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Published: April 14th 2009
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Moving out of an island into the main sea
is it a river, or is it the sea? Its a bit of both! Exploring Vinh Long in Mekong Delta
Vinh Long has been long advertised as the best place for homestays in the Mekong delta. (To reach Vinh Long from Ho Chi Minh city try the private mini buses of
Mai Linh Express service (08.39 29 29 29 but prefix with HCMC code) - your hotel will help you take a cab to their city office and they will take care of the rest. Very popular with locals. A ticket to Vinh Long is 3.5 USD!)
Why does anyone want to do a
home stay? To feel like one has experienced the authentic stuff....
Thanks to
Lonely Planet guides, most of them are highly packed with tourists and are hardly homestays. The cutlery and crockery on the table is better than at some of the hotels I visited. Hardly the authentic stuff.
Since the Englishversion of Lonely Planet guide to Vietname did not mention
Ba Linh's homestay, and I read about it on
Reid's blog on Mekong Delta, I booked this, expecting a real lonely far out place in which I would experience the REAL THING.
Well,
Mr Ba Linh is 79 years old, and there's something about
A home on a boat
Peep inside and see the mini temple and the kitchen on this floating home of this lady. him which makes you want to sit and chat with him even if it is in sign language. However his family runs the show with 3 lady helpers and 1 guy helper who stay closeby.
The guy helper is not one of the smiling types, and we were suoitably reprimanded for leaving the light and fan on by mistake when we went out for a 5 hr morning outing, we were rushed into dinner at 7 pm because he had set it already and the person whom we were to share it with was already seated and eating alone, and he did not give me a bandaid when I cut my finger saying they dont have. I checked later, they did have.
On the positive side, the dinner is a good spread - simple one day and lavish the next. The rooms are clean and "authentic"... even though they are partitioned from each other by a thin wood and the top part of all the rooms are not separated. So privacy is a problem.. you can hear and almost see into the neighbour's room. The toilets are clean and sufficient in number for the 4-5 rooms they have
Chatting up with a friend at the market!
The pineapple vendor has found a friend to catch up with before he returns back to his village. for guests.
Beer for a 20000 VND for a small can is outrageous. The atmosphere is like you are far out in a remote place and there are hardly any lights etc.. but actually this is a proper town with a population of 10000 families (An Bihn island near Vinh Long is where this home stay is), and all facilities exist. Breakfast is too boring - a tea/coffee, banana, bun and omlete. Where are the exotic fruits?
Its a small cottage and
at dinner time there will be about 10-12 guests having meals on tables where 4-6 people eat together. Nice atmosphere - chatted with an Australian couple who were realyl tired being herded around on their package tour, and one gutsy canadian lady who was also tired out after her 2 weeks of hectic touring... loved chattng up with everyone there.
I would recommend ths over a hotel anyday - and itsd better than other homestays too - which aremore crowded and "touristy" thanks to LonelyPlanet.
But do try
Mekong Travels (mekongtravelvinhlong@yahoo.com) - they are a new company in Vinh Long - listed in the German version of the LonelyPlanet guide, but not in
the English one. So they are less packed with tourists. They arrange packages which include homestays amongst other things.
Beyond home stays - here are some tips: 1. Go to the
Cai Be floating market at 6 or 7 am - and not at 8:30 am which is what the package tour operator will plan for. The action starts getting over at 8 am.
2.
Do not go bicycling at 2 pm - which is what the tour operators plan for some reason. They give you a lunch and then ask you to go cycling. Cycle after 5 pm or before 10 am. (if it is April or a summer month)
3.
Avoid the package of 2 days - 1 night with homestay. Take the homestay. And then take a half day of Ca Be and boat ride. Avoid the rest. Its a waste of time - cycling in the hot sun, eating a set plate of boring rice and a piece of tough meat. when you can relax, chill, have beer, coffee, fresh fish, sleep in a hammock, have fresh sugar cane juice, just stroll, chat. Why would you want to go see rice
popping machine, coconut candy making machines, and local curio shops ... why would you not like a local sip "bia hoi" (fresh cold beer,,, aaahhhh lovely) or sleep in a hammock while the world lazes by.
4.
Avoid sampans (small boat rides) in the afternoon - take them before 9 am or after 4 pm - the tour operator will arrange a boat ride foryou at 12 pm just before lunch... its hot and the sampans go slow, and their is no roof above the head... avoid. Its beautiful but hot.
5.
Take bicyles and go off on your own. (After 5 pm)
Here's a great route to cycle:
Stay at Ba Linh home stay on An Binh island.
You will feel like you are in the land beyond the beyond, but it isnt so.
Come out of Ba Linh homestay, turn left. On the rickety path, cycle down, even if you slip a few times. take care not to fall into the water on the side. Who knows if there are any crocs or no.
You will pass by houses of villagers who are not used to seing tourists zip past on
their cycles.. you can peep inside rudely - see the TV screens, their pets, their hammocks, their kitchens, and their clothes drying.
The views are stunning... trees, water, bridges, small paths to walk on - yeah the same you are cycling on.
You will pass by a tiny wholesale market of berries and see women packing small packets from the big bags.
Cycle for a 1 km or 2 till you hit the end of the path. The road turns left and you will see a
BIG wooden bridge on the right, Take the bridge. You will cross over to the other part ofthe island.
Its full of small houses and tiny shops.. beautiful panoramic views. Its a ride of a lifetime. cant miss it.
Go cycling up and down the many bridges - maybe 7 or 8 of them - most are small.
Finally at one place
you hit the end of the road, where you have to turn left or right.
Turn right, cycle on.
You will pass by a big bridge too under which huge boats are plying - you can make out this is the place from where
you take boats for other islands.
Its the way to
Hoa Ninh school - a huge modern building - probably the biggest and only building on the island.
Its a new building.
Just opp. is a small cafe called
CO BAN CAFE run by Ms and Mr Minh. (Teh 070 38 59 759, or 0903985437)
Its a house owned by the family - with small kids, hens, puppies, dogs and cats playing about. There was a big jar of biscuits on the porch which was opened turn by turn the the kids and the grandma, and one tempting cookie was taken out and eaten.
The family has a machine to make fresh sugar cane juice. Its awesome. Hygenic - dont worry.
Its the tastiest drink i ever had in Vietnam. even surpassing the bia hois!
Turn back before it gets too dark - you cant cycle in the dark without falling into the water - so dont risk it too much. For some reason the sun sets abrubtly and befor you know it its dark!
Say thank you to the guys you lent you the bikes for the best bike ride on
A boat of Mekong Travels!
Professional, friendly. But the tourist packages get a bit boring sometimes. the mekong islands.
Ilsie
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