This was probably my favourite trip in Vietnam! We booked this tour through the guesthouse family we stayed with in Ho Chi Minh City. It was $35 USD for the four-hour bus ride, a one-night homestay, and meals along the way. Not bad!
The first stop along the way was on the way to the Mekong Delta in a local village, we tried honey tea and some fresh fruit. The tea was awesome. They also played some local music but the band seemed unhappy to be there and I felt like a real outsider watching... could not enjoy it.
It is now two months after that I write this and so the details are a bit foggy, but we then took a trip down the river in a boat to a small coconut workshop.
Boat ride down the river :)
A coconut toffee mixture
Cooling the mixture
Chopping toffee
They also made snake wine here which tasted like normal wine but was weird to think about as I drank it. They also had a python that people could hold around their necks – I hate snakes and they scare the poop out of me! I brought myself to touch it as I aim to conquer this fear, but it was still creepy.
Snake in a bottle of snake wine... creepy AF.
Not creepy but creepy
Continued down the river
The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) does travel by boat?
The tour guide also explained all the different uses of coconuts and there is an actual coconut religion where people make everything they need from coconuts. Pretty impressive! But the religion is not very prevalent today.
Stopped for lunch... jks, it was overpriced, didn't pay for that.
Rest stop... came across Sleeping Buddha
...and Smiling Buddha
We got to Mekong in the evening and in the middle of pouring rain! The streets were flooded and we had to brave them as we got of the bus. We took a cab to the homestay and met the family.
Kind a gross, kinda cool.
This was really a dressed-up version of a homestay as we stayed in little huts that were specifically designed for tourists. Still a cooler experience than a hotel (where the rest of the tour was staying).
Home for the night!
There were four of us that stayed in the homestay: a French lady, an Australian lady, the friend I was travelling with and myself. We prepared spring rolls together which was pretty cool, but the rest of the meal was already made ahead of time.
We rolled the fish, cucumber and other ingredients in rice paper and then dipped it in a sauce. It was delicious! And as ugly as our spring rolls looked, they were quite good (like anything deep fried would be).
In the deep fry!
Boom!
So bomb.
More like a spring ball rather than roll.
The spread we (barely) prepared.
That rice wine!
We also got a bag of rice wine (bag service baby) as part of the meal and just chatted for a couple of hours. Being the only person who spoke French and English at our table, I had to translate for the lady from France. This was fun for a bit, but the more rice wine I drank, the harder the translation got. Eventually, we went to bed as we had to catch an early morning boat to meet the other group.
For breakfast, we had some Banh Mi (mini-baguette) with butter and jam and Vietnamese coffee (which is the bomb!) for breakfast. We also had a fury friend join us!
Fury friend
Straight chillin'
We then got on a boat and went down the river to meet the rest of our tour group. We transferred boats right in the middle of the river! Cooler than transferring lines on the TTC.
Morning boat ride!
Morning boat ride II!
Once we met the rest of our group, we headed to the floating market! The entire market is on the river and smaller boats come to your boat to sell you things, whether it’s a watermelon, coffee, or a hot meal. They hook themselves on and pour the coffee, chop the fruit, etc.
Floating Market I
Floating Market II
Floating Market III
Floating Market IV
Floating Market V
Floating Market VI
Floating Market VII
The face you make before eating pineapple
A pineapple on top of a boat, in my hand, well-above the sea.
We then went to see where they make rice paper and rice noodles. I had a chance to collect the rice noodles as they were prepared… I think I did alright.
Same day, same pants.
Rice paper.
More Rice Paper.
After that, we went for a bike ride to see the "Monkey Bridge". Basically, a really skinny bridge that people cross when they get married (not really sure about this fact or any of the facts our tour guide provided). Apparently, people take motorbikes across it...
Sorry about the finger.
After this, we made our way back... It was supposed to be four hours but Ho Chi Minh City traffic was brutal ☹ so I think it was more like five or six hours.