Mekong Delta

I stuffed my bag with wrapped Banh Mi sandwiches purchased from the roadside vendor near the Sinh Café office. I wasn’t able to have breakfast coz I woke up quite late and my trip for the Mekong Delta departs at 8am. It’s a bit costly than the Cu Chi + Cao Dai trip coz the Mekong Delta 1-day trip is 300,000 VND or about 15usd, still cheap enough as it comes with free lunch. I am alone for this trip as my travel buddy has gone back to Singapore already.

Midway through our bus trip to Cai Be, the rain started pummeling in really hard. Our tour guide was regaling us with stories about life in the Mekong Delta and the difference of having a wife from Saigon and one from the Mekong Delta. Since we have at least 110 kms to cover till our destination, his narrative (although I can’t understand him most of the time) was quite entertaining.

When we arrived at Cai Be, we took a boat towards the delta and just went around the whole place. Passing by some houses near the delta, sometimes waving to nearby boats either anchored or with owners also busy plying their trade. I really thought it would be a huge floating market like the ones in Thailand. There is not much to see actually. You just stay in the boat for the entire length of the journey.

Instead of small boats filled with different fruit and vegetable varieties, here in Cai Be the boats are bigger (and entire families sometimes live in these boats) and they normally sell only one or two produce. You will know what vegetable or fruit they are selling by checking the produce that they have tied up in a stick and placed in front of the boat, clearly visible for everyone to see.

The weather in the Mekong Delta is also very unpredictable, sometimes it rains really hard then after a few minutes it stops and the sun comes out. Our tour guide handed out free plastic raincoats for us to wear which is really needed.

One interesting tidbit that I learned from our very informative tour guide is the explanation for the design on the boats. Most of the boats we’ve passed by have a glaring eye design on their bows. Apparently, fishermen will paint their boats with dragon’s eyes to frighten away the crocodiles and other “sea monsters” living in the delta so they can catch more fishes.

We went ashore and explored the nearby local village, or more appropriately, browsed through endless “handicraft shops”. We just hopped from one to the other. There was a rice paper making shop, then had a cup of honey tea at another shop complete with a bee colony display, then to a coconut candy maker, and snake wine.

We went back to the boat again for a short ride to the Xeo May riverside restaurant. When our group disembarked there was another group already in the restaurant, this must be a popular stop for tour groups from Saigon. The food is not really that great, just your usual tourist fare except for this quirky deep-fried fish display.

I was really lucky in this trip that I met up with interesting and smart travelers. I never ran out of intelligent conversations all throughout the day, with people from diverse backgrounds, one is an educator from San Francisco and another one is a financial consultant based in California.

After the so-so lunch, we boarded our boat again for another ride through the Delta. I thought that this time around we will transfer to a smaller boat/canoe so we can go kayaking around the swamps area but really! Uggghhhh This trip is really not worth taking at all. Just a complete waste of time going around in circles, all over the river and everything so tacky and commercial, you can go for other day trips with a better itinerary than this one!

We were told that we will be heading on to the village of Vinh Long. Our tour bus was already waiting for us there. We have exactly 30 minutes for a toilet stop and for a quick look around at the nearby market. It’s basically a public market where most of the villagers within the Mekong Delta sell and buy produce. Markets like these reminds me of home…..hehehe

Awww….love this! I don’t know the meaning in the local language for “Bastos” or why it’s the name of a popular cigarette brand in Vietnam but it is indeed the suitable name for people who smoke, especially in public! Yes, they are Bastos! Hahahaha

Last item in our trip itinerary is a short visit to the Mekong Rest Stop. Despite its name (it conjures a row of public toilets and messy diner), the place does have its ubiquitous tourist restaurant, grocery, and souvenir shop but in a very artistic and classy setting. On its grounds are several replicas of old traditional houses complete with a bridge + pond background.

We arrived back in Saigon at around 5:45pm. I have another date later with Pho 2000 noodle shop and more bargain hunting at the Benh Thanh night market with my new travel buddies. Ciao!