Up the Mekong Delta by Boat

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We were advised on Tripadvisor to use Sinh Cafe for our trip up the Mekong Delta. We asked what their trip was and it was explained to us:

3 Day 2 Night Trip

Day One - have a motorised boat ride to enjoy a view of Cai Be floating market; walk around to see rice making, rice crispies producing process, by longtail boat to restaurant for Vietnamese lunch including tropical fruits and enjoy Vietnamese traditional music; boat through a village to see the peaceful, tranquil life of villagers and natural setting of Mekong Delta region; take a boat trip through some islands and cross Mekong River to Vinh Long. Overnight hotel and breakfast in Can Tho.

Day Two - 3 hours boat trip to Cai Rang floating market; visit a rice husking mill, fruit gardens and enjoy tropical fruit; have lunch before going to Chau Doc. Overnight hotel and breakfast in Chau Doc.
Day Three - 2 hours rowing boat trip to visit floating houses with caged fish farming underneath. Then to a village of Cham ethnic minority and scarf weaving.

Then either slow boat to Phnom Penh $42 or fast boat $57. So Michelle asked “$42 for the slow boat how much for the rest of the trip”? “That is the total price” was the answer. So we booked it.


We had to be at the Sinh Cafe at 7.45am for our Mekong Delta trip. Did 7.45 exist? It certainly did as far as the coach drivers were concerned and we were off by 7.55.

The second floating market was really good and we were just voyeurs watching watermelons etc being traded and transferred from the farmer’s larger boats to the smaller ones of the buyers.

That evening we bought a box of chocolates which looked like Ferrero Rochers but tasted rather different. Next day, whilst in the Cham Ethnic village, Michelle gave them to a sweet boy of about 6. He became really excited and ran around the village showing everyone, finally falling flat on his face but not dropping his chocolates. We were intrigued to watch the scarf making, which was made on a loom with a flying shuttle, which not only was a very old system but, if we are not mistaken, was invented in Manchester.

About 1 hour before we reached the Cambodian border the girl agent on our boat gave us a form to complete for our visa and then took $22 each off us with our passports and left the boat saying “See you at the border”. Hmm, we have heard stories like this before but nevertheless, when we arrived at Cambodia Immigration (where we had heard of corruption such as unless you paid a bribe your visa was not issued until the next day), there was our girl giving our passports back with visas in them. So after 7 hours on the water a very tired group of travellers arrived at Phnom Penh.

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Photos

Up River
A man cleaning his cows.

Down River
A man cleaning his teeth.

Flying Shuttle
All the way from Manchester?

Three hours on this boat.
We all agreed this was the most uncomfortable boat journey we had ever been on. Not least by the Italian couple in the foreground who never stopped moaning. Michelle in red shirt on left.