After Halong Bay, the Mekong Delta might be the world in Vietnam with probably the most guided excursions on supply. They’re pushed so closely, the truth is, that you could be assume it’s inconceivable to journey the Mekong Delta with no tour. It’s completely doable although, and really fairly straightforward. Right here is how we did it: 6 nights of discovering the Mekong Delta on our personal.
Day 1: Flying into Can To & transferring to Vinh Lengthy / An Binh island
The Mekong Delta from our little ATR Turboprop aircraft
We had simply been to Phu Quoc island (which you must actually try if you happen to’re in Vietnam!) and our purpose was to get to Vinh Lengthy by the top of the day. It’s potential to take the ferry to Rach Gia after which a bus to Can Tho within the Mekong Delta, however we selected to fly instantly from Phu Quoc to Can Tho. It saved us a whole lot of time and value just some {dollars} extra. At Can Tho airport, we jumped in a taxi and requested the motive force to take us to the bus station. Whereas he appeared a bit sketchy, he took us there on what appeared a reasonably direct route – yay! I like to recommend Vina Solar or, if these aren’t accessible, Mai Linh taxis. They’re a bit dearer than non-brand or native model taxis. However my expertise has usually been good with them, and that is what I’m going for if I don’t have a driver particularly advisable by the resort I’m staying at.
At Can Tho bus station, I walked round bus workplaces asking for tickets to Vinh Lengthy till I discovered one which had a bus getting into that route and supplied to drop us off. We left instantly, and to our shock had been directed to an evening bus. Cozy for me, as I’m Vietnamese sized. My accomplice didn’t match into the seat in any respect – oh properly! Advantages of being ‘journey sized’. The bus experience simply took an hour, and we had been dropped off on the facet of the street at a reasonably random spot exterior of Vinh Lengthy. There have been loads of motorcycle taxis round, however we needed a automobile as we had our huge backpacks with us. Fortunately, a bike taxi man managed to arrange us a taxi – tremendous good of him.
The benefits of being journey sized… I can truly get snug on a Vietnamese sleeper bus!
We requested to be dropped off on the ferry terminal, as we had booked a house keep on An Binh, an island within the Mekong simply throughout from Vinh Lengthy. On the ferry terminal we had been met by one of many guys from the house keep who made certain we bought onto the ferry okay and knowledgeable his brother on the opposite facet that we had been coming. This was spectacular, as we hadn’t informed them in any respect what time we’d arrive!
Ferry rides in Vietnam are all the time enjoyable, however particularly simply earlier than Tet (Vietnamese New 12 months) when the locals appear to move absolutely anything on motorbikes.
Hanging out on the ferry. It’s a really brief ferry experience, just some minutes to cross the river.
Try the child’s chair on the bike! We noticed tons of children sitting on scooters like that.
We had been picked up on the opposite facet by one of many guys from our residence keep, and brought to the house keep on his scooter one after the other.
I look actually scared on that one… it was truly an important experience although, on tiny roads with no vehicles (they wouldn’t match).
All in all, whereas there have been a lot of change overs to get there, the journey was straightforward and actually pleasant!
Day 2 – 3: Discovering An Binh island, Vinh Lengthy and a Floating Market
The place to remain in Vinh Lengthy / An Binh
Our bungalow set in lush gardens, with hammocks in entrance and an open air lavatory with bathe on the left
We actually needed to do a house keep within the Mekong Delta, and selected Vinh Lengthy as a result of it had some good trying, moderately prized residence stays. We stayed at Ngoc Phuong Homestay, the place we had a bungalow with a non-public open air tub room and air conditioning.
The bungalow was very fundamental, however clear. The highlights had been the dinners, very nice residence cooked Vietnamese meals in massive portions.
Crispy fried native fish which we became spring rolls with contemporary greens and herbs wrapped in rice paper
Total, Ngoc Phuong felt extra like a hostel than a house keep. There was little interplay with the household and it was run like a hostel, however I nonetheless loved our keep there and would go once more.
Discovering An Binh by bicycle
Exploring the Mekong Delta, Vietnamese model
Our residence keep supplied free bicycles, so we grabbed two bicycles and rode round An Binh island for half a day. The roads on the island are largely very slim paths, so there are not any vehicles, simply bicycles and motorbikes/scooters. It was enjoyable to find and I felt a bit Vietnamese with my bicycle and iconic Vietnamese hat. We even got here throughout a cock struggle on our manner. It was attention-grabbing to see all of the betting happening, and I’m completely happy to report no one bought injured as one of many cocks chickened out and ran away – smart selection.
Vinh Lengthy market
Within the afternoon, we took the ferry throughout once more and went to Vinh Lengthy marketplace for lunch, some smoothies and a bit of individuals watching. I like consuming at Asian markets, and I actually loved the market right here, because it’s a really genuine native market. We gave the impression to be the one vacationers there that day. We labored our manner by means of the market with a lot of signal language and pointing, having a bowl of noodles with a lot of tasty toppings for lunch. We additionally purchased some fruit and bread to snack on, in addition to some contemporary aloe vera to appease our many sand flea bites from the earlier week in Phu Quoc.
The distributors at Vinh Lengthy Market. This can be a nice market, very native and actual, not a vacationer entice. There’s an enormous space within the heart of the market with meals stalls promoting soups, noodles, banh mi and smoothies. Extremely advocate this place for lunch!
My Vietnamese lunch: Bun Nem Nuong, rice noodles with very fragrant pork meatballs, crispy fried spring rolls, pickled greens and contemporary herbs. It was attractive!
Mekong Delta boat tour & visiting the floating markets
I hate getting up early, but it surely’s value it for a dawn like this one.
As hiring a non-public boat might be fairly costly, we took up our residence keep’s supply to hitch their small guided half day boat tour the following morning. We bought up at a reasonably nasty time of 5.30am to be on the boat for dawn. Completely value it although! We had a small boat with a bunch of 8 individuals plus a information and a captain. Our tour took us to fruit farms, bee farms, and far to everybody’s delight, a sweet manufacturing unit which gave out beneficiant tasting platters. We additionally skilled the floating market in Cai Be and transferred to small rowing boats to go to a mangrove forest.
The tour wasn’t probably the most thrilling expertise we had in Vietnam (nothing beats the bike tour by means of the Vietnamese Highlands that we did), but it surely was positively pleasant and a pleasant method to spend a morning, discovering locations that we could not have found on our personal and consuming a lot of scrumptious coconut and sesame sweet.
The afternoon took us again to the marketplace for extra meals and a stroll round. After that we went again to the house keep to recuperate from the early morning wakeup and take a siesta within the hammocks.
On the best way to the Floating Market at Cai Be
Noticed on our Mekong Delta Boat Tour: On the point of promote dried shrimp on the floating market
THIS is the way you do a Mekong Delta Boat Tour in model: A small boat with a hammock on the again. , for resting between the exhausting stops at floating markets and sweet factories
The Mekong Delta in Vietnam is legendary for its sweet, largely due to all of the coconut that’s grown within the space. These guys had been chopping sesame sweet, of which we tried an enormous portion!
Proceed to half 2 of our Mekong Delta DIY – touring to Ben Tre and discovering extra of the Mekong Delta with no tour.
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