area surrounding it turned into a night bazaar, another shopping opportunity.

Our Tour Group. The family of a Vietnamese married to a Belgian

It was a good outing despite the long journey. We learned from our tour guide, Heung that most sampans, boats or ships plying along Mekong River would have a distinct painting of what looked like eyes in the front part of the boats. In the old days, there were a lot of crocodiles, phytons in the river. The eyes painted on the boats help to see the danger.

The Eyes of the Boat