We set up several home stays on the Mekong delta where the land meets the sea in the form of flowing wide rivers around islands populated by farmers of mostly fruits and rice paddies. The delta is at a more leisurely pace in it’s towns and cities but still buzz with motorbikes after the ferries arrive. Our first homestay was near Ben Tre and called “The Mekong Floating House” although it wasn’t actually floating. We witnessed some astounding sunsets on the porch and we were served a sampling of the local fish served in grand style. Mr. Kim was the owner of this place and did a fine job of assisting us with our travel plans. We were his only guests at the time and he made us feel right at home.
Sunset from the “Mekong Floating House”.
Subtle soft hues of color on the Mekong from our communal deck.
Enjoying a local fish dinner on the river.
Our room on the Mekong. Stinky lines but everything else was fine.
Our trip down one of the many tributaries on the river.
Home stays are actually guest houses built separately from the family home, however, the bathroom and showers are communal and the eating areas are shared. There is often limited English spoken. Guests are asked to adhere to some of the family rules such as removing shoes prior to coming into the home.
We took a tour of the floating markets at Cai Be and the Vin Long channels with rowing boats. We stopped for the standard tour of coconut candy making and bicycled through some of the back streets of this smaller town. We had some difficulty dealing with the heat and humidity at times but the ambience of living on the river won out.
We bought our fruit from this lady for breakfast!
Biking through the villages.
Pete trying to blend in with the locals. He doesn’t quite pull it off!
Our dear guide in Vin Long. He is in his 70’s and still a young man!
We moved on to our second home stay in Vinh Long that served a free breakfast and dinner. We also got the opportunity to take some cooking classes with our host and his sisters. It was great to wake up to roosters and hear crickets at night. There were fireflys at night which I haven’t seen since I was a child.
Mekong boat
Our trip down the river at Vin Long. Photo taken from boat landing platform.
Rollin’ down Mekong!
Lotus flower on our tour. They didn’t look real!
Another breathtaking lotus flower on our tour of the gardens.
Our guide Tho in Can Tho with Pete. Watching rice noodles being made. They are drying in the sun.
Rice being made into pancakes prior to being cut into noodles. It is a very hot job!
Our motor taxi man that took us to our home stay with luggage and all!
Pete learning to cook Vietnamese food. Hope we learned well!!
Neon Buddha in a temple near our second homestay.
Interesting Buddha!
After 4 days in home stays we took a very warm and torn up local bus to Can Tho which took about 2 hours altogether.`We stayed in a lovely little hotel called the “Tay Ho” which was right on the water front and directly across from a giant statue of Ho Chi Mihn. We visited Cai Rang which is the largest floating market in the Mekong Delta.
Floating market near Cai Rang from our tour in Can Tho.
Floating market scene. We saw mostly women selling the fruit.
The marks on the boats are supposed to represent eyes so the boat can navigate safely. ( Per our guide’s report)
Lotus by Denise Marie
Ho Chi Minh is everywhere in Vietnam sometimes affectionately called “Uncle Ho”. This is the post office in back in Ho Chi Mihn City.
Around this time we found out the the cost of renewing our visa’s had doubled, so we have to make plans to cross the border into Cambodia with a special letter written by a visa agest in Ho Chi Mihn City. We took the bus to HCMC which took about 3 hours from Can Tho.
Really cool. I don`t see any pickeled octopus legs. Gotta try some real exotic dishes. The facial expressions would be priceless. Be Safe. !