Mekong Delta

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Day 48

Today we had an early start to begin a three day trip which would take us from Saigon to Phnom Penh (Cambodia), through the Mekong Delta.

We left Saigon by bus and took the National Highway to My Tho where we transferred to a small boat and visited Unicorn Island where we saw a bee keeper, drank honey tea and got to hold a large snake! After lunch we took another short boat trip to Ben Tre, where we took a rowing boat down a very picturesque canal surrounded by coconut trees. At the end we had another stop for some fresh local fruits whilst listening to some locals playing traditional South Vietnamese music.

We ended the day in Can Tho where we had the evening to ourselves to grab some food and look around. It had a night market and was quite lively particularly with street food carts along the Mekong River front. We went to Hop Pho restaurant and tried the local speciality--a sour river fish soup--which was very tasty!

Day 49

Today we had another early start to take a boat to Cai Rang, which is the largest remaining floating market on the Mekong River. It wasn't as busy as we expected, but was quite interesting to see all the locals buying and selling fruit and veg from their boats. We stopped off at one to buy some deliciously fresh pineapple. We then stopped again to see another riverside village which included a trip to a traditional noodle factory. After, we took a bus to Long Xuyen and stopped to randomly visit a crocodile farm! It was fascinating to see them all sitting still like statues all piled on one another, until they hear food coming and all scramble at once.

We stopped for the night in Chau Doc. The two hour bus journey along the Mekong River was very scenic, passing traditional homes and people gathering in the street for various things. We enjoyed having a wander round Chau Doc in the evening, which, like Can Tho was a lot less touristy and felt like we were seeing a little of the real Vietnam. We enjoyed our last meal in Vietnam at The Mekong before an early night ahead of our final leg of the journey tomorrow.

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Photos

Young crocs at the croc farm
Used for meat and handbags.

Adults at the croc farm
Used for breeding.