Vietnam - Touring the Mekong Delta

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February 13th 2017

Published: February 26th 2017

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Michellepav

Sunrise on the Mekong Delta

A bonus of Global Village Trips, is the great excuse to extend my travel and visit a nearby area that I may have otherwise not seen. This trip was no exception. Me and two of my teammates decided to extend our trip and do what we nicknamed the “Survey Tour of Vietnam”.

There were many options to explore nearby in Southeast Asia. We choose Vietnam because it was doable in the short amount of time we set aside, reasonably priced and we had heard so many good things. I wasn’t disappointed!

I traveled with Rick and Delores, fellow board members from Habitat Wake. I had two things that were musts on my Vietnam list; doing a float trip on the Mekong Delta and cruising Ha Long Bay. We used both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi as our kick off points and were also delighted by our visits to these major Vietnamese cities.

After landing in Ho Chi Minh City (formally known, and maybe still known as Saigon), we traveled by car to Can Tho. Can Tho is a small city in south of Vietnam. From here we took our predawn Saipan trip on the Can Tho River

Our Talented Pilot

and its local canals. With the help of our guide and pilot, we watched the floating markets come to life, while enjoying coffee and breakfast both in our boat and at a café perched above the river.

The magic of sunrise and the realized pleasure of witnessing daily life in a foreign land, proved just as exotic as I dreamed. Our tour guide Tam, practiced her English, while our pilot shine with her delightful sense of humor, without ever uttering a word of English.

Beside viewing life along the river, we walked alongside the canals and saw village and farm living. We visited a local rice noodle factory and tried our hands at making a few noodles.

A quick stop back at our hotel for a shower and packing and we headed off to Saigon via car. A highlight of the trip back was a stop at what I will describe as a Vietnamese truck stop for lunch. I believe we were the day’s entertainment for the waiters at the eatery at the stop. The laughed while they brought us the picture menus and at least 5 of them took our order! The food was